Fresh off an Elite Eight loss that put an end to the first season of the Jerome Tang era in Manhattan, the Kansas State star coach has collected even more hardware, winning the Naismith Coach of the Year Award.
Tang is the first winner of the Naismith Award in Wildcat basketball history, and just the fourth in the history of the Big 12 conference. Tang was chosen for the award over fellow finalists Matt Painter of Purdue, Kelvin Sampson of Houston, and Shaka Smart of Marquette.
Picked to finish last place in the Big 12 in the preseason standings, the Wildcats achieved more than anyone imagined possible, advancing to the Elite Eight with wins over Michigan State, Kansas, and Kentucky, and finishing with a 26-10 overall record.
Tang says that although he's honored to be presented with the award, it's just the beginning of great things to come for KState basketball.
There have now been three Kansas State coaches to win the National Coach of the Year, with Tex Winter in 1958, Jack Hartman in 1980, and Jerome Tang in 2023.
