Tang Named District Coach of the Year; Johnson, Nowell All-District
Mar 14, 2023 | Men's Basketball
Tang was selected as the District Coach of the Year by NABC, USBWA
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Head coach Jerome Tang was named the District Coach of the Year by both the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), while senior Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell were each selected All-District First Team by both organizations.
Tang was chosen as the District 8 Coach of the Year by the NABC, while Johnson and Nowell earned nods to the NABC All-District 8 First Team, along with Texas' Marcus Carr, Baylor's Adam Flagler and Kansas' Jalen Wilson.
These awards were voted on by NABC-member coaches across NCAA Division I.
Tang was also named the District VI Coach of the Year by the USBWA, while Johnson and Nowell were named to the USBWA All-District VI team. The duo were joined on the team by Oral Roberts' Max Abmas, Missouri's Kobe Brown, Drake's Tucker DeVries, Kansas' Gradey Dick and Jalen Wilson, Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner, Iowa's Kris Murray and North Dakota State's Grant Nelson.
The USBWA has been selected postseason awards since being formed in 1956.
The accolades continue to pile up for the tandem, who both selected as Third Team All-Americans by The Associated Press on March 14. They have been named to several Watch Lists for National Players of the Year honors, while each were selected as finalists for their respective position awards in Johnson for the Julius Erving Small Forward Award and Nowell for the Bob Cousy Point Guard Award. Johnson was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, while both were chosen to the All-Big 12 First Team by both the league coaches and AP.
A 6-foot-6, 230-pound forward from Norfolk, Va., Johnson is currently averaging a team-best 17.7 points on 51.9 percent (209-of-403) from the field, including 41.9 percent (44-of-105) from 3-point range, and 72.5 percent (103-of-142) from the free throw line, to go with a team-best 7.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 34.0 minutes per game. He is one of only two players (Kansas' Jalen Wilson) to rank in the top-5 in the Big 12 in scoring and rebounding both in overall and league-only games.
A 5-foot-7, 160-pound point guard from Harlem, N.Y., Nowell is averaging 16.8 points on 37.7 percent (151-of-401) from the field, including 34.6 percent (75-of-217) from 3-point range, and 88.5 percent (162-of-183) from the free throw line to go along with a Big 12-best 7.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 steals in 36.5 minutes per game. He ranks in the Big 12's top-3 in 13 categories, including tops in assists (243), assists/game, free throws made (162) and attempted (183), free throw percentage, steals (76), steals/game and minutes.
No. 15/13 K-State (23-9, 11-7 Big 12) earned a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night and will travel to Greensboro, N.C., to take on No. 14 seed Montana State (25-9, 15-3 Big Sky) at 8:40 p.m., CT on Friday night in the first round of the East Regional at the Greensboro Coliseum.
How to follow the 'Cats: For complete information on K-State men's basketball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Tang was chosen as the District 8 Coach of the Year by the NABC, while Johnson and Nowell earned nods to the NABC All-District 8 First Team, along with Texas' Marcus Carr, Baylor's Adam Flagler and Kansas' Jalen Wilson.
These awards were voted on by NABC-member coaches across NCAA Division I.
Tang was also named the District VI Coach of the Year by the USBWA, while Johnson and Nowell were named to the USBWA All-District VI team. The duo were joined on the team by Oral Roberts' Max Abmas, Missouri's Kobe Brown, Drake's Tucker DeVries, Kansas' Gradey Dick and Jalen Wilson, Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner, Iowa's Kris Murray and North Dakota State's Grant Nelson.
The USBWA has been selected postseason awards since being formed in 1956.
The accolades continue to pile up for the tandem, who both selected as Third Team All-Americans by The Associated Press on March 14. They have been named to several Watch Lists for National Players of the Year honors, while each were selected as finalists for their respective position awards in Johnson for the Julius Erving Small Forward Award and Nowell for the Bob Cousy Point Guard Award. Johnson was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, while both were chosen to the All-Big 12 First Team by both the league coaches and AP.
A 6-foot-6, 230-pound forward from Norfolk, Va., Johnson is currently averaging a team-best 17.7 points on 51.9 percent (209-of-403) from the field, including 41.9 percent (44-of-105) from 3-point range, and 72.5 percent (103-of-142) from the free throw line, to go with a team-best 7.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 34.0 minutes per game. He is one of only two players (Kansas' Jalen Wilson) to rank in the top-5 in the Big 12 in scoring and rebounding both in overall and league-only games.
A 5-foot-7, 160-pound point guard from Harlem, N.Y., Nowell is averaging 16.8 points on 37.7 percent (151-of-401) from the field, including 34.6 percent (75-of-217) from 3-point range, and 88.5 percent (162-of-183) from the free throw line to go along with a Big 12-best 7.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 steals in 36.5 minutes per game. He ranks in the Big 12's top-3 in 13 categories, including tops in assists (243), assists/game, free throws made (162) and attempted (183), free throw percentage, steals (76), steals/game and minutes.
No. 15/13 K-State (23-9, 11-7 Big 12) earned a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night and will travel to Greensboro, N.C., to take on No. 14 seed Montana State (25-9, 15-3 Big Sky) at 8:40 p.m., CT on Friday night in the first round of the East Regional at the Greensboro Coliseum.
How to follow the 'Cats: For complete information on K-State men's basketball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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