How Kansas State’s two returning players are helping Jerome Tang rebuild hoops roster
The practice facility that Kansas State men’s basketball players have unlimited access to this time of year has been a quiet place since Jerome Tang took over as head coach.
Nine scholarship players opted to transfer and continue their college careers elsewhere, leaving only two returning Wildcats on the roster — Ismael Massoud and Markquis Nowell.
If you’re looking for a pickup game, you’re better off lacing up your high tops across campus at the student recreation center.
“The gym is a little more empty than we’re used to,” Massoud said, “but me and Markquis are always in the gym so that’s nothing new for us. We’re used to being by ourselves. I wouldn’t say it’s strange, but there aren’t many people around to talk to.”
Tang currently has more coaches on his staff than players on his roster.
“It’s not really weird,” Nowell said. “You still get better working with the coaching staff. We are getting better each and every day. It doesn’t matter how many people are here. We’re still sticking to the normal routine. We’re just playing the waiting game. Eventually, we’ll have enough pieces to where we could do some team activities, but the grind don’t stop.”
Things will change in early June when the five new recruits and transfers K-State signed this spring will arrive in Manhattan for the start of summer school.
Until then, Massoud and Nowell are doing everything they can to help Tang rebuild K-State’s basketball roster.
They are both solid foundational players whom Tang can build around next season. Nowell averaged 12.4 points and five assists on his way to honorable mention All-Big 12 honors as a point guard last season. Massoud averaged 6.8 points and 2.8 rebounds while starting 18 games at forward. But they need a team.
That is one reason why Massoud and Nowell have spent long hours helping their new coach recruit over the past few weeks.
Both K-State basketball players have been active on social media with prospective recruits. And they are more than willing to clear their schedules when a player arrives on campus for an official visit. If there is anything they can do to help land a new teammate, they are going to do it.
Sometimes they jokingly refer to each other as recruiters.
“This is actually my choice,” Nowell said. “I wanted to be involved in recruiting, because I wanted to play along guys that I can trust and who can trust me right way. It’s been a fun process. It’s been a good process. We have gotten a couple guys off the strength of me and Ismael and the coaches. It’s been fun, to say the least, being a part of this whole rebuilding process.”
So far, the process is going slowly. But the Wildcats are further along than they would have been without the help of their two returning players.
Tang unapologetically said he only hoped to retain three players from Bruce Weber’s final roster and that Massoud and Nowell were two of them. He is glad they wanted to stay. So much so, that Tang recently told a room full of K-State donors at the athletic department’s yearly Powercat Auction that they should reward both of them with NIL deals.
“They have terrific hearts,” Tang said. “I could brag on both of them for an hour on what terrific people they are without even talking about what they do as basketball players. They do such a great job representing this university and what we are about. The things that are important to them are the same things that are important to our team.”
It’s too early to predict what K-State’s basketball roster will look like during the 2022-23 season or how good the Wildcats will be in Year 1 under their new head coach.
But the team will almost certainly revolve around its two returning players, who are helping to build it from the ground up.
“I’m optimistic about what the future holds,” Massoud said, “especially because of me and Markquis. We decided to stay and that’s my brother right there. With us two and the people we are trying to bring in, I have faith in myself and in Markquis and in the coaching staff.”
