Tang opens up about Nae'Qwan Tomlin's dismissal

MANHATTAN (KSNT) - Lots of discussion has surrounded Kansas State men's basketball in early December, and much of it is not related to the team's on-court performance.

Last week, a chaotic series of events played out in the span of about four days from Dec. 5-8.

• Tuesday: K-State beat Villanova in OT
• Wednesday: Nae'Qwan Tomlin was dismissed from the team
• Thursday: Head coach Jerome Tang shut down on-campus protest, released a video calling for love
• Friday: K-State president Richard Linton sent out a letter explaining his involvement in the decision to remove Tomlin

On Friday, Dec. 15, Tang held a press conference and fielded questions on this topic for the first time since Tomlin, who has since transferred to Memphis, was taken off his roster.

"Whenever you lose somebody that you love, that's hard," Tang said. "Knowing that I'm not going to be able to pour into [Nae'Qwan Tomlin's] life every day, that's hard. Wish him the very best, want the very best for him, absolutely love him."

In the challenging time, Tang and his staff are looking in the mirror.

"We as a staff looked and saw - What were some things we could've done differently in helping him even before that could've avoided this situation," Tang said. "We're going to do our [best] to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Speculation has been abundant surrounding whether or not Tang was in agreement on the move to take Tomlin off the team. However, the Wildcat head coach says he will move on now that a decision has been made.

"I'm just one of those guys... until the horn blows I'm going to fight until the very, very end but once the horn blows and it's over, I know how to move on," he said. "I've been told 'No' a whole bunch in my life and it didn't stop me. And that's the way our staff is. We'll be relentless until the very end and then we're going to move on and do the next right thing because that's what tough people do."

For those wondering if Coach Tang is still happy in Manhattan after how things played out last week, 27 Sports Director Glenn Kinley asked whether the recent events change his perception/ plans at K-State.

"When God said this is the time [for me to be a head coach] I moved," Tang said. "And in my situation here, when God says it's time to move, I'm going to move. Nobody is going to run me away, no situation is going to scare me. I know I'm called to be here for this moment and this time. Once again, if for some reason the Lord says, 'I'm moving you somewhere else' and it doesn't necessarily mean to another school... It could be 'Stop coaching' and I'm okay with that. Whatever God has for me, that's what I'm all about."

Despite the week of potential distractions, the 'Cats picked up a road win against LSU on Sunday.

"Adversity... sometimes it breaks you but sometimes it can bind you," Tang said. "Those guys, it really pulled them together... Those guys have really grown, they care."

With Tomlin's absence comes an open scholarship for the current season. Tang says the staff is searching to find a player to fill that spot. However, they don't expect to replace the athlete and ability the team had in Nae'Qwan Tomlin.

"We're flipping rocks and making phone calls, seeing if we can find someone," he said. "Whether they can come in and play right away... Maybe there's a kid overseas who wants to come... could sit out the second semester, learn the system, get better. If it's good for our program to help us moving forward to build for the future then we're going to do that."