WATCH: Jermone Tang visits FAU locker room following Elite Eight loss
Kansas State suffered a heartbreaker in the Elite Eight on Saturday. Florida Atlantic will be heading to Houston to compete for a national championship, while the Wildcats head back home. Head coach Jermone Tang has been a class act throughout the entire tournament and provided another example after the game.
Tang made his way to the FAU locker room, giving a speech. According to a tweet from Glenn Kinley of KSNT, Tang told the Owls how tough of a team they were to play against. He also now has a team he will be rooting to cut down the nets in the Final Four, wanting head coach Dusty May to win the title.
The video of Tang speaking to the team was captured. He has the full attention of all the players with the celebration on pause. You can tell they respect what Kansas State put out on the floor and was willing to listen to the head coach’s message.
“Your toughness, your togetherness, your ability to make plays for each other,” Tang began. “The way you communicate with each other. Nobody can beat y’all. Just stay together, don’t get distracted between now and then. Stay locked in, keep doing what y’all doing. Y’all are the toughest son of a guns we played all year long. Just proud of y’all and will be rooting for you.”
Never in a million years would you think FAU and Kansas State can have a special bond in college basketball. There was no bad blood during the game as everyone was just out there competing. Tang has now made a new group of friends and definitely has their respect.
An overall classy move for everyone involved at Madison Square Garden.
Jerome Tang still thankful for the moment even after loss
Kansas State may have had bigger aspirations heading into the tournament than losing in the Elite Eight. But when you take everything into consideration, Year One under Tang was a massive success. Nobody thought the Wildcats would make the postseason let alone win three games.
Tang is still thankful for the journey, taking time to appreciate the run during his postgame press conference — something that’s incredibly on-brand for Tang.
“In the midst of probably one of the toughest things that I experience with these guys, if we can’t be grateful in these times, then all the love and joy that we talk about is fraud, and we’re not frauds,” Tang said.
Few know what it takes to win a national championship and Tang was able to pull it off as an assistant coach at Baylor. Now getting an Elite Eight in during his first season with the Wildcats is a positive step. The next goal will be the ones cutting down the nets, not watching Florida Atlantic on the other end.