The Kansas State Wildcats fired head coach Jerome Tang on Sunday amid the team’s awful season and his recent controversial comments about the program’s roster.
As Kansas State begins a search for Tang’s replacement, associate head coach Matthew Driscoll will lead the program as interim HC. Here are five candidates for the HC opening:
Belmont Bruins head coach Casey Alexander
Alexander is having a terrific season at Belmont (24-4 overall), which leads the Missouri Valley Conference and is poised to make the NCAA Tournament. Alexander has won at least 20 games in each of his seven seasons with the Nashville, Tenn.-based school.
Utah State Aggies head coach Jerrod Calhoun
Calhoun took Utah State to the Big Dance a season ago, and the Aggies are one of several mid-major programs that can make serious noise in March Madness. As the regular season winds down, Utah State (22-3, 12-2) is tied with San Diego State atop the Mountain West. In his two campaigns at Utah State, Calhoun is 48–11.
St. Louis head coach Josh Schertz
Schertz is a contender for Naismith College Coach of the Year, as Saint Louis (24-1) is No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25. The Billikens are an offensive juggernaut, averaging 90.8 points and making 40.9 percent from beyond the arc. Schertz is expected to be among the hottest candidates on the coaching carousel. He went 66-40 in three seasons at Indiana State. In his two campaigns with Atlantic 10 power Saint Louis, Schertz is 43-16.
Miami (Ohio) head coach Travis Steele
The No. 23 RedHawks (25-0) are the lone remaining undefeated team in Division I men’s basketball. They have a realistic shot at finishing the regular season unbeaten. Before joining this Mid-American Conference school, Steele was 70–50 in four seasons as head coach of the Big East’s Xavier. He also won 25 games last season at Miami and is 77-46 overall with the RedHawks. Similar to Schertz, Steele’s name will come up frequently for head-coaching vacancies.
Kansas State interim HC Matthew Driscoll
Wildcats brass is conducting a national search for head coach, but Driscoll should be considered, too. Let’s see how Kansas State fares in its final half-dozen regular-season games. Before joining the Wildcats in 2025-26, he won 248 games over 16 years as head coach of Atlantic Sun Conference member North Florida, taking the Ospreys to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2015.
Tang, who was in his fourth season at Kansas State, led the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament in his first season, but the team has largely struggled since. Tang’s tenure at Kansas State (10-15, 1-11 in the Big 12) ended with him amassing a 71–57 record overall and a 29–39 mark in the conference.
After a 91-62 loss to Cincinnati on Feb. 11, Tang ripped his team, leading to his dismissal.
“These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform. There will be very few of them in it next year,” he said, per The Athletic. “I’m embarrassed for the university, and I’m embarrassed for our fans, our student section. It is just ridiculous.”
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