With Kansas State’s basketball roster fully stocked, Jerome Tang is eager to get started

There is no doubt in Jerome Tang’s mind that the Kansas State basketball roster heading into his third year as Wildcats coach is an upgrade over last season.

Even better, he won’t have to spend the next month scouring the transfer portal for talent to fill in the blanks.

“This is the first time we’ve had our whole roster done in June,” Tang said. “Our first year, Keyontae (Johnson) didn’t show up until August, right when school was starting, and Desi (Sills) didn’t get here until October. And then last year we didn’t get a couple of guys until August or September, in that area, right after school started.

“So, we’re going to get to spend the whole four weeks in July of workouts with the whole group here. I believe that’s going to make a huge difference in how things get going.”

With only three returning players and 10 newcomers — eight Division I transfers, one from the junior college ranks and one high school player — Tang and his staff appreciate any extra time they have with the team. The only one who won’t be there at the start of summer workouts is returning super-senior forward David N’Guessan, who is currently with the Netherlands national team.

Related: Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang receives a raise and amended buyout clause

Kansas State forward David N’Guessan (1), one of three returning players from the 2023-24 Wildcat team, reaches for a rebound against Oral Roberts last November at Bramlage Coliseum.

N’Guessan was the lone returning player to log significant minutes last year for a Wildcat team that went 19-15 and was one-and-done in the National Invitation Tournament. Forwards Taj Manning and Macaleab Rich saw limited playing time as freshmen.

So, building team chemistry is a top priority in the next couple of months before the fall semester gets underway.

“Us as a staff, we always talk about heart connection. It’s our job to connect with our players’ hearts,” Tang said. “And once you connect with their hearts, then you can get them to understand, or…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kansas-states-basketball-roster-fully-232740449.html

Author : The Topeka Capital-Journal

Publish date : 2024-06-28 23:27:40

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.