Jerome Tang (born October 7, 1966) is a

Trinidadian-American Trinidadian and Tobagonian Americans (also known as Trinidadian Americans, Tobagonian Americans and Trinbagonian Americans) are people with Trinidadian and Tobagonian ancestry or immigrants who were born in Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tob ...

college basketball coach who is the head coach for the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

. He had previously been an assistant coach under

Scott Drew Scott Homer Drew (born October 23, 1970) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach at Baylor Bears men's basketball, Baylor University, a position he has held since 2003. Drew began his coaching career as an assistant for V ...

from 2003 to 2022 at Baylor, where the Bears won the 2021 NCAA Championship.

Early life

Tang was born in

San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago San Fernando, officially the City of San Fernando, is the most populous city and second most populous municipality in Trinidad and Tobago, after Chaguanas. Sando, as it is known to many local Trinidadians, occupies 19 km2 and is located in t ...

. He moved with his parents to St. Croix in the

U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

, living there until age 10 when his family relocated to Texas. Tang first attended North Central Bible College in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, and then studied at home via online learning with

Charter Oak State College Charter Oak State College is a public online college based in New Britain, Connecticut. The college was founded in 1973 by the Connecticut Legislature and offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees. Charter Oak State College is part ...

over the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

, and earned a bachelor's degree in 2007.

Coaching career

High school and assistant

Between 1993 and 2003, Tang served as head coach of Heritage Christian Academy in

Cleveland, Texas Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the Greater Houston metropolitan area and Liberty County, Texas, Liberty County. Its population was 7,471 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History In 1854, a church and ...

, turning the team into a strong contender. While at Heritage Christian, he coached future NBA player

Von Wafer Vakeaton Quamar "Von" Wafer (born July 21, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Florida State Seminoles. Wafer has previously played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with t ...

. Tang was hired as an assistant coach at Baylor in 2003 under first-year coach

. In 2017, Tang was promoted to associate head coach, and he helped lead Baylor to a national championship in 2021.

Kansas State

On March 21, 2022, Tang was named head coach of the

Kansas State Wildcats The Kansas State Wildcats (variously "Kansas State", "K-State", or "KSU") are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Kansas State University. The School colors, official color of the teams is Royal Purple; white and silver are gener ...

, replacing the retiring Bruce Weber. Tang agreed to a six-year deal worth $14.1 million with the Wildcats.

Personal life

Tang is married with a son and a daughter. He is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. His father is half African and half Chinese and his mother is Indian (of South-Asian descent).

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tang, Jerome 1966 births Living people Baylor Bears men's basketball coaches Charter Oak State College alumni College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in Texas Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball coaches People from San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago sportspeople North Central University alumni Trinidad and Tobago people of Chinese descent Trinidad and Tobago people of African descent Trinidad and Tobago people of Indian descent Trinidad and Tobago Christians