By Ned Seaton

K-State offered Jerome Tang the chance to coach out the rest of this basketball season and then resign with a negotiated payout at the end, but he turned down that offer and instead got fired for cause.

Athletics director Gene Taylor confirmed to The Mercury Monday that when he met with Tang Sunday morning, he offered Tang a choice: coach the rest of the season and then resign, or else be terminated immediately for cause. If Tang chose the former, there would be some kind of financial package offered to him in lieu of a buyout, at an undetermined amount that would be substantially less than the full buyout.

“We never gave him a specific number,” Taylor said.

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Jerome Tang has landed an international superstar to his 2025 roster. Adding 6’6” guard Andrej Kostic (Andre Cost-itch) from Serbia.

18 year old Kostic is currently playing for Serbian professional basketball club KK Dynamic Balken Bet. In 39 games this season, he is averaging 16.4 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.6 rebounds per game. He is also shooting the ball at a high clip at 43 percent from the floor, 36.2 percent from three, and 77 percent from the free throw line.

Had a 39 point game in Feb.

Kostic has been a member of the Serbian U18 National Team where he averages 15.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-5 guard helped the team win gold at the 2023 European U18 Championship. He also won silver with the same team in the 2024 championship, where he scored 23 points against the German U18 team.

Overall, the guard is commitment No. 5 for Kansas State in the 2025 recruiting class. He joins a class of transfers Nate Johnson, Abdi Bashir and Khamari McGriff and high school prospect Exavier Wilson.

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By John Elrod

Kansas State used grit, resilience, and a little bit of luck to secure another huge road win over Arizona State in a 71-70 thriller in Tempe on Tuesday night.

The win extends the Wildcats’ streak to four, putting them at 11-11 and 5-6 in Big 12 play.

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Photos by Lewis Marien – Article by Tim Everson

After several near misses, the Kansas State men are back in the winner’s circle.

A six-game losing streak was snapped Saturday evening as an incredible start by the Wildcats propelled them to a 73-60 win over No. 23 West Virginia, their first victory since a win over Cincinnati to open Big 12 play on Dec. 30.

“There’s definitely a weight lift,” head coach Jerome Tang said. “Man, losing sucks, and even though we saw that we were getting better and we were close, that doesn’t satisfy you. But what’s really important now is, can we keep getting better after a win?”

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MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang has announced the addition of Tyreek Smith (Baton Rouge, La./Trinity Christian/Texas Tech/Oklahoma State/Memphis) as a mid-season transfer on Friday (Jan. 24).

Smith will not play this season. However, he will be eligible to practice and travel with the team. He will seek a waiver to play his final season of eligibility at K-State in 2025-26. He was among the student-athletes who played during the 2020-21 athletic season and thus received the extra season of eligibility from the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A 6-foot-8, 225-pound wing, Smith arrives at K-State from Memphis, where he transferred this past offseason. However, he opted to enter the transfer portal before playing an official game with the Tigers. He started his college career at Texas Tech in 2019-20 before spending 2 seasons at Oklahoma State (2021-23) and one season at SMU (2023-24). He received a redshirt for the 2019-20 season before playing for the Red Raiders in 2020-21.

Smith has scored more than 600 points in his 128-game college career, connecting on 60 percent (245-of-408) from the field to go with 490 rebounds, 129 blocks, 59 steals and 46 assists. His best individual season came in 2023-24 while at SMU, as he averaged 8.2 points on 58.4 percent (104-of-178) shooting with 5.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks while playing in 33 games with 13 starts.

A native of Baton Rouge, La., Smith played his high school basketball for Trinity Christian in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, earning 2018 TAPPS 5A Player of the Year honors. He averaged a double-double as a senior in 2018-19 with 17.9 points and 12.3 rebounds to go with 3.0 blocks per game. He also received First Team All-State and district Defensive Player of the Year honors as a senior.

Smith is the son of Richard Smith and Paulette Smith and has five siblings, Richard, Ebony, Chauncey, Donna and Christina.

How to follow the ‘Cats: For complete information on K-State men’s basketball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team’s social media channels on X, Instagram and Facebook.

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