Five things: Jerome Tang provides Kansas State offseason intel

The media recently met in a virtual session with Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang . KSO provides the takeaways and a bit from what we learned from the basketball boss in Manhattan after a successful offseason.

1.) There are times when a coach shies away from applying a shade of negativity or criticism to the conversation. That tells me that they are worried about the mental strength and fortitude of the locker room and how they’ll handle the adversity. That isn’t the case in the early stages of the new Kansas State roster. Tang did not avoid the potential drawbacks, even mentioning the volatility in performance from Coleman Hawkins and Dug McDaniel and how they’ll have to develop and sustain some consistency.

2.) The praise has been reserved for K-State true freshman guard David Castillo . Typically that is not shared to the public even if true because they don’t have the maturity to handle either failure or success. Nobody is afraid of that when it comes to Castillo, commending his approach, preparedness and level-headed mentality more than anything. Tang often explains how they are trying to maneuver a roster so that the freshmen aren’t burdened with a ton of pressure and responsibility. It’s the opposite with Castillo, where he stated that he went from trying to forecast ways in which he could see the court to now not knowing how he’d keep him out of the starting lineup.

3.) We have always mentioned versatility when describing David N’Guessan . The same can likely also be said of guys like Hawkins, Achor Achor and CJ Jones . They can all guard plenty of positions. Kansas State can easily play with big lineups because of Hawkins, Achor and Ugonna Onyenso . Small lineups are possible because of the addition of Max Jones , the ascent of Castillo and the length of CJ Jones. Tang knows they can be a great man-to-man team but also one that could unlock a lethal zone, too. Just about any style of basketball can be executed with the roster that K-State has assembled.

4.) One of the more well-known recruitments that clearly had a microscope on it was that of Hawkins. He had a national spotlight on him because of both his ability and personality. The Illinois transfer is one of the best players in general that entered the portal but has the charisma and entertainment value to match it. But the NIL element also attracted eyeballs since he was reportedly one of the more expensive players that became available. Kansas State outlasted at least Arkansas, SMU, Louisville, North Carolina and LSU for his services. Tang provided additional information, too, explaining that it was conducted in a very straight-forward and appropriate manner. Hawkins also went through the NBA process, had his advisors notify which teams would be seriously considered afterwards and informed them when conversations could begin. It all went according to plan.

5.) A great question that was asked came from Mason Voth of KSO . Most of the transfers that were snagged by K-State all had excellent three-point shooting numbers last season. Obviously, that’s an element that was lacking in Manhattan last year. Tang admitted that it was something they needed to be addressed. They wanted shot-makers. While they are still insistent that last year’s club should have been better in that phase and just underachieved, it needed to be improved upon. The kinds of shots weren’t the issue. How many times the ball went through the basket was the problem. Kansas State was intentional about adding players that could rectify it.

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