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Kansas State’s Jerome Tang Earns Naismith Men’s Coach of the Year Award

The Wildcats played in their fourth Elite Eight game in program history this season.

Madison Williams

Kansas State’s Jerome Tang Earns Naismith Men’s Coach of the Year Award
Kansas State’s Jerome Tang Earns Naismith Men’s Coach of the Year Award /
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Kansas State men’s basketball coach Jerome Tang won the 2023 Naismith men’s College Coach of the Year award, it was announced Sunday.

Tang, in his first season with the Wildcats and as a head coach in college basketball, helped lead the Wildcats to the Elite Eight for the fourth time in program history. In their NCAA tournament run, Kansas State beat Montana State, Kentucky and Michigan State before losing to FAU in the Elite Eight. The Wildcats finished the season 26–10.

“I’m honored and blessed to be named the Werner Ladder Naismith Men's Coach of the Year,” Tang said in a press release. “There have been a lot of great coaching jobs this season, and to be recognized among them is truly a humbling experience for me.”

Tang went viral multiple times during the NCAA tournament, most recently when Kansas State lost to the Owls. His post-game speech to the team warmed the hearts of college hoops fans everywhere, and he even visited FAU’s locker room after the game to congratulate them.

As of now, Tang is on a six-year deal with Kansas State signed last March when he was hired.

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

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