Coleman Hawkins Still Believes Jerome Tang Can Win Championship At Kansas State
Kansas State’s season is over, but forward Coleman Hawkins sees brighter days for the program ahead. He believes coach Jerome Tang will bring a title back to Manhattan one day.
“He promised that moving forward he’s going to win a National Championship, and he knows that this is the right place to be,” Hawkins said in his postgame interview.
Kansas State was far from the NCAA Tournament this season, let alone a championship. Its postseason aspirations slowly declined with each conference loss. Six consecutive victories pinned them as the country’s hottest team, but a disappointing end reinforced the narratives. Hawkins took accountability for the season in an emotional press conference after falling to Baylor.
“These guys haven’t experienced some of the things I’ve experienced,” Hawkins said. “I really wanted to come in and impact the program. I’m sorry for crying, but f*** this s*** hurts.”
Meanwhile, Tang wants to use this season as a learning lesson for all involved.
“This year, we’ve learned that one of the definitions of coach is ‘a vehicle that takes people from one place to the next safely,'” Tang said. “My job this year was to get them from where they were at to where they wanted to go safely. It’s a journey. I don’t know if we got there fully, but for the rest of my life and theirs, they can call me ‘Coach.’ And I can be someone that helps them.”
Hopefully, this can motivate the returners to compete for a championship next season.
Jayden Armant is a graduate of the Howard University School of Communications and a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats on SI. He can be reached at jaydenshome14@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.
