ESPN’s Seth Greenberg called out Kansas State for the way they handled the firing of basketball coach Jerome Tang. Tang was let go this weekend, not too long after he criticized his own team.
Kansas State formally parted ways with Tang on Sunday night and is attempting to do so for cause to avoid paying a reported $18 million buyout, per Nakos, reportedly due to last week’s public criticism, which The Mercury reports is viewed as a violation of his terms of employment.
“That athletic director is embarrassing for what he is trying to do,” Greenberg said on SportsCenter. “What did (Tang) actually say right there? He said, we’re going to hold our players to her standard. The way they played was unacceptable. They didn’t compete, they didn’t play hard. We’re going to practice at six o’clock tomorrow morning, because we’re going to fix this problem. Yeah, Jerome Tang made some mistakes in terms of maybe the players that he brought into the program, because they’re not winning enough, sure, but let me tell you something.
“If Jerome Tang, say, wanted to take the UCLA job. He has a buyout. He’d have to pay. You know what? K-State, you made a bad decision in your mind. All right, they’re not winning enough games. Just say he’s not winning enough games. We need to make a change, but to try to dispute and try to create some type of narrative that he didn’t fulfill his contract, that is absolutely embarrassing.”
The two sides were initially engaged in discussions regarding the terms of Tang’s buyout, per Nakos, but those conversations appear to have broken down. The Field of 68‘s Jeff Goodman had first report.
The Wildcats (10-15, 1-11 Big 12) are in the midst of a seven-game losing streak and have lost 11 of their last 12 games to tie Utah for last place in the Big 12. Following Wednesday night’s blowout loss to the Bearkats, Tang went scorched earth on his team’s effort.
“This was embarrassing. These dudes did not deserve to wear this uniform,” Tang said Wednesday. “There will be very few in it next year. I’m embarrassed for the university, I’m embarrassed for our fans, our student section. We have practice at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. We will get this thing right. I have no answers and no words.”
Greenberg doubled down on his take regarding Tang. He didn’t see anything wrong with the way the coach handled recent play.
“What did he do wrong? The only thing he did wrong in the last two years, he didn’t win enough games,” Greenberg said. “Jerome Tang is a really good coach, a really good person, a genuine guy. He’s real and genuine, and that is an embarrassment to the university.”