Jerome Tang Did Not Have Enough Dudes to Save His Job

Jerome Tang ascended like a rocket in the college basketball universe. The NCAA Tournament darling flamed out in spectacular fashion at Kansas State.

In his first season in the Little Apple, the Purple Wildcats got hot at the right time, winning four of their last five regular-season games before storming into March Madness. Led by under-sized point guard Markquis Nowell, they made waves by knocking off Kentucky in the second round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Tang poured salt in Big Blue Nation’s wounds after the game.

“All those old dudes that played for Kentucky, they ain’t coming back, right? Tradition does not help you if you don’t get out there on the floor and play with some dudes. We had more dudes than they did today,” said Tang.

The mystique surrounding that team grew in the Sweet 16. In overtime against Michigan State, Kansas State broke the tie with a little trickery at Madison Square Garden. Nowell looked like he was fighting with Tang when he abruptly threw a lob pass for a reverse alley-oop. Kansas State advanced to the Elite Eight where they fell to Florida Atlantic. After the game, Tang pulled a Coach K and went into FAU’s locker room. We should’ve known then that it was the beginning of the end for this one-hit wonder.

pic.twitter.com/fbW7Kl1RST

— No Context College Basketball (@ContextFreeCBB) February 16, 2026

After that loss, Tang went 45-47 at Kansas State. He was fired on Sunday, and K-State officials are attempting to do it for cause to avoid paying an $18 million buyout. The cause? His latest “public comments and conduct.” He removed the players’ names from the back of their jerseys before they lost by double digits to Houston.

“These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform,” Tang said in a postgame rant that went viral. “There will be very few of them in it next year. I’m embarrassed for the university, I’m embarrassed for our fans, our student section. It is ridiculous … I have no answer. No words.”

Now, Tang does not have a job. It’s almost as if he planned this when he signed a lucrative extension following that 2023 NCAA Tournament run.

Jerome Tang literally told you this would happen. pic.twitter.com/y7n62JGpos

— Royals Big Q (@royalsbigq) February 16, 2026

There is a fun unintended consequence of Tang’s demise at Kansas State. Matt Driscoll will serve as the interim head coach. You may not know the name, but you know him as this ball of fire from the past.

[READ: Joe Tipton’s Kansas State Coaching Hot Board]