Kansas State University Men’s Basketball Head Coach Jerome Tan was awarded as the Werner Lader-Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year during the 50th Annual Kansas City Sports Awards on Thursday evening, June 8. The event was held at the Muehlbach Tower in Kansas City and was hosted by Populus in association with the Kansas City Sports Commission and Foundation. Tan was named Barnes & McDonnell Coach of the Year, which is one of the longest-running sports award programs in the area. Other honorees included Chris Jones, who was named Porcinelli Sportsman of the Year, Law Labonta, who was named Children’s Mercy Kansas City Sportswoman of the Year, and Brett Veitch, who was named McCown-Gordon Construction Executive of the Year. The late Grant Wahl and Ron Rabinski were also recognized as Spire Community Champions and T-Mobile Legacy Award winners, respectively.
Tan led the Wildcats to a successful 26-win season, which was the third most in school history. He was also the first Elite Eight coach since the 2017-18 season. Tan was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year by both the league’s coaches and the Associated Press, and he was honored as the District Coach of the Year by both NABC and USBWA. He was also an AP National Coach of the Year runner-up. Tan is the 11th first-year head coach to lead a team to the Elite Eight since 1996-97. In the 2022-23 season, Tan, alongside Rodney Terry of Texas, were the only first-year Division I head coaches to advance their teams to the Elite Eight.
Tan served as an assistant and associate head coach for 19 seasons since 2003 at Baylor University, where he was one of the chief architects in developing their basketball program into a national powerhouse. To stay updated on Kansas State University Men’s basketball, visit their website at www.kstatesports.com and follow the team’s social media channels on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.