Baylor Basketball

Former K-State HC & Baylor NC-Winning Assistant Jerome Tang Returns to Waco

Tang returns to Waco.
By Ashley Hodge
April 28, 2026
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22 Comments
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Photo by Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365

Former Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang will return to Waco to rejoin Scott Drew’s staff at Baylor as an assistant, sources confirmed to SicEm365.

Tang, 59, previously spent 19 years in Waco, during which he helped lead the Bears to a National Championship in 2021, two Big 12 titles, 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and an overall record of 397-222.

He spent five seasons as Baylor’s associate head coach before getting hired to be K-State’s head coach in March 2022. Across the last four seasons, the Wildcats have compiled a 71-57 record; Tang was selected as the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year and runner-up for AP National Coach of the Year after guiding K-State to a 26-10 record and an Elite Eight appearance.

Following his standout first season in Manhattan, things progressively went south each season: the Wildcats reached the NIT in 2024, missed the postseason entirely in 2025 and Tang was fired midway through the 2026 season after a 1-11 start in conference play.

Tang launched his coaching career as the head coach at Heritage Christian Academy, where he spent a decade before joining Drew’s original staff at Baylor in 2003. He played a pivotal role in transforming a program shaken by scandal and NCAA probation into one of the best in the Big 12.

Tang played a key role in building nine consensus Top 25 recruiting classes during his time at Baylor. Those classes included standout groups from 2010 (Perry Jones III), 2011 (Quincy Miller and Deuce Bello), 2012 (Isaiah Austin, Prince, and Rico Gathers), and 2013 (Ishmail Wainright, Al Freeman, and Johnathan Motley). He also helped assemble the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history, which ranked No. 4 in 2021 and featured Kendall Brown, Langston Love and Jeremy Sochan.

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Former K-State HC & Baylor NC-Winning Assistant Jerome Tang Returns to Waco

10,076 Views | 22 Replies | Last: 3 days ago by Big guy
ImABearToo
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12:29p, 4/28/26
For real? Hallelujah!!!
“Life is short, eat desert first!”
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BigGameBaylorBear
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12:37p, 4/28/26
Our defenses were buns after he left, I'm glad he's back
Sic 'em Bears and Go Birds
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Bearsalwayswin
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12:37p, 4/28/26
we are ALL the way back
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BellCountyBear
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12:38p, 4/28/26
This is amazing!!!
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tmcats
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1:19p, 4/28/26
too bad it didn't work here at k-state. i thought he was a great hire. his first year was lights out.

but then he had some player off court issues. one was dismissed, naquan tomlin. and that sort of set the stage for what ultimately turned into a cluster.

so good on jerome for finding his way back to where he experienced the ultimate.
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Ewalker80
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2:17p, 4/28/26
This program seems to have found its mojo again.
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TWD 1974
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In reply to Ewalker80 • 2:29p, 4/28/26
Ewalker80 said:
This program seems to have found its mojo again.

"We're putting the band back together"
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9
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bear2be2
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In reply to Ewalker80 • 2:46p, 4/28/26
Ewalker80 said:
This program seems to have found its mojo again.

We had kind of lost our identity since the title season -- abandoning the things we had done to build a championship program for no good reason.

I like that we're returning to our roots in all facets of our program.
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Delmar 2.0
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2:51p, 4/28/26
W
I ain't quite as dumb as I seem
-- (P.C. 1974)
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LIB,MR BEARS
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In reply to bear2be2 • 3:23p, 4/28/26
bear2be2 said:
Ewalker80 said:
This program seems to have found its mojo again.

We had kind of lost our identity since the title season -- abandoning the things we had done to build a championship program for no good reason.

I like that we're returning to our roots in all facets of our program.


The NC team was built with long term players, redshirt transfers and guys like Butler that came in as freshmen. The portal has made it difficult to duplicate that and NIL has made it a bidding war for developing talent.
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Mitch Henessey
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In reply to bear2be2 • 5:15p, 4/28/26
bear2be2 said:
Ewalker80 said:
This program seems to have found its mojo again.

We had kind of lost our identity since the title season -- abandoning the things we had done to build a championship program for no good reason.

I like that we're returning to our roots in all facets of our program.
I was one who preached patience, as the transfer portal coming on the heels of that 2021 team threw everything into a flux. Drew approached it the most intelligent way that he could, trying to sprinkle one-and-dones in with multi-year guys, but it didn't work out to his plan.

Ultimately, other programs were able to figure out how to play to their strengths while we tried to navigate a brave new world with a brand new strategy. I was wrong for not seeing it not working out sooner, but I did see what Drew was trying to build. We just weren't the right program to try and build it. UConn and Florida have executed the game plan CSD was trying to implement much better than we could, whether because of strategy miscalculations, or a lack of institutional resources.

Glad we've returned to what we know and what has been successful here.
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Guitarbiscuit
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6:10p, 4/28/26
This is huge news. An absolutely monstrous upgrade.
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bear2be2
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In reply to LIB,MR BEARS • 10:14p, 4/28/26
LIB,MR BEARS said:
bear2be2 said:
Ewalker80 said:
This program seems to have found its mojo again.

We had kind of lost our identity since the title season -- abandoning the things we had done to build a championship program for no good reason.

I like that we're returning to our roots in all facets of our program.


The NC team was built with long term players, redshirt transfers and guys like Butler that came in as freshmen. The portal has made it difficult to duplicate that and NIL has made it a bidding war for developing talent.

Every good team Baylor has ever had under Drew was built, not bought.

Obviously, that's become more difficult in the NIL/transfer portal era, but I don't think it's impossible. It's pretty clear that just from a strategic standpoint, we're making some changes back toward the model that we've had success with in the past. Time will tell if it works. Either way, I'd prefer that we try because there was nothing particularly fulfilling about the last four seasons.
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Stefano DiMera
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11:08p, 4/28/26
The problem with the last 4 seasons is we had a roster of players who either refused or didn't know how to stick their foot in the ground and get a defensive stop whenever it was needed.

That 2020 and 2021 team could do that.

Offense has not been our issue. Hopefully Tang can rectify the above
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william
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In reply to Bearsalwayswin • 6:28a, 4/29/26
Bearsalwayswin said:
we are ALL the way back

lots of work to do before "we" can craim that ....

BUT very glad he is back at BU.

- el UF

D!

Go Bears!!

{ sipping coffee }

pro ecclesia, pro javelina
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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to Stefano DiMera • 8:04a, 4/29/26
I didn't see a lot of refusal to try on defense but I did see a complete lack of fundamentals and basketball IQ. Defense has to be coached hard at the college level. AAU ball doesn't lend itself to defensive fundamentals so it has to be instilled through coaching them up and holding them accountable. Our teams keep making the same mistakes over and over again and the players never learn or improve. Will Tang be enough to make a difference?
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cowboycwr
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11:07a, 4/29/26
Glad he is back.

Hopefully his return helps. That and Drew realizing that just buying one year players doesn't work. We need a good mix of building our own players and some transfers.

During the tournament there was a good graphic that showed the Elite 8 teams and where their players started. Most had 3 or more of their players start at their school with one or two transfers mixed in. That is what we need to figure out how to do.

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bear2be2
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In reply to cowboycwr • 2:01p, 4/29/26
cowboycwr said:
Glad he is back.

Hopefully his return helps. That and Drew realizing that just buying one year players doesn't work. We need a good mix of building our own players and some transfers.

During the tournament there was a good graphic that showed the Elite 8 teams and where their players started. Most had 3 or more of their players start at their school with one or two transfers mixed in. That is what we need to figure out how to do.

I can't remember who put out that graphic, but they've been doing it every year since use of the transfer portal became ubiquitous.

That's consistently been my evidence that we have been doing this roster-building thing very wrong in the NIL/transfer portal era. And that those who've said player-retention and development are no longer viable paths to success are talking out of their asses.
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IvanBear
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In reply to bear2be2 • 4:07p, 4/29/26
Agree with everything here, but Tang was doing what Drew had on steroids as far as recruiting goes. His teams were one very overpaid player and then a bunch of mercenaries.

The reason to be excited for Tang's return is about the coaching side of the equation not the recruiting.
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bear2be2
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In reply to IvanBear • 4:49p, 4/29/26
IvanBear said:
Agree with everything here, but Tang was doing what Drew had on steroids as far as recruiting goes. His teams were one very overpaid player and then a bunch of mercenaries.

The reason to be excited for Tang's return is about the coaching side of the equation not the recruiting.

I don't disagree.

I'm excited about the return of Tang for two reasons. 1) That dynamic between he and Drew worked out really well the first time around. And 2) Drew sets the culture and recruiting strategy for our program and Tang's recruiting ability is an asset in that context.

So long as Drew continues to prioritize player retention and development, I think this program has a real chance to return to Big 12/national prominence. If we get distracted again by shiny/temporary things and abandon the things that have made our program and culture special in the past, we'll spend more time than anyone wants to in the hole we're currently in.
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Quinton
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In reply to Crawfoso1973 • 7:53p, 4/29/26
I think Bear2 hit it when he mentioned the most important thing being the dynamic Tang and Drew have.

The defense is a program problem. Sanchez imo is at least as good a defensive coach as Tang. But the defense was even worse this year in spite of his track record. It's 100% a systemic program issue as Sanchez is a proven defensive coach.

Enter Tang. I believe he's the only guy who probably doesn't care how he comes across to Drew. While Drew is the HC, they're basically peers and colleagues. Tang can push things to get his message across that others can't for either deference (the young or lower level coaches) or lack of full familiarity (Sanchez) reasons.

Makes a big difference.
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Big guy
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1:08p, 5/8/26
Someone please bring me up-to-date -
is Tang officially on the bench for next year or are there still issues to be resolved before he signs a contract?

Thanks. I've been out of the loop for several weeks.
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