Kansas State University Athletics
‘CRAZY FAITH’ Leads Cats Back to Big Dance
Mar 13, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Afterward, after Kansas State coaches and players see "KANSAS STATE" flash upon the NCAA Tournament bracket shortly before 6 p.m. on Sunday, and after the initial applause lifts inside the Shamrock Zone at Bramlage Coliseum, and after Jerome Tang holds a news conference, the first-year K-State head coach says that the coaches and players are going to take an hour. The coaches and players are going to take an hour by themselves. And the coaches and players are going to celebrate.
They are going to celebrate because it matters. They are going to celebrate because they have CRAZY FAITH. They are going to celebrate because, as Tang puts it, these things don't happen every day, and these things must be cherished.
K-State is a 3-seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and will face 14th-seed Montana State at 8:40 p.m., CT on Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is the second highest seed by a Wildcat team since seeding began in 1979 and the highest since the 2010 squad was a No. 2 seed.
Yes, after one crazy year full of faith, K-State is in the NCAA Tournament.
Tang sits in the Big 12 Terrace that overlooks Bramlage Coliseum while the crowd dissipates from a private Selection Show gathering in the Shamrock Zone. Tang and his players wear purple T-shirts that bear a gray Powercat across the center and the words "CRAZY FAITH" written in big gray block letters. Curiously, the number "12" is also printed underneath.
The 12? It stands for 1 and 2. It stands for Markquis Nowell and Ismael Massoud, the only two returning players from last year's K-State roster. It's a shout out to this beginning, how it all started. It's a testament to CRAZY FAITH that anything can be accomplished.
"We have 'CRAZY FAITH' on our shirts because it took what some people call 'crazy,' and what other people call 'faith, and we call it 'CRAZY FAITH,'" Tang says. "I'm just very, very thankful."
K-State finished the regular season ranked No. 12 and with a 23-9 record. It will face a 25-win Montana State team that won the Big Sky Tournament Championship. The Bobcats have won eight consecutive games since Feb. 11, including an 85-78 win over Northern Arizona to capture back-to-back Big Sky titles and has two straight seasons with 25 wins for the first time since 1927-29.
But before K-State begins preparations for the Bobcats, the Wildcats have something to do. They're going to go to Tang's house for a coach-player celebration to digest the moment and enjoy the moment before heading into this new season, which will begin in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Tang has been a part of 10 NCAA Tournaments, five Sweet 16s, and helped capture the 2021 NCAA Championship as assistant/associate head coach at Baylor. He knows. You just don't let these moments slip. You savor every step. And each step has its place. And in the NCAA Tournament, that place is typically awash in blue carpets and NCAA logos.
"You go to that first practice where you get to run onto the blue carpet and you see the NCAA logos," Tang said. "There's nothing like it."
There's been nothing quite like this season in K-State history, either.
"There definitely was a vision," senior transfer and All-Big 12 First Team selection Keyontae Johnson says. "(Tang) told me day one he wasn't trying to rebuild this program. He wanted to win right away and that's why I wanted to come in."
Who could've known that K-State would make it this far? Who could've known that the preseason last-place team in the Big 12 Conference would rise to as high as No. 5 in the AP Top 25 and finish the regular season at No. 12 with a school record-tying seven Top 25 victories? Who would've thought that this team would finish third in the Big 12? Or have two All-Big 12 First Team selections in Nowell and Johnson? Or have the Big 12 Coach of the Year?
Already, K-State has accomplished so much. Some might believe that the NCAA Tournament is the icing on the cake. Truth is, the cake is still baking.
"We're not done yet," Nowell says.
The journey began before the first glint of sunlight touched native grassland of the Flint Hills, and the journey paused inside the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, at the Big 12 Media Day on October 18, then the journey steered its way back to the Little Apple beneath a setting sun before an evening practice.
For several hours at the Big 12 Media Day, Tang, Nowell, Johnson and Nae'Qwan Tomlin sat and politely discussed themselves, their teammates, and their grand opportunity for anyone willing to listen. Mostly, they sat alone.
But, alas, this had the potential makings of an underdog story unlike any other in K-State basketball history, or Big 12 history, or college basketball history — how the Wildcats were picked 10th in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll. They were a disregarded team the most powerful conference in America, a group of let's-get-after-it workers with lunch pails and blue collars, and who carried an insatiable desire to prove themselves right — that they not only could survive but thrive in 2022-23.
And how would the season twist and turn — a boundless journey into the unknown? And what would become of this team — these players so unabashed about their goals and desires and so seemingly driven to make the most of every day? And how would it end — the Wildcats and this quest to reach the NCAA Tournament?
Less than 24 hours after K-State was picked 10th in the league's preseason poll, printed copies of the poll swept their way into the locker room. The preseason projections served as a screensaver across a flatscreen TV, and the projections were taped above lockers — an unsettling reminder that the Wildcats would embark upon their journey absent of outside support, yet locked arm in arm for a classic us-against-the-world tussle.
And now the Big 12 and the wins and the losses are complete and a new season begins.
"I want them to enjoy it, just to soak it all in, and understand that it's not six games (to the championship), but we're playing one game," Tang says. "We have to play one game six times. Let's just focus on one game."
The stories swirl in March Madness. For Nowell, a fifth-year senior, who transferred from Little Rock prior to last season, it's about finally getting a chance to compete in a NCAA Tournament.
"It's a blessing to see that my faith and hard work have paid off and I get to spend it with the guys I love the most in my final season," Nowell says. "It's just a blessing. I'm going to take it one game at a time. There's nothing different there. Playing on the road in the Big 12 is how I'm going to handle it. March is different. I'm going to embrace it and have fun."
Johnson's story is well chronicled. It's perhaps the feel-good story of the year in college hoops. He'll no doubt be asked to recount his story again and again in Greensboro. And he'll politely recount it all again.
"I always thank God for giving me this opportunity," Johnson says. "It means a lot just knowing all the hard work and everything I've been through, and fighting adversity, and having the guys trust in me. We all stuck together and figured it out to get to the tournament. Being ranked this high is just a blessing.
"I'm just trying to finish it out and get a trophy."
During the news conference, somebody asks Tang, "What's the most gratifying part of this season so far?" Tang pauses for a moment and furrows his brow in deep thought.
"I mean, you see the smiles on the faces and just knowing — Markquis and I went to lunch in the summer, and I told him, 'I'll do everything I possibly can to put a team around you that will give you a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament,'" Tang recalls. "I felt that Ish and he deserved that. He said that it didn't matter if we had seven players or 13 — he has that Kemba Walker thing about him — and he's like, 'I'm going to take anyone around me and we're going to do this thing.' That's really gratifying.
"When you recruit guys, you tell them these are things we want to accomplish and we think we can do this with you, and these guys believed in us and came, and you see it come to pass."
Yes, it's come to pass. K-State, after a miraculous season, is in the NCAA Tournament. Preparation will soon begin. But not for at least an hour. Not until Tang and his coaches and players have a chance to be by themselves and enjoy this moment together.
"Right now, I'm just happy for us," Tang says. "I just want to take some time to be excited about us and be thankful. Then we'll flip the page."
Thankfully, a whole new chapter to this story begins to unfold on Friday.
It's because these Wildcats have CRAZY FAITH.
Afterward, after Kansas State coaches and players see "KANSAS STATE" flash upon the NCAA Tournament bracket shortly before 6 p.m. on Sunday, and after the initial applause lifts inside the Shamrock Zone at Bramlage Coliseum, and after Jerome Tang holds a news conference, the first-year K-State head coach says that the coaches and players are going to take an hour. The coaches and players are going to take an hour by themselves. And the coaches and players are going to celebrate.
They are going to celebrate because it matters. They are going to celebrate because they have CRAZY FAITH. They are going to celebrate because, as Tang puts it, these things don't happen every day, and these things must be cherished.
K-State is a 3-seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and will face 14th-seed Montana State at 8:40 p.m., CT on Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is the second highest seed by a Wildcat team since seeding began in 1979 and the highest since the 2010 squad was a No. 2 seed.
Yes, after one crazy year full of faith, K-State is in the NCAA Tournament.
"We can't ever take this for granted," Tang says, "because it's hard to do. It's really, really hard to do. It's a blessing. We're very thankful to God for this opportunity."Have crazy faith #KStateMBB x #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/y7jrfULRW3
— K-State Men's Basketball (@KStateMBB) March 13, 2023
Tang sits in the Big 12 Terrace that overlooks Bramlage Coliseum while the crowd dissipates from a private Selection Show gathering in the Shamrock Zone. Tang and his players wear purple T-shirts that bear a gray Powercat across the center and the words "CRAZY FAITH" written in big gray block letters. Curiously, the number "12" is also printed underneath.
The 12? It stands for 1 and 2. It stands for Markquis Nowell and Ismael Massoud, the only two returning players from last year's K-State roster. It's a shout out to this beginning, how it all started. It's a testament to CRAZY FAITH that anything can be accomplished.
"We have 'CRAZY FAITH' on our shirts because it took what some people call 'crazy,' and what other people call 'faith, and we call it 'CRAZY FAITH,'" Tang says. "I'm just very, very thankful."
K-State finished the regular season ranked No. 12 and with a 23-9 record. It will face a 25-win Montana State team that won the Big Sky Tournament Championship. The Bobcats have won eight consecutive games since Feb. 11, including an 85-78 win over Northern Arizona to capture back-to-back Big Sky titles and has two straight seasons with 25 wins for the first time since 1927-29.
But before K-State begins preparations for the Bobcats, the Wildcats have something to do. They're going to go to Tang's house for a coach-player celebration to digest the moment and enjoy the moment before heading into this new season, which will begin in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Tang has been a part of 10 NCAA Tournaments, five Sweet 16s, and helped capture the 2021 NCAA Championship as assistant/associate head coach at Baylor. He knows. You just don't let these moments slip. You savor every step. And each step has its place. And in the NCAA Tournament, that place is typically awash in blue carpets and NCAA logos.
"You go to that first practice where you get to run onto the blue carpet and you see the NCAA logos," Tang said. "There's nothing like it."
There's been nothing quite like this season in K-State history, either.
"There definitely was a vision," senior transfer and All-Big 12 First Team selection Keyontae Johnson says. "(Tang) told me day one he wasn't trying to rebuild this program. He wanted to win right away and that's why I wanted to come in."
Who could've known that K-State would make it this far? Who could've known that the preseason last-place team in the Big 12 Conference would rise to as high as No. 5 in the AP Top 25 and finish the regular season at No. 12 with a school record-tying seven Top 25 victories? Who would've thought that this team would finish third in the Big 12? Or have two All-Big 12 First Team selections in Nowell and Johnson? Or have the Big 12 Coach of the Year?
Already, K-State has accomplished so much. Some might believe that the NCAA Tournament is the icing on the cake. Truth is, the cake is still baking.
"We're not done yet," Nowell says.
The journey began before the first glint of sunlight touched native grassland of the Flint Hills, and the journey paused inside the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, at the Big 12 Media Day on October 18, then the journey steered its way back to the Little Apple beneath a setting sun before an evening practice.
For several hours at the Big 12 Media Day, Tang, Nowell, Johnson and Nae'Qwan Tomlin sat and politely discussed themselves, their teammates, and their grand opportunity for anyone willing to listen. Mostly, they sat alone.
But, alas, this had the potential makings of an underdog story unlike any other in K-State basketball history, or Big 12 history, or college basketball history — how the Wildcats were picked 10th in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll. They were a disregarded team the most powerful conference in America, a group of let's-get-after-it workers with lunch pails and blue collars, and who carried an insatiable desire to prove themselves right — that they not only could survive but thrive in 2022-23.
And how would the season twist and turn — a boundless journey into the unknown? And what would become of this team — these players so unabashed about their goals and desires and so seemingly driven to make the most of every day? And how would it end — the Wildcats and this quest to reach the NCAA Tournament?
Less than 24 hours after K-State was picked 10th in the league's preseason poll, printed copies of the poll swept their way into the locker room. The preseason projections served as a screensaver across a flatscreen TV, and the projections were taped above lockers — an unsettling reminder that the Wildcats would embark upon their journey absent of outside support, yet locked arm in arm for a classic us-against-the-world tussle.
And now the Big 12 and the wins and the losses are complete and a new season begins.
"I want them to enjoy it, just to soak it all in, and understand that it's not six games (to the championship), but we're playing one game," Tang says. "We have to play one game six times. Let's just focus on one game."
The stories swirl in March Madness. For Nowell, a fifth-year senior, who transferred from Little Rock prior to last season, it's about finally getting a chance to compete in a NCAA Tournament.
"It's a blessing to see that my faith and hard work have paid off and I get to spend it with the guys I love the most in my final season," Nowell says. "It's just a blessing. I'm going to take it one game at a time. There's nothing different there. Playing on the road in the Big 12 is how I'm going to handle it. March is different. I'm going to embrace it and have fun."
Johnson's story is well chronicled. It's perhaps the feel-good story of the year in college hoops. He'll no doubt be asked to recount his story again and again in Greensboro. And he'll politely recount it all again.
"I always thank God for giving me this opportunity," Johnson says. "It means a lot just knowing all the hard work and everything I've been through, and fighting adversity, and having the guys trust in me. We all stuck together and figured it out to get to the tournament. Being ranked this high is just a blessing.
"I'm just trying to finish it out and get a trophy."
During the news conference, somebody asks Tang, "What's the most gratifying part of this season so far?" Tang pauses for a moment and furrows his brow in deep thought.
"I mean, you see the smiles on the faces and just knowing — Markquis and I went to lunch in the summer, and I told him, 'I'll do everything I possibly can to put a team around you that will give you a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament,'" Tang recalls. "I felt that Ish and he deserved that. He said that it didn't matter if we had seven players or 13 — he has that Kemba Walker thing about him — and he's like, 'I'm going to take anyone around me and we're going to do this thing.' That's really gratifying.
"When you recruit guys, you tell them these are things we want to accomplish and we think we can do this with you, and these guys believed in us and came, and you see it come to pass."
Yes, it's come to pass. K-State, after a miraculous season, is in the NCAA Tournament. Preparation will soon begin. But not for at least an hour. Not until Tang and his coaches and players have a chance to be by themselves and enjoy this moment together.
"Right now, I'm just happy for us," Tang says. "I just want to take some time to be excited about us and be thankful. Then we'll flip the page."
Thankfully, a whole new chapter to this story begins to unfold on Friday.
It's because these Wildcats have CRAZY FAITH.
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