Tang Remains Thankful

By: D. Scott Fritchen

There is a man. His name is Jerome Tang. Or as Kansas State assistant coach Jareem Dowling would say, he's "Jerome Freaking Tang." And there he is, the 2023 National Coach of the Year, 14 months removed from the start of this ride, and he's standing in a purple polo, blue jeans and black ostrich boots. He's holding court Wednesday night at the HRC Feed Yard in Scott City, Kansas.

"I was given the 4-1-1 about Scott City," he begins. "You don't break out the fine China for everybody. These boots have only been worn two times."

Kansas State men's basketball, and most notably, Tang, shares a buzz on the western swing of the Catbacker Tour, because Tang has never visited places such as Great Bend, Garden City and Scott City. Some K-State fans have seen him only on TV dashing into the student section after a big win. Now he's here, he's live, and he's honest.

"First of all, it's a pleasure and an honor to be here," Tang says. "I heard a lot about Scott City, and we were nervous. I heard the energy was incredible and obviously the cuisine – which I tried it, and I want you to know that – but man, it's a blessing to be able to represent such great fans and a terrific family."

Later, he adds: "It's amazing what you can accomplish when your motivation is love."

The love runs thicker than the distinct feed yard aroma that wafts outside, the smell of money, and the love is loud as more than 300 gatherers hang on his words and wildly applaud. And why not? These folks don't forget, how the first-year Division I head coach and his new coaching staff built a roster, took a team picked 10^th in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll to No. 5 in the nation before it finished 15^th in the final poll ahead of the NCAA Tournament, where it finished its journey in New York City and one game from the Final Four.

The tour continues late into the night, as Tang enjoys a light show. Lightning flashes like a strobe light on the long, lonely road between Scott City and Liberal. He thinks to himself: "I'm having a blast."

"Manhattan and Kansas State University is the best place in the world," Tang tells a crowd of 180 at Old Chicago in Liberal early Thursday morning. "There's no better place to be. If you don't believe it's the best place to be, you can't convince anybody else. We do. We're so in love with being at Kansas State and being a part of this great family.

"Last year at this time we had five players, and I'm sure you here in western Kansas were like, 'What's this dude doing?' I wouldn't blame you. But this year we have 10, so we can play 5-on-5. The 10 we have are pretty good, but we're going to sign three more, and they're going to be better or we're not going to sign them. We're in the middle of recruiting right now. You all play such a vital part in winning. When we have a kid who's coming on a visit and you follow him on Twitter and like his posts, it helps. Young people want to be a part of that. We're so thankful."

Who could've thought that the 56-year-old Tang, the former 19-year assistant/associate head coach at Baylor would be pumping the K-State Wildcats in the middle of western Kansas on May 18, 2023? Who could've thought that the native of San Fernando, Trinidad, who migrated with his parents to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands until age 10 when his family moved to Texas, where he fell in love with basketball, would be in middle America, touting a program that once featured the likes of Hall-of-Famers Jack Gardner, Tex Winter, Jack Hartman and Lon Kruger on the bench?

Quick answer: No one. No one thought this was possible back on October 7, 1966, when Tang was born. And no one thought this was possible when he served as athletic director at Heritage Christian, a birth-through-high school private school that had 145 total students, including 30 high school students. And no one thought this was possible when Baylor head coach Scott Drew visited Tang, who had $10.81 to buy food.

And here he is, Tang, live at Southwind Golf and Dining in Garden City, sunlight bouncing off wall-sized windows, more than 200 in attendance, and he holds a microphone, and throws up his arms.

"Being ranked fifth? It was pretty crazy," he says, smiling. "Bet you all thought it was pretty crazy, too, huh?"

Nothing seems crazy anymore. Not Tang being head coach. And not K-State achieving uber success. Few things are as peaceful as five-hour drives from western Kansas to the Little Apple. Few things are as wild as those late-night drives back to western Kansas after a K-State victory, the adrenaline still pumping into the early-morning hours.

"When you pack the house and the Octagon of Doom looks how it looks, every kid in America wants to play in front of those kinds of crowds night in and night out," Tang says in Garden City. "Thanks for your drives. You put in a lot of time to get there, and we greatly appreciate it. The only thing that disappoints me is when we don't live up to your expectations. The effort you put into helping us be great, we want to reciprocate that. It might not always result in a W but the effort should always be there so you leave saying, 'Man, those guys gave it everything they had.'"

Tang, donned in his black boots in Scott City, puts things into a different light.

"We're going to have a parade in Manhattan," he says, "really soon."

He's broken out the fine China.

It's time to eat.

Kansas State University Athletics

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