Newly-minted Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang announced the first member of his coaching staff on Tuesday (March 29) with the addition of Jareem Dowling as assistant coach.

"Jareem is an outstanding addition to the staff and I'm excited to welcome him, his wife Cierra and his daughter Laiya to K-State," said Tang. "I have known Jareem for a long time, and I always envisioned him as part of my staff when I became a head coach. He has extensive experience at nearly every level of basketball, both in college and internationally, including an incredible run at North Texas with Grant McCasland the past five years. He fits in perfectly with the rest of the staff and I can't wait for us to get started."

An assistant coach with 16 years of experience as well as 12 years of international head coaching experience, Dowling arrives at K-State after spending the last six seasons on staff with McCasland at both Arkansas State (2016-17) and North Texas (2017-22). In addition to his time with the Red Wolves and Mean Green, he has also been an assistant at the NJCAA level at Cecil College in Maryland (2005-08), the Division II level at Slippery Rock (2008-11) as well as Morehead State (2011-12) and Southern Miss (2012-15).

Dowling also brings extensive international experience having served as the head coach for the U.S. Virgin Islands Junior National Team as well as an assistant coach on the Senior National Team since 2007. During his time with the junior team, he has guided them to two silver medals (2008 U16 Centrobasket and 2015 U17 Centrobasket) and two bronze medals (2009 and 2011 U17 Centrobasket) at international competitions.

Dowling has been a part of coaching staffs that have won 361 games – averaging nearly 23 wins per season in his coaching career – and advanced to the postseason on nine occasions, including the 2006 NJCAA Division II National Championship, three trips to the NIT (2013, 2014, 2022) and a memorable run to the Second Round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament with North Texas. He has also helped teams to 12 seasons of at least 20 wins, including three 30-win campaigns, and collect four conference titles (2014, 2020, 2021, 2022).

In addition, Dowling has head coaching experience at the prep school level, guiding Scotland Performance Institute in Scotland, Pennsylvania to 19 wins in 2015-16.

“In this new chapter of my life, I’m excited to work for a proven winner in Coach Tang,” said Dowling. “He has been remarkably successful as a head high school coach and has been instrumental in building of one of the top basketball programs in the entire nation as the top assistant for the Baylor Bears. More importantly, he has been a role model for me ever since we met several years ago. He is a man of God, his faith, the way he lives his life has helped me become a better man, husband and father. I’m looking forward to our journey together as we chance and compete for championships.”

Dowling has been praised for his abilities to recruit at a high level especially at North Texas, where he played a significant role in the recruitment of Javion Hamlet, the 2020 C-USA Player of the Year and Male Student-Athlete of the Year as well as 2021 C-USA Tournament MVP, as well as Roosevelt Smart, who became the program’s single-season scoring record holder with 742 points (19.5 ppg.) in 2017-18. This past season, four Mean Green players earned All-Conference USA honors, including Newcomer of the Year and First Team selection Tylor Perry.

Dowling just completed a five-year stint (2017-22) at North Texas, where he helped the Mean Green set the school single-season records for overall wins (25) and conference wins (16) en route to collecting a third consecutive Conference USA Championship in 2021-22. In addition, the team ended the season with the nation’s best scoring defense (55.7 ppg.), which was the best such mark in Conference USA history.

A native of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Dowling moved to the Wilmington, Delaware during his high school years. He led Howard High School to the Blue Hen Flight B Championship game and a trip to the state’s final four as a senior in 2000 en route to earning honorable mention all-state and first team all-conference honors. In addition, he qualified for the 2000 Delaware State Blue and Gold All-Star Game.

Dowling earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from UMES in 2005, while he added a Master’s degree in Sports Management from California University of Pennsylvania in 2011.

Dowling and his wife, Cierra, have a daughter, Laiya.