When asked about Summer workouts, Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang pronounced incoming freshman Taj Manning as the surprise of the offseason.

They added him from La Lumiere in Indiana, which is a notorious program that Tang had connected with prior to his arrival in Manhattan. He just hadn't recruited Manning at Baylor.

He called Manning a very hard worker and has uplifted his game during the eight weeks that the team was together. His competitiveness and toughness are always at a high level.

Manning spends a lot of time in the gym and has improved his shot-making ability. He has really grown in that area, to the point that he sunk the game-winner for his side during the last workout before break.

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Jerome Tang has assembled a coaching staff that consists of Ulric Maligi, Jareem Dowling and Rodney Perry.

Maligi had a strong reputation for being one of the best recruiters in Texas, Dowling has already been a great recruiter for the Wildcats and Perry has deep connections on the grassroots circuit and has won a lot of basketball games as a head coach in the last year.

Maligi and Dowling were hired immediately and it was instantly known that Perry would be alongside them. They just had to wait a few months so that he could fulfill all of his obligations to MoKan Elite.

Not only that, Tang sniped strength and conditioning coach Phil Baier from Miami and grabbed three sitting Division I assistant coaches for support staffing roles in Kevin Sutton, Marco Borne and Anthony Winchester.

Austin Carpenter was a graduate assistant at Baylor that followed Tang to Manhattan and is one of the innovators behind the scenes and Bailey Bachamp stayed on as the Director of Operations.

Thus, I asked Tang what it was about his selling points that made him land many of his first options.

His answer surprised me. He essentially pointed out that they didn't hire all of their first choices. At the same time, he made sure to note that sometimes your first choice isn't the right choice.

Coaching staffs often believe they know which people should be the first choices or even which players should be the first choices when recruiting. They then look back with hindsight and realize that they weren't the best ones.

Tang is very confident that he has the best choices with him and the right staff to help him win big in Manhattan.

"If the only time that you're together is when you're in the gym, then you're not a family."

That was an answer from Jerome Tang when asked about all the time that the coaches and players spend around each other while sharing laughs and meals.

We have seen multiple glimpses of parties, whether it be karaoke in the coaches' basements, a get-together at Goolsby's or a water balloon fight outside of the complex. Their philosophy is that it matters.

Everything they do is intentional and has a purpose. Relationships are important to them, and they believe it can help facilitate what they do on the court and result in better play and a healthier program.

It's how Tang has always envisioned it being when he received a head coaching opportunity. They love having their own players over at their houses and spending quality time with them and bonding with them more.

Tang is even surprised that it isn't common across college athletics. His own players have been shocked by the amount of outreach they receive from the coaches.

The new head coach's philosophy is that he never wants his players to question whether or not they love them. Because if you show them that you love them and that you care even away from the court, you earn the right to hold them accountable on the court.

When I heard that, it reminded me of something we heard from Chris Klieman soon after he was hired. He has a similar philosophy and approach to his culture and program. It makes sense why the two have really connected.

An item that will be short and sweet is just pointing out Tang's response when asked how competitive he thinks his team will be in year one. He didn't want to promise a certain amount of wins or accolades out of the gate.

But he did say that fans can expect them to work hard, play together and that they would be fun to watch.

I'm not sure that the Wildcats' basketball boss had a more animated expression than when he was asked about Nae'Qwan Tomlin. That is a player that clearly has enormous upside.

Tang revealed that Tomlin doesn't know how good he can be at this point, but he has a great attitude, always in the gym, and his competitive fire is intense.

You'll definitely be hearing about him a lot moving forward.

Before leaving for vacation (which he might already be on), Tang answered a question about his workload that he has a bit more left on his plate to complete. Without sharing specific names, he made it clear that landing Keyontae Johnson was the lone item remaining on the to-do list.

They wanted to be at 12 and 2 and they're at 11 and 2. That meant that they wanted the Kansas State roster to have 12 scholarship players and to land two commits for the 2023 recruiting class before taking off for a week.

After landing RJ Jones, so far the mission has been accomplished on the 2023 recruiting trail. They're still awaiting what the Florida transfer will decide to do, as they duke it out with the likes of Western Kentucky, USC, Wake Forest and Marquette.