Kansas State’s Season Spirals, and Jerome Tang Points to Shifting NCAA Rules as a Major Obstacle
Kansas State’s basketball season took another hit Tuesday night, falling 59-54 on the road to West Virginia. It was the kind of grind-it-out game where every possession mattered - and once again, the Wildcats came up short.
Now sitting at 10-11 overall and 1-7 in Big 12 play, K-State finds itself at the bottom of the conference standings with a brutal stretch still ahead. And if things weren’t already tough, the road gets even steeper with matchups looming against four top-15 teams: No.
8 Iowa State, No. 10 Houston, No.
11 Texas Tech, and No. 14 Kansas.
This isn’t the season head coach Jerome Tang envisioned when he took over in Manhattan. In fact, it’s far from it.
Back in 2023, Tang had the Wildcats dancing all the way to the Elite Eight. It felt like the start of something special - a program on the rise with a coach who’d quickly earned national respect.
But since that high point, the momentum has stalled. Kansas State followed that magical run with 19 wins in 2024, 16 in 2025, and now, unless something dramatic changes, they’re staring down a third straight year without an NCAA Tournament bid.
So what’s gone wrong?
Tang didn’t sugarcoat his frustrations after Tuesday’s loss. Speaking candidly in his postgame press conference at Hope Coliseum, he pointed to the ever-evolving landscape of college basketball - particularly the NCAA’s shifting rules - as a major factor in the program’s recent struggles.
“As the head coach of this program and the CEO of it,” Tang said, “to put together a team and build a program that will be on that level, year in, year out, I haven’t figured that out yet because they keep changing the rules on me. Once they get the rules set, then I can have a consistent plan.”
That lack of consistency, according to Tang, has directly impacted his ability to build and retain a roster. He went as far as to say that three players who should be on this year’s team aren’t - not due to injury, but because of NCAA eligibility rulings or rule changes.
While Tang didn’t name names, there are a couple of situations that shed light on what he might be referencing. Memphis transfer Tyreek Smith was denied a waiver for an additional year of eligibility back in August.
There was also a brief window of hope that Max Jones, who started his career at the Division II level, might be granted another season, but he, too, was ruled ineligible. Beyond that, there’s no clear public indication of which other players Tang may have been referring to.
“There are three guys who should be on my roster that are not on my roster right now because rules change,” Tang said. “That’s not even the guys who are injured.”
And the injury list is a long one. K-State has been without Abdi Bashir (broken foot), Khamari McGriff, Elias Rapieque, and Mobi Ikegwuruka - all sidelined for much of Big 12 play. The result has been a roster that’s not only thin but constantly in flux, making it difficult to develop rhythm or continuity.
This isn’t just about bad breaks or a tough schedule. Tang sees a deeper issue - one that’s systemic.
He’s trying to build a sustainable program in a college basketball world that’s shifting beneath his feet. Between the transfer portal, NIL, and eligibility rulings that vary case by case, the goalposts keep moving.
“If they would give me consistent rules, then I would know how to move forward and operate,” Tang said. “I will figure it out, because I have got a staff that is relentless. We don’t stop.”
Tang even joked - or maybe only half-joked - about finding a sympathetic judge in Kansas to help secure player eligibility, referencing what he believes is happening elsewhere in the college hoops landscape.
“If we can bring G League players in, I want to do it. I want to find a judge in Kansas that is a K-State judge that is going to give us that.
That is what they are doing elsewhere,” he said. “Whatever they are going to do, I want to do.
Or stop everybody from doing it, and let’s all proceed the same way. Just give me some consistent rules and we will get it done.
We are going to figure this thing out.”
There’s no question Tang still believes in his process - and his staff’s ability to right the ship. But for now, the Wildcats are stuck in the mud, and the clock is ticking. The Big 12 doesn’t offer many soft landings, and unless something clicks soon, this season could end up being remembered not for what Kansas State accomplished, but for what might have been.