Following a buyout settlement with former Wildcat men’s basketball head coach Jerome Tang, Kansas State will save several million dollars. After months of negotiations, Tang and K-State settled their dispute over an $18.7 million buyout following his firing in February for $12 million, The Mercury confirmed with K-State Thursday afternoon. The former basketball coach, who opened Big 12 play with a 1-11 record, was fired midway through his fourth season “for cause” in February after publicly criticizing his players for lackluster effort in a home loss to Cincinnati on Feb. 11. “These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform;…
Author: Tim Everson
Kansas State sophomore guard Brandie Harrod has suffered an lower-body injury and will miss the entirety of the 2026-27 season, head coach Jeff Mittie has announced. “Incredibly disappointed for Brandie,” Mittie said in a statement. “She had worked so hard in the offseason and was poised to really build off her freshman season. Our staff will continue to support and help her through this injury to come back strong next year.” Harrod, a product of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, pulled in 78 offensive rebounds last season, which ranked tied for second in program history for a freshman season and paced the…
Kansas State’s return to Cincinnati and Nippert Field after 31 years did not go as planned. After leading 10-0 and 17-10 at the half, the Wildcats (3-1, 0-1 in Big 12 play) were outscored 21-9 in the second half as failures on all three sides of the ball sealed K-State’s fate, a 31-26 loss to the Bearcats (4-0, 1-0). The loss is the Wildcats’ first of the season and gives them a defeat in the first road conference game of the season for the fifth straight year. Senior quarterback Avery Johnson had a fine game, even with K-State’s offensive line…
A scoring performance the likes of which hasn’t been seen in several decades highlighted first-year head coach Collin Klein’s emphatic debut, as Kansas State bulldozed FCS Nicholls 71-3 Saturday evening. The 71 points tie for fourth overall in school history with a 71-0 win over Wichita State in 1909. “I was really, really proud with the mentality,” Klein said. “I knew and felt that the focus level through the course of this week was where it needed to be. I thought they were dialed in; I thought they attacked the game plan even through the week of preparation. We have…
FRISCO, Texas — Kansas State head coach Collin Klein addressed the media Wednesday afternoon in his first Big 12 Media Day since taking over the program back in December. Klein, along with quarterback Avery Johnson, running back Joe Jackson, linebacker Rex Van Wyhe and safety Wesley Fair, made the trip down to The Star, the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility in Frisco. Here’s what the first-year coach said: COLLIN KLEIN: Thank you all for being here. Thank you for all that you do for the greatest sport in the world. It’s great to be back to the Big 12. I grew…
Kansas State football is losing a special-teams standout from last season Sophomore wide receiver and kick returner Bryce Noernberg is no longer with the team, according to a social media post from his father, Scott, on Facebook. In a post from Tuesday night, Noernberg’s father claimed that after first-year head coach Collin Klein and his staff took over the program, the sophomore from Olathe North found himself at the bottom of the heap in his position groups and is going to try to find playing time elsewhere. “It was an amazing couple (of) years in Manhattan, but then D1 College…
Whether Jerome Tang will sue K-State over an $18.7 million buyout clause remains up in the air. Attorneys for Tang, the four-year former men’s basketball coach who was fired in February, sent a draft of a lawsuit that claimed he was owed that amount, athletics director Gene Taylor told The Mercury recently. No lawsuit has been filed. If a suit were filed, Tang’s contract stipulates that it must be filed in Riley County District Court. It’s not clear whether any negotiations or discussions have been conducted since then or what the status of those are. To view the full article…
A second 7-footer is headed to Manhattan. Kansas State men’s basketball and head coach Casey Alexander have signed Xavier forward Pape N’Diaye from the transfer portal, the team announced on Saturday. The 7-foot sophomore appeared in 29 games for the Musketeers during the 2025-26 season, averaging 2.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in limited minutes. New Mexico transfer JT Rock is the Wildcats’ other 7-footer, standing at 7-foot-1. Despite the low usage, N’Diaye ranked second on the team and seventh in the Big East with 1.0 blocks per game. He also went 9-of-21 on 3-point attempts for the Musketeers. N’Diaye showed…
Former Wildcat senior safety VJ Payne was picked with the 12th pick of the seventh round (228th overall) by the New York Jets. It’s the fifth-straight year and the 37th draft overall that the Wildcats have had at least two players picked. A four-year starter for the Wildcats, Payne played in 52 career games, which is tied for 11th in school history. He started 42 career games including 41-consecutive games to end his career, which stood as the longest streak on the team at the time of his graduation. A two-time All-Big 12 honorable mention pick, Payne ended the 2025…
It took until Day 3, but Kansas State football is sending another player to the next level. Wildcat senior center Sam Hecht was picked with the fourth pick of the fifth round (144th overall) of the 2026 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers Saturday afternoon. A former walk-on, the 6-foot-4, 303-pound offensive lineman was a first-time All-Big 12 selection by the leagues coaches and earned honorable mention for the league’s offensive lineman of the year award. He played in 42 games as a Wildcat, and started in the last 25 of them. During the 2025 season, Hecht played 759 offensive…