20 March 2023
MANHATTAN (KSNT) – Kansas State men’s basketball Head Coach Jerome Tang has been named as a finalist in the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year.
Tom Gilbert with K-State Athletics made the announcement saying that the Atlanta Tipoff Club came to the decision on Monday, March 20. Tang is a finalist alongside Purdue’s Matt Painter, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson and Marquette’s Shaka Smart.
Fans can place their votes for the contest starting Tuesday, March 21 by clicking here or going on Twitter to cast their ballot for one of the finalists, according to Gilbert. The voting period closes at 11 a.m. CT on Wednesday, March 28. Fans will be limited to one vote per day.
The winner of the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year will be announced on Sunday, April 2.
Tang was named as a semifinalist for the coach of the year award March 10 alongside KU’s Bill Self. Tang is also a finalist for several other National Coach of the Year honors such as the Joe B. Hall Award, the Ben Jobe Award and the Jim Phelan Award, according to Gilbert. He has also been District Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the U.S. Basketball Writers of America (USBWA).
Gilbert said Tang was the consensus Big 12 Coach of the Year, earning the honor from both the league coaches and the Associated Press (AP) after helping K-State go from being picked last in the preseason Big 12 poll to finishing in a tie for third with an 11-7 record. He is the seventh head coach in K-State’s history to earn conference Coach of the Year honors, including the second to win the honor in his first season.
Tang’s record of 25-9 is one of the best in the nation by a first-year Division I head coach, according to Gilbert. Tang joins Xavier’s Sean Miller as the only first-year Division I head coaches to advance their teams to the Sweet 16. His 25 wins are the second-most by a first-year head coach in K-State’s history and he is the fifth K-State head coach to win 20 games in his first season.
K-State will play 7-seed Michigan State at 5:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, March 23 in the East Regional Semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York City.