Coach of the year Jerome Tang leads list of Kansas State basketball all-Big 12 honors

Jerome Tang, who took Kansas State from the bottom of the Big 12 to title contender in his first season as head coach, was recognized by the conference for his achievement Sunday as its coach of the year.

Tang, who built his roster nearly from scratch with just two returning players, guided a Wildcat team picked last in the preseason to the No. 3 seed going into this week's Big 12 Tournament. The Wildcats are 23-8 overall and finished with an 11-7 record in the conference.

And Tang wasn't the only Wildcat honored in a vote by league coaches. Super-senior point guard Markquis Nowell and senior forward Keyontae Johnson were named to the all-conference first team.

Johnson also was a unanimous choice as Big 12 newcomer of the year and was a member of the all-newcomer team, while Nowell was named to the all-defensive team for the second straight year.

Tang, who spent the previous 19 years as an assistant at Baylor, is the seventh coach in K-State history to receive coach of the year honors and the third in the Big 12 era, joining Frank Martin and Bruce Weber. His 23-8 record ties him with Missouri's Dennis Gates, Xavier's Sean Miller and Duke's Jon Scheyer for first-year Division I head coaches this season.

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Nowell and Johnson are just the second K-State duo named to the all-conference first team in the Big 12 era, joining Barry Brown and Dean Wade in 2018-19. They are just the seventh and eighth Wildcats in the Big 12 era named to the first team.

Nowell, a 5-foot-8 guard from Harlem, New York, who transferred to K-State from Little Rock last year, is averaging 17 points and leads the Big 12 in assists with 7.7 per game and in steals with 2.5. John.

Johnson, a 6-6 Florida transfer, returned to the court this year after missing nearly two seasons because of a medical emergency. He is second in the Big 12 in scoring with 17.8 points per game on 51.9% shooting and leads the team in rebounding with a 7.0 average.

Joining Nowell and Johnson on the first team were player of the year Jalen Wilson, of Kansas, plus Baylor's Adam Flagler and Texas' Marcus Carr. The league's sixth man award went to Texas guard Sir'Jabari Rice, defensive player of the year to Dajuan Harris, of Kansas, freshman of the year to Baylor's Keyonte George and most improved player to Kansas' KJ Adams.

K-State opens the postseason at 8:30 p.m. Thursday against TCU in a Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal at Kansas City's T-Mobil Center.

All-Big 12 Honors

First team

Adam Flagler, Baylor

Jalen Wilson, Kansas

Keyontae Johnson, Kansas State

Markquis Nowell, Kansas State

Marcus Carr, Texas

Second team

Keyonte George, Baylor

Gabe Kalscheur, Iowa State

Gradey Dick, Kansas

Davion Baugh, TCU

Mile Miles, TCU

Third team

LJ Cryer, Baylor

Kevin McCullar, Kansas

Kalib Boone, Oklahoma State

Sir'Jabari Rice, Texas

Erik Stevenson, West Virginia

All-defensive team

Gabe Kalscheur, Iowa State

Dajuan Harris, Kansas

Kevin McCullar, Kansas

Markquis Nowell, Kansas State

Moussa Cisse, Oklahoma State

All-newcomer team

Keyonte George, Baylor

Jaren Holmes, Iowa State

Gradey Dick, Kansas

Keyontae Johnson, Kansas State

Sir'Jabari Rice, Texas

All-freshman team

Keyonte George, Baylor

Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State

Gradey Dick, Kansas

Milos Uzan, Oklahoma

Pop Isaacs, Texas Tech

Individual awards

Player of the year — Jalen Wilson, Kansas

Defensive player of the year — Dajuan Harris, Kansas

Newcomer of the year — Keyontae Johnson, Kansas State

Freshman of the year — Keyonte George, Baylor

Sixth man award — Sir'Jabari Rice, Texas

Most improved player — KJ Adams, Kansas

Coach of the year — Jerome Tang, Kansas State

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State men's basketball coach and players receive Big 12 honors