After a long day of speculation and worry among many Kansas State supporters, Wildcat men’s basketball head coach Jerome Tang is staying in Manhattan.
On Friday morning, the Mercury reported that Tang was one of two top candidates for Arkansas’ head coaching vacancy, along with Mississippi head coach Chris Beard, and that the second-year coach had either met with Razorback officials or would be meeting with them later that day at the Final Four in Phoenix.
Beard announced that he would be staying in Oxford at around 1 p.m., leading several national reporters to then say that Tang had risen to the top of the Arkansas list.
CBS Sports announced that K-State offered Tang a contract extension at around 5:20 p.m. and roughly two hours later, Tang released a video slideshow on social media, reaffirming his commitment to the Wildcat program.
On Sunday, Arkansas poached Hall of Famer John Calipari from Kentucky following Tang’s decision.
Specifics on the new deal have not been released, but multiple reports point to more money for Tang and his assistants and a larger NIL commitment to help lure top talent to Manhattan.
The former 20-year Baylor assistant burst onto the scene in 2022, taking K-State all of the way to the Elite Eight in his debut season as head coach.
Things did not go as well this past year as the Wildcats struggled through an up-and-down campaign filled with controversy that ended in with a loss to Iowa in the opening round of the NIT.
Early this season, the Wildcats saw the dismissal of former star forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin following his arrest in Aggieville for brawling on Oct. 29. Tang differed in his approach to that matter from university president Richard Linton.
Tang just announced the first transfer portal addition of the offseason on Thursday. During an interview on Thursday, he said: “We are thankful. We have got an unbelievable staff and we are blessed to be in Manhattan and excited about what we have for the future.”
