Jerome Tang's patience rewarded in adding Rodney Perry to Kansas State basketball staff

Jerome Tang showed plenty of patience throughout the spring and summer in building his first Kansas State basketball roster. In fact, he still has two more available spots, should he choose to fill them.

That same willingness to wait for the right fit was again on display in filling the final vacancy on his coaching staff. Not that it came as any great surprise last Wednesday when he officially named Rodney Perry as his third assistant.

While Perry was long rumored to be Tang's top choice, he had signed on to finish the summer with MOKAN Elite, the Kansas City-based AAU program he helped found 16 years ago. Tang, who already had a veteran staff in place, didn't push.

"We're both the type of people that when you make a commitment to something, you have to be fully invested into that," Perry said Tuesday in a virtual news conference. "And so we figured it would not hurt in any way, shape, form or fashion."

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Quite the contrary, Perry added.

"It actually would just be able to help us because of me continuing to build relationships, not only with the players that I was currently coaching, but I also have relationships with a lot of the other coaches and programs and directors of those programs in the EYBL (Elite Youth Basketball League)," he said. "Knowing that these are some of the programs and coaches that we're going to be dealing with in the future as far as our recruiting base goes.

"And so we just wanted to continue to keep building great relationships because a lot of the recruiting part comes from the relationships that you build."

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Perry has no shortage of recruiting contacts, thanks to a 28-year coaching career that includes stops at the college level and with top-flight high school and AAU programs. Just this past season, he took a first-year Link Academy team from Branson, Mo., to a national runner-up finish before leading MOKAN Elite to a championship in the prestigious Peach Jam tournament.

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Perry also has Division I college experience as an assistant at Duquesne, Western Illinois, Oral Roberts and Missouri-Kansas City, plus served as head coach at Avila University in the NAIA from 2010-16.

But what had to be particularly attractive to Tang was Perry's strong Midwest recruiting ties. Tang and assistants Ulric Maligi and Jareem Dowling's connections run deepest in the south, especially Texas and Louisiana.

"The Midwest is where I have a lot of connections," Perry said. "Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois (and) Iowa. And I also have some connections with my time that I spent in Pennsylvania, out east there as well.

"But really, I have had the connections through a lot of other places, too. Because when you're playing in the EYBL and you have 40 teams there from all over the country, you build great relationships with those teams also."

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Perry sees Tang and K-State as a good fit for him on the bench and the practice floor as well.

"I'm very detail oriented. I make sure guys pay attention to the detail part, holding guys accountable," he said. "And that's what (Tang) is all about, also.

"He wants me to help out on the offensive side of things. I've kind of build a little bit of a reputation for what we do offensively, so therefore I think that's going to be the biggest thing for me."

Tang first got to know Perry while recruiting his players as a 19-year assistant at Baylor. While completing his MOKAN Elite obligations, Perry kept up to date with the evolving K-State roster and met most of the players in person while attending a practice in Manhattan.

Wildcats will be long and athletic this season, new assistant coach says

And Perry's initial assessment of those players?

"Long and athletic," he said. "But you know defense is going to be the thing.

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"We're going to lay our hat on defense and be able to use our athleticism, and even with (5-foot-8 guard) Markquis Nowell being as fast as he is and as scrappy as he is, being able to get up in transition and go a little bit there."

That June practice wasn't Perry's first trip to Manhattan. He was a regular at Bramlage Coliseum when two of his former MOKAN Elite players — Will Spradling and Nino Williams — played for the Wildcats between 2011 and 2015.

Those visits certainly left a favorable impression.

"No. 1 is the fan base. The fan base is terrific," Perry said. "And then obviously the tradition here and having some teams that have been able to win Big 12 Conference championships and do well in the NCAA Tournament. Not too long ago, K-State was in the Elite Eight.

"So those are the things that we want to be able to do each and every year, too. My familiarity with K-State allows me to be able to convince some of the kids in the Midwest that this is the place that you definitely want to come and be a part of."

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Rodney Perry is a good fit for Kansas State basketball staff