Kansas State’s messy breakup with Jerome Tang may finally be headed toward a number both sides can live with.
According to ESPN, the school and its former men’s basketball coach are close to a settlement that would pay Tang $12 million after he was fired for cause in February. Had Kansas State moved on without cause, Tang would have been owed more than $18 million.
The firing came during a rough 10-15 start to Tang’s fourth season, with the university leaning on a postgame outburst as its justification. After a 91-62 loss to Cincinnati - Kansas State’s 10th defeat in 11 games - Tang unloaded on his team and said, "these dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform."
Kansas State treated that rant as the basis for a for-cause dismissal, a move that drew criticism around the sport. Many saw the school’s legal reasoning as thin, especially given the financial motivation behind the decision to avoid a massive buyout for a coach whose team was underperforming.
Tang pushed back immediately. In a statement at the time, he said he "strongly" disagreed with Kansas State’s characterization of the firing.
"I have always acted with integrity and faithfully fulfilled my responsibilities as head coach," he said at the time.
The split closed the book on a partnership that had once looked like a major win for both sides. Tang arrived at Kansas State after nearly 20 years on staff at Baylor and delivered an Elite Eight run in 2023 in his first season. But the momentum didn’t last: the Wildcats missed the NCAA Tournament in each of the next two seasons and were sliding again when the school made its move.
Tang has since gone back to Baylor as associate head coach. Under the terms of his Kansas State contract, his Baylor earnings would have reduced what the Wildcats owed him if he had been fired with cause. Baylor hosts Kansas State on Jan. 2 this season, though the Bears do not play in Manhattan.
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Kansas States Costly Jerome Tang Split Is Finally Nearing An End
Kansas States long-running dispute with Jerome Tang appears close to wrapping up, with the school and its former mens basketball coach finalizing a settlement tied to his February firing for cause. Tang, who spent four seasons in Manhattan and is now an associate head coach at Baylor, had about $18.7 million left on his contract when he was dismissed, leaving the sides to sort out a pricey separation that has lingered for months.
The agreement would pay Tang $12 million through the end of 2027, trimming the buyout figure and bringing a measure of closure to one of the more costly off-court issues facing the program. For Kansas State, the resolution should finally clear the way to move past the financial fallout of Tangs exit and keep attention on what comes next for a program still adjusting after the breakup. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas State Can Finally Move On From The Jerome Tang Split
Kansas States coaching search is over, but the fallout from the Jerome Tang era is still being sorted out long after the Wildcats decided to move in a different direction. Tang was let go after the 2022-23 season, and the school has spent the months since trying to close the book on a split that carried real financial weight as well as basketball implications.
The latest step is a deal that would pay Tang $12 million by the end of 2027, trimming the remaining money from his contract and allowing both sides to put the separation behind them. Tang has already resurfaced at Baylor as an assistant coach, while Kansas State has turned the program over to Casey Alexander, who now inherits the task of moving the Wildcats forward without the unresolved business hanging over the transition. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas State Run Defense Is Suddenly Under Real Pressure
Kansas States run defense has gone from a strength to a concern in just two games, and the timing is not ideal with Houston next on the schedule. The Wildcats were pushed around on the ground by Cincinnati and then again by Tulane, leaving first-year coach Collin Klein to sort through what went wrong in each matchup and try to get the front seven back on track before the Cougars arrive with a solid rushing attack.
The bigger question now is whether Kansas State can correct the problem quickly enough to keep it from becoming a trend. Klein has already acknowledged the issues were not exactly the same from one game to the next, which makes the fix more complicated, and the Wildcats do not have much margin for error if they want to avoid a third straight outing of chasing answers against the run. [Read more 🡒]