GREENSBORO, N.C. — Standing near the 3-point line, Jerome Tang and his boss Gene Taylor embraced in a hug. One of those hugs with such force on contact that your breath is taken away for a second. One of those hugs where neither person wants to let go. One of those hugs where the emotion of the moment makes time feel like it stopped.
In the background of the hug, time on the scoreboard inside Greensboro Coliseum did stop with nothing but zeros on the clock. In bright LED lights the scoreboard read: Kansas State 75, Kentucky 69. Kansas State had just upset the bluest of blue bloods in the Round of 32 to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2018.
Kansas State was the higher-seeded team on Sunday. But Sunday’s betting line closed with Kentucky favored by Las Vegas oddsmakers, not to mention the public perception of Kansas State playing against arguably the greatest program in college basketball history with a trip to the Sweet 16 waiting to be rewarded to the victorious team.
Despite missing their first 13 attempts from 3-point range and Kentucky starting the second half with vengeance, going on a 13-0 run, Kansas State beat the sixth seed in the East Region. All-American point guard Markquis Nowell was brilliant in the game, particularly in the second half when he scored 23 of his 27 points, making 5-of-10 shots, including 3-of-6 triples. He had four assists in the second half, including one to his All-American teammate Keyontae Johnson to ice the game and put Kansas State ahead 67-62 with 1:23 left in the second half.
Eleven months ago, Taylor made the “difficult” decision to move on from Bruce Weber after 10 seasons leading Kansas State, which included a trip to the Elite Eight in 2018 and two Big 12 titles.
“I’m thinking back to a year ago,” Taylor said, choking up as tears mounted in the bottom of his eyes thinking about what the hiring of Tang meant to Kansas State after only one season leading the program. “And how big this decision was and how fortunate we were that [Tang] was available. And I think about how difficult it was to make the decision about Bruce, who is a really tremendous person. But to get Jerome here and what he’s done? It’s phenomenal.”
Taylor interviewed Tang twice. Once in Kansas City for about an hour and Tang “blew [him]away” Taylor. The second interview came in Tang’s former home in Waco, Texas. For more than two hours, Taylor and members of his staff interrogated Tang, until the coaching candidate asked them a question — ‘Can I use the restroom?’ With a laugh, Taylor said, ‘It’s your house.’ While Tang excused himself from the living room, Taylor looked to his coworkers and said, ‘What do we do? We need to make an offer.”
Tang has inserted life into Kansas State basketball that didn’t exist before he was hired. Fan support dwindled, and Bramlage Coliseum had gone from being the Octagon of Doom for opposing teams to the Octagon of Boom. It was no longer an “intimidating place to play” like it was when Tang started as an assistant coach at Baylor 20 years ago. Kansas State lost only one home game this season, and experienced memorable moments, like the win over Kansas when Tang climbed the scorer’s table and declared to Wildcat fans to “expect to win.”
Jerome Tang had a message for K-State fans.
Shoulda dropped the mic. pic.twitter.com/otjJv2XChr
— Alec Busse (@alec_busse) January 18, 2023
And beyond any stretch of dreams, Kansas State has won this season — more than anybody expected them to. K-State was picked to finish last in the Big 12 before the season. An NCAA Tournament was something of hope. A Sweet 16 berth? A shooting star in the night.
“Quis and I went to lunch one day, and I said, Quis, I’m going to do everything in my power to put a team together to get to the NCAA Tournament,” Tang said. “He said, ‘Coach, I don’t care if we have five dudes. We’re going to the tournament because Kemba Walker won a national championship with I think three freshmen and two sophomores.'”
For a long time, Kansas State didn’t even have five guys. They only had two. Just two players from last season’s team — Nowell and junior Ish Massoud, who hit a 3-pointer to put Kansas State up 64-62 with 2:21 left in the game.
“I stayed because I love the university, I love the opportunity to play in the Big 12 and having conversations with Coach Tang,” Massoud said. “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, I knew it was going to be challenging. I knew it was going to be hard. A lot of things he valued, faith, hard work — I really value myself too. It was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.”
There’s a sense of irony in Nowell and Massoud being two of the biggest heroes for Kansas State on Sunday. Being the only two players to stick with Tang and being the two players to vault them to the Sweet 16?
“So thankful for those guys,” tang said, “You just want them when this year is done, that they have no regret about staying. I’m super thankful for them.”
Taylor has a history of hiring little-known coaches at Kansas State. Coaches who don’t bring national headlines after their introductory press conference, though Tang certainly won his.
“I think the reaction from the fan base,” Taylor said, ” You could sense the energy was going to be phenomenal working with him, and he’s such a good person. To me, that’s what’s most important, is hiring good people.”
In the fall, Tang watched from afar as Taylor and his football coach, Chris Klieman, embraced in a hug, one with “love and appreciation.” That’s the same kind of hug Tang and Taylor embraced in on Sunday in Greensboro after clinching a Sweet 16.
“I absolutely love him,” Tang said of his relationship with Taylor. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate him taking the chance on me. yeah, words can’t describe it, but I wanted one of those hugs — and I’m thankful that I get to live with this man.”
