K-State's Tang excited about early roster completion

MANHATTAN (KSNT) - Months away from the start of the regular season, the pieces of K-State's 2024-25 men's basketball roster have already fallen into place.

Head coach Jerome Tang, who's entering his third year at the helm, discussed his new-look Wildcats via Zoom on Friday. He said its the first time he's had his roster complete before the end of June.

"We're going to get to spend a July, with the whole four weeks in July of workouts with the whole group here" Tang said. "And I believe that's going to make a huge difference in how things get going."

In Tang's first season with K-State in 2022, Keyontae Johnson didn't commit until August, and last season in 2023, Will McNair wasn't on campus until September.

Tang's 13 scholarship players include incoming freshman David Castillo, three returners in David N'Guessan, Macaeleb Rich and Taj Manning, and nine transfers including Dug McDaniel, Brendan Hausen, CJ Jones, Max Jones, Baye Fall, Achor Achor, Chimobi Ikegwuruka, Ugonna Onyenso, and most recently, Coleman Hawkins.

The Wildcat head coach said he was transparent in his message to his team, including returning players and those who transferred from the program, regarding pursuing potential players in the transfer portal.

"We've got to bring in dudes that give us a chance to win a Big 12 championship and get to a Final Four and win a national championship every year," Tang said. "The players who are here, they have to embrace that. If they want to be great, they've got to embrace competition. We want them to help recruit players here who can start, and they get out on the floor and compete and make sure they don't."

Tang said the 2023-24 campaign didn't go as expected, the 'Cats finished the season 19-15 with a trip to the NIT rather than the NCAA tournament. Coach added K-State fans deserve better.

He praised his staff for the work they put into recruiting for the upcoming season.