Michigan State's Tom Izzo, K-State's Jerome Tang show respect before Sweet 16

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo and Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang are in different points of their careers, with Izzo being nearly 10 years older than Tang and having 27 more years of head coaching experience. But at one point, Izzo was in a very similar position to the one that Tang is in now. 

Tang accepted his first head coaching position this offseason when he was hired by Kansas State. The Wildcats had just fired Bruce Weber, who Big 10 fans may remember from his time at Illinois. Weber coached at Kansas State for 10 seasons, but failed to make the NCAA Tournament in his last three. 

So Kansas State hired Tang, a longtime assistant under Scott Drew at Big 12 rival Baylor. Drew hired Tang in 2003 to be an assistant coach on his new staff. Tang remained an assistant until 2017, when he was promoted to associate head coach. 

Tang spent 19 years at Baylor working with Drew, and when his name was called by Kansas State, Tang felt ready to take over as head coach. In his first season, Tang recruited 13 new players via the transfer portal and high school to lead the Wildcats to a 25-9 record after they finished 14-19 the year before. 

Kansas State finished third in the Big 12 and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament under Tang’s watch this season. That turnaround – and the 2021 National Championship he won with Baylor – are some of the things that impress Izzo about him. 

But what Izzo also appreciates about Tang is the process he went through before becoming a head coach. It’s one that Izzo went through, too, roughly 30 years ago. 

“Well, he’s used the transfer portal well, and it’s worked pretty well for him,” Izzo said of Tang. “I think the other thing, though, is you look at him – and this is taking nothing away from him – but he is an experienced non-experienced head coach. I spent 12 or 13 years with Jud Heathcote, and that really helped prepare me. 

“I remember Jud saying one time, ‘Would you rather take a smaller job just so you can say you’re the head coach, or would you rather prepare for Indiana and Michigan and Purdue every day?’ I think that helped me. I think Scott Drew really helped Jerome. They built that program. They built it together just like I built mine with my assistants over the years.

“If you watch them, I think he was given a lot of power just like I was at the end. I think Scott had a lot of faith in Jerome, so he had more than just suggestive power that sometimes assistants have. Roy Williams was born to take over a bigger job. Some people leave early and work their way up through the ranks like Bill Self did. Some people stay like I did or Jerome did and prepare yourself that way.

“I think he deserves a lot of credit. I think Scott Drew deserves a lot of credit, and I think it shows that we need our assistants. Assistants are more valuable than sometimes any of us give them. I think he did a lot for that Baylor program, and that’s why they had the success they had. And Scott allowed them to and helped prepare him to be a head coach, and so I’m sure he’s very grateful of that, too.”

Izzo spent 12 seasons as an assistant coach under Heathcote before being hired as head coach of Michigan State in 1995. Just as Izzo is appreciative of the time he spent with Heathcote, Tang is grateful for his experiences working with Drew at Baylor.

“I was blessed to work with Scott, and he did a great job of helping prepare me for this,” Tang said. “Never treated me as an assistant, always told me to act like a head coach, treat the program like it was mine. I believe that when you’re with guys like Jud Heathcote and Scott Drew, that those Hall of Famers help prepare you. You learn so much from them so that you are ready for this.”

Tang said he’s admired Izzo’s program from afar over the years. 

“Tom Izzo is just a class act and I’ve followed him for a long time,” Tang said. “The fact that, as an assistant (at Baylor), he knew my name – it blew me away. Just to watch what he’s done and how he’s handled his program and loved his players and had tremendous success both on and off the court. How he handled the tragedy at Michigan State this year, everybody can learn from that.”

But now, Tang will be coaching against Izzo with an Elite Eight appearance on the line – though it’s not the first time Tang has faced an Izzo-led Michigan State team. Tang was on staff at Baylor the two times the Bears played Michigan State during Izzo’s tenure. 

Both times were in the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament, and both times Baylor won. 

The first meeting was in 2016, when Baylor beat Michigan State, 73-58. The Bears went on to beat Louisville in the championship game, 66-63.

Michigan State’s second meeting with Baylor in the Bahamas came last season. The Bears won, 75-58, in the championship game. Tang is familiar with many of the players on Michigan State’s current roster because of that game, although players like Tyson Walker and Joey Hauser have taken on much larger roles compared to last season. Still, Tang is aware of the things that Michigan State does well as a program. 

“This is not the first time I’ve gone against a Michigan State team,” Tang said. “One of the things that’s super impressive is how quickly they get the ball out of the net and up the floor after the other team scores, like transition. We call it the bookends. The moment they touch the ball and the end of it and how great they rebound. So those two things we have to be prepared for. Stopping them in transition, getting back, building a wall, making them play in the halfcourt and then at the end, when they take a shot, is being able to corral the ball and limit their second-chance opportunities. 

“And then they just play with Coach Izzo’s toughness. That gritty toughness, fight you for every inch of the court on every dribble and every pass. And they have really good players that do those things, so that makes it really hard.”