9 Words May Cost Kansas State Coach Jerome Tang $19 Million… But Was This Enough To Constitute A "For Cause" Termination?

"These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform." Those nine words might be the most expensive sentence in the history of college basketball.

But let's step back for a moment.

Back during the 2022-23 season, Jerome Tang was flying high. He had spent nearly two decades as an assistant and associate coach at Baylor, winning a national championship with the Bears in 2021. That success soon earned him his first shot as a head coach. He signed a six-year, $14.1 million deal with the Kansas State Wildcats, a fellow Big 12 school.

Tang replaced the retiring Bruce Weber, who had spent ten years as Kansas State's head coach. With veteran stars Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson leading the charge, Tang's first year with the Wildcats was a huge success. The team went 26-10 and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, equaling the best postseason finish of Weber's entire tenure.

That successful season led Kansas State to give Tang a new seven-year contract in 2023. The new deal had salary increases beginning at $3 million and multiple retention bonuses, plus a hefty name, image, and likeness (NIL) budget. But the Wildcats never reached the highs of that first season. Two straight years of missing the NCAA Tournament have been followed by the lowest point yet: Kansas State is well out of the bubble discussion and has had only one conference victory in its first 12 Big 12 games.

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For Cause? Or Not For Cause? That is the Question.

On February 11, the Wildcats were defeated 91-62 at home by the Cincinnati Bearcats (another team that will almost certainly not make the NCAA Tournament). At a postgame press conference, Tang took his team to task:

"This was embarrassing. These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform, and there will be very few of them in it next year. I'm embarrassed for the university, I'm embarrassed for our fans, and our student section. It's just ridiculous."

Below is a video of the actual press conference. As you can see, Jerome delivers that line in a calm and matter-of-fact manner. He is not screaming. He's not viciously lashing out at his players. He's kind of just insulting them. And that's the crux of an important matter that we'll explain in a moment…

Tang's words did not sit well with Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor. In the days after the press conference, Taylor called Tang's comments "really concerning." How concerning? To the shock of many, on February 15, Kansas State fired Jerome Tang. In a subsequent statement, athletic director Gene Taylor added that the combination of what Tang said and the local and national reaction to it "kind of felt like I needed to make the decision."

And here's where it gets interesting:

According to the terms of Tang's contract, in the event he is fired, Kansas State must pay him an $18.67 million buyout. But there's a loophole. The school would not owe him a dime if Tang was fired "for cause."

Here is how "for cause" is typically defined in NCAA contracts:

• NCAA Violations: Level I or II infractions (cheating, recruiting scandals).
• Criminal Acts: Felonies or "crimes of moral turpitude."
• Dishonesty: Lying to university officials or investigators.
• Conduct Detrimental: This is the "catch-all" clause. It covers behavior that significantly harms the reputation or interests of the university.

In Jerome Tang's case, Kansas will be leaning hard into that last bucket, "conduct detrimental." But this is where it gets sticky for the Wildcats. Usually, "conduct detrimental" requires a pattern of behavior or a truly egregious act (like a physical altercation). Think Bobby Knight throwing a chair (though Bobby was NOT fired for this incident) or Michigan coach Sherrone Moore being charged with felony home invasion, stalking, and illegal entry in connection to an inappropriate relationship with a staff member (Sherrone was fired).

Tang will argue that coaches criticize their teams' performance every day. If "being mean in a press conference" is cause for termination, then half the coaches in the Big 12 could be fired for free tomorrow.

The burden is on Kansas State to prove that those 9 words actually breached the specific language of his seven-year deal.

Tang released a statement that read, in part:

"I am deeply disappointed with the university's decision and strongly disagree with the characterization of my termination. I have always acted with integrity and faithfully fulfilled my responsibilities as head coach."

If Tang can successfully argue that the firing was without cause, he'll receive that $18.675 million buyout. It's possible the two sides could agree on an amount that's not worth quite that much. Still, a few million is better than no million.

Tang finishes his Kansas State career with a 71-57 record. Perhaps inspired by the move, the Wildcats won their first game after Tang's firing, a 90-74 victory over Baylor. We'll see if the coaching change sparks a magical March Madness run.