Report: Iowa State Men’s Basketball Team Accused of Stealing Signs Against Kansas State

Wildcats coach Jerome Tang appeared frustrated during Wednesday’s Big 12 game as the team alerted officials of their claims.

A pair of testy late-game exchanges between Iowa State Cyclones coach T.J. Otzelberger and Kansas State Wildcats coach Jerome Tang earlier this week were reportedly tied to a sign-stealing accusation.

Otzelberger and Tang exchanged words twice during Wednesday’s 78–67 Iowa State win in Ames, once after a media timeout with just under eight minutes to play and again in the postgame handshake line. According to Kellis Robinett of The Wichita Eagle, Tang’s frustration stemmed from his belief that Iowa State had planted team representatives in the stands behind the Kansas State bench to steal signs during huddles. Tang and his staff were reportedly concerned that the representatives were then texting that information into the Iowa State huddles.

Tang and Kansas State assistant Jareem Dowling alerted the game’s referees about the situation, appearing to point into the stands a few rows behind the team’s bench as they did. Tang then attempted to talk to Otzelberger before being quickly pulled away by the referees. He could be seen saying to the officials, “They’ve got three guys in the stands videoing our huddle,” on the ESPN+ broadcast of the game, before eventually settling down and play resuming. 

Tang, left, said he told Otzelberger about Kansas State’s accusations during this exchange :: Reese Strickland/USA TODAY Sports

Then, following the game, Tang spent time in the postgame handshake line seemingly attempting to explain the same thing to Otzelberger, gesturing toward the stands as though he was holding a phone.

Jerome Tang trying to one up Rodney Terry in the handshake line 😭pic.twitter.com/ED32GBakFx

— Faux TJ Otzelberger (@FauxTjOtz) January 25, 2024

Neither coach addressed the situation postgame, with Tang saying he was only interested in discussing the game and that he and Otzelberger would “go figure the other part of it out.” It’s also unclear at this stage whether the apparent allegations will be investigated any further by the Big 12 league office.

“Nothing happened. We talked about a situation that took place during the game and he said he would check into it,” Tang said postgame, per the Eagle. “Then I told him, ‘Thank you,’ and went on. I love T.J.”

The allegations are somewhat comparable to the sign-stealing scandal involving the Michigan Wolverines football team last fall, in which staffer Connor Stalions was accused of running a scheme of filming future opponents’ sidelines. Stalions eventually resigned, and former head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended for three games as a result of the allegations.

Sign-stealing in basketball is more complicated because of the pace of the game, though timeouts would be a rare window of opportunity. Purdue Boilermakers coach Matt Painter told Sports Illustrated earlier in January that his team occasionally will hold up dummy play calls out of timeouts to keep opponents off the scent.

“We’ll write something during a [timeout] and then hold up a sign that is not the play. We give that to them 2–3 times a game,” Painter said. “So if they’re really on and they’re doing that stuff, they’re going to be writing some things that are inaccurate.”