Learning Where Basketball Can Take You

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Sitting in a short-sleeve purple quarter-zip and wearing his typical smile and talking about good people and good times and good things, Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang appears well rested or a guy who's been abroad for 10 days and has been in Manhattan for less than 24 hours after a 29-hour trip back to the United States.

He's relaxed and talking about crossing the border from Israel to Palestine to visit Bethlehem. He's talking about breaking bread, literally, and food, unbelievable food "that blew everything else away." He's talking about how his coaching staff really had no summer vacation and how the overseas basketball trip through Athletes For Israel allowed them time to spend with their significant other, that is, when the Wildcats weren't on the basketball court. This is pretty significant, too: K-State is back after becoming one of the first two college basketball programs ever to take a foreign tour to Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

"We made history," Tang says. "We had a wonderful time."

K-State departed August 9 and spent three nights each in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and four nights in Abu Dhabi. The Wildcats walked through Old City Jerusalem, the City of David, Bethlehem and Old City Jaffa. They soaked in the Dead Sea. They visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.

And they played international basketball as well during this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

They returned on Sunday just in time for Tang to address new K-State students at 2023 K-State Convocation at Bramlage Coliseum before catching a few hours of sleep.

"I hope our guys learned that basketball can take them a lot of places in life and that they really appreciated what they experienced," Tang says. "I think it'll be a while for them to understand the specialness of what they accomplished and to understand that sports can really bring people together."

It certainly seemed to bring the K-State basketball team, featuring some new faces, closer together less than one month before the official start of practice. Tang ensured that every player experienced playing time and that everybody had the opportunity to contribute. Some performances stood out among the rest.

Junior transfer Arthur Kaluma, a 6-foot-7, 225-pounder from Creighton, started things off by pacing five Wildcats in double figures with 23 points in a 94-87 win over the Israeli Select Team last Tuesday in Tel Aviv, Israel. Then transfer Tylor Perry, a 5-foot-11, 182-pound guard from North Texas, had 18 points, including five 3-pointers, in a narrow 83-81 loss to Team Mexico on Thursday in Abu Dhabi. For good measure, Perry erupted with 33 points (9-of-11 on 3-point attempts) in just 18 minutes in a 112-72 win over Al-Sharjah Club on Friday in Abu Dhabi.

"Arthur is a good player and our responsibility and his responsibility is to get him to where he's consistent every single night. We'll be able to get him there," Tang says. "TP, it wasn't hyperbole when I said he's the best shooter in the country (immediately after the game). He got pretty comfortable in that last game. It's exciting to see that."

Excitement surrounds the return of 6-foot-10, 210-pound senior forward Nae'Qwan Tomlin, who at times took over games on both ends of the court.

"He's more confident," Tang says. "He knows he can do more things. We just really want him to embrace the fact that with his energy level, speed and quickness, he can dominate a game on both ends of the floor. There was a spurt there against Mexico where he took the game over and had a couple dunks and a couple nice drives. That was good to see."

And excitement surrounds 6-foot-10, 235-pound center Jerrell Colbert, who redshirted last season and recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the finale against Al-Sharjah Club.

"Jerrell got better every game and ended the last one with a double-double. You wanted to see that," Tang says. "You wanted to see his confidence grow."

Cam Carter, who is expected to emerge as a significant contributor this season, had 17 points against the Israeli Select Team, 11 points against Mexico, and 20 points in the finale.

"The four older guys with TP and Qwan and Arthur and Cam, we as a staff walked away and said, 'We have four dudes we can count on every night,'" Tang says.

What impresses Tang most about his team's overall performance?

"I've always felt like we were pretty fast," he says. "I feel like we could be the fastest team in the country. Our speed and ability to get up and down the court, each individual person, is a little bit quicker. I think we'll be quicker at most positions than most of the teams we play against."

While K-State was balling on its international tour, 6-foot-9, 215-pound forward David N'Guessan was competing for The Netherlands in Istanbul, Turkiye, averaging 9.0 points on 55.6% shooting with 6.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 26.6 minutes over the three-game FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament.

"We were able to see him (play)," Tang says. "His rebounding was good, and he shot the ball well, and his movements, he showed he can dribble handoff and do some things, so it's making us look at some other things to do with him."

K-State also received a lift with the addition of two-time All-Southern Conference selection Ques Glover on Friday. A 6-foot, 180-pound combo guard, Glover arrives at K-State after playing two seasons at Samford following a two-year stint at Florida, where he played alongside Keyontae Johnson. As a graduate transfer, Glover will have one year of eligibility remaining. As a junior, he averaged 19.2 points and 4.4 assists and was a finalist for the Lou Henson Award, which annually honors the nation's top mid-major player.

"Terrific basketball player," Tang says. "His senior year, he was hurt early and came back and averaged 20 points over the last 10 games of the season. He's a competitor, he can get downhill, he can get by you, he can make tough shots. He's a two-to-one assist-to-turnover guy. We're excited about his leadership and ability on the floor. Both him and TP are going to be terrific."

As for the true freshmen? Keep an eye on 6-foot-1, 160-pound guard Dai Dai Ames, a native of Chicago, Illinois. Ames arrived as a four-star and consensus top-100 prospect by all four major recruiting services.

"Dai Dai has probably had the best offseason of the three freshmen," Tang says. "He's just really shown that he has some toughness to him, and he's really competitive in the weight room and on the court. R.J. Jones and Macaleab Rich — when the lights came on, they had special moments at times, but they're freshmen and they had ups and downs. But we saw the reason they're here, and they're going to help our program going forward."

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Dai Dai Ames

Cam Carter

Jerrell Colbert

Ques Glover

Keyontae Johnson

R.J. Jones

Arthur Kaluma

David N'Guessan

Tylor Perry

Macaleab Rich

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