Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang turns down Arkansas offer to stay with Wildcats
MANHATTAN — Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang isn't going anywhere.
After a nervous day for Wildcat fans when Tang reportedly was offered the Arkansas job, he signaled via social media Friday night that he is remaining in Manhattan and preparing for a third season at K-State.
Tang's name had been mentioned recently in connection with openings at SMU and Southern California, but things really heated up Thursday when Arkansas' Eric Musselman accepted the USC job. And when early frontrunner Chris Beard announced Friday that he was staying at Mississippi, the Razorbacks went hard after Tang.
Tang, who has a 45-25 in his two seasons as a head coach, is expected to receive a contract extension — he already had signed a new seven-year deal last September — plus a bump in pay for his assistants and an increase in name, image and likeness (NIL) money for staying put.
Tang's current contract paid him $3 million for this season with increases of $100,000 each year before topping out at $3.6 million in 2029-30. The buyout, had he left for Arkansas, would have been $6 million.
Related: Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang: Dug McDaniel was a priority for the Wildcats
Related: Kansas State basketball transfer portal tracker: Who's in and who's out for the Wildcats?
Tang, a K-State fan favorite from the time he succeeded Bruce Weber as a first-time head coach in March 2022, made an immediate splash during his first season, leading the Wildcats to a 26-10 record and magical NCAA Tournament run to the Elite 8.
Things did not go as well this past season as the Wildcats fell to 19-15 overall with an 8-10 record in the Big 12, capping it with a first-round loss to Iowa in the National Invitation Tournament.
The season got off to a rocky start when senior forward Nae'Qwan Tomlin was dismissed from the team following his disorderly conduct arrest at a Manhattan bar. And then Samford graduate transfer guard Ques Glover suffered a knee injury that sidelined him for the entire year.
But the offseason got off to a promising start earlier this week when Tang signed Michigan sophomore guard Dug McDaniel from the transfer portal. And Mikeal Brown-Jones, a high-scoring 6-foot-8 forward from North Carolina-Greensboro, on Friday named K-State as one of his three finalists along with Ole Miss and Pittsburgh.
K-State, which earlier lost three players — starting guard Cam Carter, backup guard Dorian Finister and starting center Jerrell Colbert — to the portal, still has four scholarships available for the upcoming season. In November, Tang signed four-start high school guard David Castillo.
With Tang staying, look for the Wildcats to remain active in the transfer market as they try to recapture the magic of the 2022-23 season.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang to remain in Manhattan
