There is no doubt in Jerome Tang’s mind that the Kansas State basketball roster, which enters his third year as head coach of the Wildcats, is an upgrade from last season.
Better still, he won’t have to spend the next month scouring the transfer portal for talent to fill the gaps.
“This is the first time we have completed our entire lineup in June,” Tang said. “Our freshman year, Keyontae (Johnson) didn’t show up until August, right when school was starting, and Desi (Sills) didn’t get here until October. August or September, in that area, right after classes start.
“So we’re going to spend the entire four weeks of July training with the whole group here. I believe this will make a big difference in the way things go.”
With just three returning players and 10 newcomers – eight Division I transfers, one junior college transfer and one high school player – Tang and his staff appreciate any extra time they have with the team. The only one who will not be present at the start of summer training is super senior striker David N’Guessan, who is currently with the Dutch national team.
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N’Guessan was the only returning player to log significant minutes last year for a Wildcat team that went 19-15 and was the only one in the National Invitation Tournament. Forwards Taj Manning and Macaleab Rich saw limited playing time as freshmen.
Therefore, building team chemistry is a top priority in the coming months before the fall semester begins.
“We as a team always talk about connecting with the heart. It’s our job to connect with the hearts of our players,” Tang said. “And once you connect with their hearts, you can make them understand, or at least you will understand where they are coming from, to help them get to where they want to be.” I’m excited. We haven’t been able to do that the last two years because we spent the entire summer still recruiting a team. And so, you couldn’t fully focus on what kind of team you could be – coming together and doing team-building things – because you were waiting for all the guys to get there.”
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Tang firmly believes the Wildcats have the talent to return to the NCAA Tournament in their third season. Two years ago, with third-team All-Americans Johnson and Markquis Nowell leading the way, they won 26 games and reached the Elite Eight.
“My team did an unbelievable job putting together this lineup,” Tang said. “And I don’t know if it could have been better than it was. I’m really pleased with what we have and what we have to work on and looking forward to seeing how we put this together and seeing these guys go out and play for our fans.”
In the backcourt, coaches addressed last year’s most obvious weaknesses, namely erratic perimeter shots and turnovers. The Wildcats now have multiple 3-point threats, all of which would have led the team in that category last year, and Michigan transfer Dug McDaniel is a true point guard.
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The Wildcats also have their most diverse front line under Tang, after filling the final three roster spots with 6-foot-9 Samford transfer Achor Achor, 7-foot Kentucky forward Ugonna Onyenso and forward Coleman Hawkins of Illinois 6-10.
“The last two guys we signed really set us up to have a chance to be really good,” Tang said of Onyenso and Hawkins, who tested the NBA waters before withdrawing from the draft. “And at the time I thought, man, we have the right guys. We have a little more margin for error.”
Of course, coaches are rarely 100% satisfied, and Tang confessed that he is no exception.
“And now that they’re here, the coach in me kicks in and says, man, we still have no room for error,” he said with a smile. “We have to keep improving. We have to keep working.”
Arne Green lives in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett Network. He can be contacted at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared in the Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang ready to get to work
