Why Jerome Tang thinks K-State will be much improved with rebuilt basketball roster

Replacing 10 players on one college basketball roster is a stressful task for any coach, but Jerome Tang is glad he faced that kind of challenge over the past few months.

Why?

Well, because he thinks Kansas State is a much better team now than it was at the end of the 2023-24 season when the Wildcats won 19 games and then bowed out of the NIT with a first-round loss to Iowa.

“My staff has done an unbelievable job putting this roster together,” Tang said. “I don’t know that it could have gone any better than it has. I am so pleased with what we have and what we have to work with. We are looking forward to watching how we put this thing together and see the guys get out there and play for our fans.”

The problems that plagued the Wildcats last season, like poor shooting and turnovers, could be fixed now that Tang has brought in a batch of new players that includes eight transfers from Division I schools, one junior college transfer and high school guard David Castillo.

K-State has more shooters and better depth than it had last season. It also has more athleticism and way more height. The Wildcats could be one of the biggest teams in the nation next season with Illinois transfer Coleman Hawkins (6-10), Kentucky big man Ugonna Onyenso (7-0), Samford forward Achor Achor (6-9), Arkansas center Baye Fall (6-11) and David N’Guessan (6-11) all competing for minutes in the frontcourt.

There were times last season when Tang wondered about which players he trusted to use in games. Now he is in a position where he has to think about who to sit.

The Wildcats could try a wide assortment of lineups next season, even one that features three big men on the floor at the same time. Options like that weren’t available during his first two seasons in Manhattan.

“What stands out to me about the roster is that we have a number of guys who can shoot the ball and make 3s at a high clip,” Tang said. “Whether they are 6-10 like Coleman Hawkins or 5-11 like Dug McDaniel, we have guys who can make shots at a high clip. They are also competitive and they have IQ.

“How can we put them all on the floor at the same time? The great thing about out roster is that we can play a variety of ways. We can play big and we can play small. We can be a really good zone team if we choose to. I know we are going to be a really good man-to-man team. I feel like our roster is set up in a way that we could, whatever problem is thrown at us by another team, we have guys that could match and answer those.”

Other K-State newcomers include Villanova guard Brendan Hausen, Michigan guard Dug McDaniel, Illinois-Chicago guard CJ Jones, Cal-State Fullerton guard Max Jones, junior-college transfer Chimobi Ikegwuruka and Castillo.

Tang has good things to say about all of them, but for now he seems highest on his point guards. He said McDaniel was the best point guard in the entire transfer portal. He also thinks Castillo will be ready to contribute as a freshman, and maybe even start.

Overall, the Wildcats were able to recruit an incoming transfer class that ranked top 5 nationally, per college basketball expert Evan Miya.

Bringing in all that new blood made Tang feel more like a NBA general manager than a college head coach, especially with one of the incoming players signing lucrative NIL deals worth as much as $2 million.

Now he will face another difficult task — molding all these transfers into a cohesive unit. No one was happy with how last season went for the Wildcats. Getting back to the NCAA Tournament is more of a demand than a goal.

How will he make that happen? The journey has already begun. Unlike previous years, when Tang was busy recruiting late into August, the K-State basketball roster was set in June. The vast majority of the roster is already on campus for summer school. Achor is expected to arrive in early July. And N’Guessan will join the team after he is done playing for The Netherlands national team this summer.

In other words, he thinks K-State has a head start on previous years.

“We’re going to get to spend all of July with the whole group here,” Tang said. “I believe that is going to make a huge difference in how things get going.”