{"id":465735,"date":"2026-02-13T06:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T06:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/465735\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T06:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T06:48:09","slug":"pti-sounds-off-on-k-state-coach-jerome-tang-blasting-his-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/465735\/","title":{"rendered":"‘PTI’ sounds off on K-State coach Jerome Tang blasting his team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kansas State head men\u2019s basketball coach Jerome Tang ripped his players<\/a> during a postgame press conference after the Wildcats\u2019 91-62 home loss to Cincinnati on Wednesday night in Manhattan, KS.<\/p>\n

Among his comments slamming Kansas State players, Tang said, \u201cThese dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform. There will be very few of them in it next year.\u201d He added, \u201cThey don\u2019t love this place, so they don\u2019t deserve to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

During Thursday\u2019s edition of Pardon the\u00a0Interruption on ESPN, hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon sounded off on Tang\u2019s tirade.<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t Tang recruit these people? He\u2019s in his fourth season, so he didn\u2019t inherit any of these people. \u2026 The team he\u2019s got now, he clearly hates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wow. Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon go scorched earth on Jerome Tang on PTI. pic.twitter.com\/qjsHz59Gf4<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Riley Gates (@Riley_Gates) February 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cCan I ask the relevant question?\u201d Kornheiser said, after reading quotes from Tang\u2019s press conference. \u201cWho recruited these people? Didn\u2019t Tang recruit these people? He\u2019s in his fourth season. So, he didn\u2019t inherit any of these people. So, if mistakes are made, errors of judgment, they are his errors of judgment. I\u2019m not saying he\u2019s a bad coach. I was told he won 26 games in his first year and made the Elite Eight. He may have inherited some players on that team, but the team he\u2019s got now, he clearly hates.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, this is college basketball right now, with NIL, and with the transfer portal, coaches make a lot of money, players make a lot of money, everybody\u2019s a pro,\u201d Kornheiser continued. \u201cNobody\u2019s sweating out a chem final anymore, Wilbon. Nobody\u2019s caring about that. So, if you want to get rid of this guy Tang, you\u2019ve got to pay him an $18 million buyout. It\u2019s probably cheaper to get rid of the players.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t go that far,\u201d Wilbon said. \u201cIf I was the president of the university, I would call Coach Tang, and I\u2019d say, \u201cSo, you\u2019ve got until the TV trucks get here at five o\u2019clock for local news, to get down in something purple with a logo, and walk this back. That\u2019s how long you\u2019ve got. Because I will also terminate you for cause, and there may not be a buyout of [$18,675,000]. And I think he\u2019s probably a really good coach too, but you can\u2019t go this far.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m stealing a phrase from the coach I probably admired most in my life\u2026 the late, great John Thompson, who would often say to me when I got ready to criticize somebody in The Washington Post, \u2018Hey, these are somebody\u2019s children,’\u201d Wilbon added. \u201cThey still are. Whether they get a paycheck or not. So, Tang has to remember that, or he might have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even before the tirade, many Kansas State fans were already calling for a buyout of Tang\u2019s contract. Some Kansas State students wore paper bags over their heads<\/a> during the loss to Cincinnati, and one bag even noted Tang\u2019s buyout cost<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kansas State is 10-14 this season and 1-10 in conference play, tied for last in the Big 12.<\/p>\n

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