losing to a 9 seed by not rebounding, missed FT’s and unneeded showboat plays OR losing double digit lead in 4th Qt. It’s official, we are cursed.

Head coach Jerome Tang has been selected as the winner of the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club at its annual Final Four Awards Brunch at the Ballroom at Bayou Place in Houston, Texas on Sunday (April 2).



Tang was chosen for the award over a finalist list that included Purdue’s Matt Painter, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson and Marquette’s Shaka Smart.



Tang becomes the first K-State head coach to earn the Naismith coaching honor and just the third to be selected as National Coach of the Year, joining Fred “Tex” Winterwho was chosen for the honor by United Press International (UPI) in 1958 and Jack Hartman who was named the NABC Coach of the Year in 1980.



Overall, Tang is just the fourth head coach at a Big 12 institution to earn the Naismith coaching accolade since it was first awarded in 1987, joining a trio of Kansas head coaches in Larry Brown (1988), Roy Williams (1997) and Bill Self (2012). He is one of three current Big 12 coaches to have won the award, joining Self and TCU’sJaime Dixon, who was selected for the honor while at Pittsburgh in 2009.



“I’m honored and blessed to receive the Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Award,” said Tang. “There have been a lot of great coaching jobs this season and to be recognized among them is truly a humbling experience for me. I want to congratulate the other finalists – Coach (Matt) Painter, Coach (Kelvin) Sampson, Coach (Shaka) Smart for their tremendous years.



“I want to first thank my Lord and savior Jesus Christ for all the blessings in my life. I would not be where I'm at right now if it wasn't for his faithfulness in my life and guidance.



“There are so many people to mention who have put me in this position. I want to thank our players and staff. I can’t begin to express my appreciation to them for all their hard work and sacrifice this season. We started with Markquis (Nowell) and Ish (Massoud) and it grew to 15 players who became brothers on and off the court, enabling us to go from a team picked last in the Big 12 to one who won 26 games and advanced to the Elite Eight. I will always be indebted to them.



“I have the best coaching staff in America, from associate head coach Ulric Maligi to assistant coaches Jareem Dowling and Rodney Perry to my chief of staff Marco Borne to director of operationsBailey Bachamp to director of player development Austin Carpenterto director of video operations Anthony Winchester, director of strategies Kevin Sutton, volunteer analyst Al Grushkin, strength coach Phil Baier, athletic trainer Luke Sauber to all of our graduate assistant and student managers. I’m blessed and honored that I get to live life with these incredible men and women every day.



“I also want to thank our university president Dr. Richard Linton, athletic director Gene Taylor and executive associate AD Casey Scott for giving me the opportunity to be at K-State. I’m fortunate every day to be at such a special place. I’m excited about the future with their support.



“I’m not here today without the love, support and sacrifice of my family. I want to thank my parents, Paul and Bano Tang, my brotherMark, sister Kim, my wife, Careylyen, our children Seven and Aylynas well as my in-loves, Calvin and Carolyn Carter.



“I have been fortunate to be around quality people throughout my life. Dr. Jennifer Cooper gave me my first coaching job back at Heritage Christian Academy. Scott (Drew) gave me the opportunity to coach in college at Baylor, where I was influenced by coaches like Matthew Driscoll, Paul Mills, Grant McCasland, Alvin Brooks III, John Jakus and Bill Petersen and countless players.



“I share this tremendous honor with all these individuals. I’m truly blessed.”



Tang has been named a finalist for several National Coach of the Year honors, including the Joe B. Hall Award (top first-year Division I head coach), the Ben Jobe Award (top Division I minority coach) and the Jim Phelan Award (Division I Coach of the Year). He has also been District Coach of the Year by the NABC and USBWA.



Tang was the runner-up for The Associated Press’ National Coach of the Year, finishing with 13 votes behind Smart, who garnered 24 from a national media panel of 58 voters.



Picked 10th in the preseason Big 12 poll and armed with just two returning players, Tang guided the Wildcats to a 26-10 overall record and a spot in the Elite Eight, which was the 13th in school history and the first since 2017-18. The 26 wins are the third-most in school history, trailing the school-record 29 in 2009-10 and the 27 in 2012-13, and just the eighth 25-win campaign and first since 2017-18. His win total was the second-most by a first-year Division I head coach, trailing Duke’s Jon Scheyer (27-9).



Tang and Texas’ Rodney Terry were the only first-year Division I head coaches to advance to his team to the Elite Eight in 2022-23. Overall, Tang is the 11th first-year head coach to direct his team to Elite Eight since 1996-97, while he is just the fourth first-time head coach, joining North Carolina’s Bill Guthridge in 1997-98 andHubert Davis in 2021-22 and Kent State’s Stan Heath in 2001-02.



Tang was the consensus Big 12 Coach of the Year, earning the honor from both the league coaches and AP after helping K-State rise from being picked last in the preseason Big 12 poll to finishing in a tie for third place with an 11-7 record. He is the seventh head coach in school history to earn conference Coach of the Year honors, including the second (Bruce Weber in 2013) to win the honor in his first season.



Tang was selected as the 25th head men’s basketball coach at K-State on March 21, 2022, after serving as the one of the chief architects in helping build Baylor into a national powerhouse in his 19 seasons as an assistant and associate head coach from 2003 to 2022.

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Senior Markquis Nowell was announced as the winner of the 2023 Bob Cousy Point Guard Award by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame during the ESPN College GameDay Show on Saturday (April 1).

The award, which annually honors the top point guard in Division I men’s basketball, is named after former Boston Celtic and Holy Cross guard Bob Cousy, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971.

Nowell is the 20th winner of the award, which dates to the inaugural winner – Saint Joseph’s Jameer Nelson in 2004. He is the fourth Big 12 player to capture the award, joining Texas A&M’s Acie Law IV in 2007, Texas’ D.J. Augustin in 2008 and Kansas’ Frank Mason III. Villanova’s Collin Gillespie won the award in 2022.

Nowell was selected for the award over a finalist list that included Marquette’s Tyler Kolek, Northwestern’s Boo Buie, Penn State’s Jalen Pickett and Saint Louis’ Yuri Collins.

Nowell is the first Wildcat to win one of the positional awards annually given out by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, which includes the Bob Cousy Point Guard Award, Jerry West Shooting Guard Award, Julius Erving Small Forward Award, Karl Malone Power Forward Award and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center Award.

“I’m honored to receive the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s top point guard,” said Nowell. “To be mentioned among the best players in the country at my position is truly a blessing. I want to give all the honor and glory to God for giving me the platform to showcase my talents and gifts this season. I’m not here without his grace.

“I can’t thank my teammates and coaches enough for all their hard work and sacrifice. It all started with Ish (Massoud) and I, and Coach (Jerome) Tang and his staff were able build a team around us and we became like brothers. We had a great year that I will always remember. I also want to thank my family for their sacrifice in helping me become the player and man I am today. Finally, a special shout out to K-State Nation for all their love and support during my career.”

The honor is yet another for the 5-foot-7, 160-pound point guard from Harlem, N.Y., who ended his college career with a magical run through the NCAA Tournament in helping K-State advance to its 13th Elite Eight and first since 2018. Nowell averaged 23.5 points, 13.5 assists and 4.0 steals during his 4-game NCAA Tournament run, including 25 points and 15.5 assists in the games against Michigan State and Florida Atlantic en route to earning Most Outstanding Player honors for the NCAA East Regional.

Nowell’s 54 assists in the NCAA Tournament are the third-most in the tournament’s history and the most since Michigan’s Rumeal Robinson had 56 in 1989. He dished out a tournament and school-record 19 assists in the win over the Spartans. He finished his college career with just the second 30-point, 10-assist game in school history, as he led the way with game-highs in points (30), assists (12) and steals (5) in playing all 40 minutes against the Owls. He is the first player with at least 25 points and 10 assists in a game in the Elite Eight or later since Marquette’s Dwyane Wade had a triple-double (29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists) against Kentucky in 2003.

Nowell was named a Third Team All-American by The Associated Press, The Sporting News, NABC and USBWA, while he was selected to the Midseason National Player of the Year Watch Lists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, John R. Wooden Award and the Naismith Award. In addition, he was chosen to the All-Big 12 First Team by the league coaches and AP as well as Big 12 All-Defensive Team by the coaches. He was 3 times named the Big 12 Player of the Week as well as the consensus National Player of the Week on Jan. 9.

Nowell averaged a team-best 17.6 points on 38.6 percent (180-of-466) from the field, including 35.5 percent (88-of-248) from 3-point range, and 88.9 percent (185-of-208) from the free throw line to go along with a Big 12-best 8.3 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.6 steals in 36.9 minutes per game. He ranks in the Big 12’s top-3 in 13 categories, including tops in assists (297), assists/game, free throws made (185) and attempted (208), free throw percentage, steals (92), steals/game and minutes.

Nowell finished Big 12 play, ranking first in 6 categories, including scoring (19.5 ppg.), 3-point field goals/game (2.8), assists (7.2 apg.), steals (2.8 spg.), free throw percentage (91.1) and minutes (38.8 mpg.).

Nowell finished second nationally in assists/game (8.3 apg.), total assists (297) and total steals (92), while he ranked among the top-15 in 4 other categories, including sixth in steals/game (2.6 spg.), seventh in free throws made (185), 14th in free throw percentage and minutes. He posted 11 games of 10 or more assists this season, while he had 10 points/assists double-doubles, including the school’s first 30-10 double-double with 32 points and 14 assists in the win at No. 19/16 Baylor on Jan. 7.

Nowell leaves K-State as the single-season leader in total assists and steals, assists/game as well as the career leader in assists/game (6.87), while he ranks in the top-5 single-season double-double scoring games (33/4th), 3-point field goals (88/5th), free throws (185/5th) and free throw percentage (88.9/5th).

Nowell’s 968 points in his 2-year career are the second-most by a Division I transfer in school history, while he is third in career assists (433) and fifth in career steals (151).

Nowell helped K-State to 26-win season and its 13th trip to the Elite Eight in 2022-23. The 26 wins are the third-most in school history and the most since winning 27 in 2012-13.

I had the pleasure of taking in K-State's Pro Day today. There was at least one scout from all 32 NFL teams and one scout from a CFL team. In total, there was 47 total scouts in attendance for Friday's activities inside the new football facility. Some notes from early in the day:

• Eli Huggins fell to the turf and appeared to injure his left foot/ankle and was helped off of the field by trainers. He fell awkwardly after stepping over a bag while going through drills with other defensive linemen. Julius Brents didn't go through any drills. He has an injured left hand/wrist and I was told that he's not cleared at the moment. Malik Knowles was also not in attendance today.
• I don't have official times for drills, but Ekow Boye-Doe ran two impressive 40 yard dashes, both at about 4.3. Deuce Vaughn -- who was sick earlier in the week -- only ran one, but he ran an unofficial time around a 4.5.
• Kade Warner and Felix Anudike-Uzomah both excelled in the shuttle and three-cone drill. Warner said that he was really hoping to show some of his agility today, and he said he felt like he did that and excelled in his route running. Anudike-Uzomah had the best shuttle -- to the eye -- of any player today and was successful in the three-cone too. Again, I don't have time, but he wanted to show an ability to move in space and I think he did a good job of that.
• Adrian Martinez ran well in the 40, he was at about a 4.6 or so on each of his 40-yard dash times, both unofficial times. He had a few more balls hit the turf than he likely would have wanted, especially when throwing deep. But he had some nice touch on other balls and when he had a nice, clean, sharp release his ball cut through the air well.
• Vaughn said that he's taken a large emphasis on catching and returning punts in his preparation for the NFL Draft. He seems to think that is one of the best ways for him to get on the field at the next level and mentioned that former K-State player Darren Sproles mentioned as such to him.
• Josh Hayes and Drake Cheatum were also in drills today, but neither excelled in any one particular drill. Overall they had a solid day, I would say. I don't think either is a legitimate NFL Draft prospect, but I'm not super in touch with late round selections. Both could be UDFAs, though. I like Hayes' versatility as a DB.
• Robertz Hentz had a tough day. He fell in a couple of drills and looked to bother his wrist at one point because of it.

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Well deserved. Gene has killed it.

Great season, Wildcats!

Rumor is Coach Tang visited Florida Atlantic’s locker room after the game. Any info or was it recorded?

Also a quick note: Just random/bad timing on some things this morning. Neither Alec or I will be able to be at the first open practice of the spring. The schedule came out pretty late and my wife and I already had our sonogram/20 week baby appointment scheduled for this morning. Alec's travel back from NYC is impacting his attendance. I hope you all understand, and we will have everything covered the rest of the week and including the next open practice later in April. Apologies for this, I feel bad about it, but don't think I can ditch my wife for football, at least not in March.

Tied at 6th

Are we just not big and physical enough to play the way he calls the game?

Unprofessional and very sour grapes in his post game interview. A flat out dork.

Oh well… maybe next year,

What I would like to see:

Tomlin - develop a killer 10’ jump shot.
N’Guessan - put on 15 pounds of muscle and become at least a 75% free throw shooter.
Ish - work on defending and rebounding
Carter - strength development and consistency with his shooting, become a leader.
Finister - gain some weight and strength.

No idea about the other players.

K-State hopes to clinch its first Final Four appearance since the 1960s tonight against No. 9 Florida Atlantic. Join the discussion and have some fun tonight Wildcats fans.

Drop your prediction in the thread below!

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Think it will be OL Kyle Rakers, he visited this past week

RAPID RECAP

RAPID RECAP: K-State doesn't get final shot, falls to FAU in Elite Eight

Recapping Saturday's Elite Eight game between K-State and Florida Atlantic

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