Jerome Tang completed his 19-year stint at Baylor when he was hired as Kansas State's head coach on March 21, 2022. Tang came to Baylor as a member of Drew’s first staff in 2003, following 10 seasons as head coach at nationally recognized Heritage Christian Academy in Cleveland, Texas. He was integral in the Bears’ rise to national prominence, serving his first 14 seasons on staff as assistant coach before being promoted to associate head coach for the final five seasons.
The rebuild he started with Drew reached its completion in 2021, as they led Baylor to its first National Championship, defeating No. 1-ranked Gonzaga 86-70 in the national title game. The 2021 Bears also won their first Big 12 championship in the league’s 25-year history, which was the school’s first conference title in 71 years, and they followed that up by guiding an injury-depleted roster to a second-straight Big 12 title in 2022.
Tang went a perfect 4-0 as interim head coach, winning the first two games of the 2012-13 Big 12 schedule at home against Texas and on the road at Texas Tech and the first two games of the 2020-21 national title season in Las Vegas against Louisiana-Lafayette and Washington.
Tang helped lead the Bears to a streak of 15-consecutive seasons with 18+ wins, posting a 361-153 record, including a 27-11 postseason mark and 10 NCAA Tournament appearances. Baylor has also appeared in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 five times from 2010 through 2021, three times advancing to the Elite Eight. Additionally, 13 players from those seasons went on to play in the NBA, including Quincy Acy, Jared Butler, Freddie Gillespie, Pierre Jackson, Cory Jefferson, Perry Jones III, Quincy Miller, Davion Mitchell, Johnathan Motley, Royce O’Neale, Taurean Prince, Ekpe Udoh and Ishmail Wainright, with additional members of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 Bears squads likely to join that list.
As an original member of Scott Drew’s Baylor staff, Tang has helped put together eight consensus top-25 recruiting classes, including 2010 (Jones III), 2011 (Miller and Deuce Bello), 2012 (Isaiah Austin, Prince and Rico Gathers), 2013 (Wainright, Al Freeman and Motley) and the highest-ranked class in program history at No. 4 in 2021 (Kendall Brown, Langston Love and Jeremy Sochan).
The best two-year run in program history culminated with a National Championship in 2021. The Bears combined to go 54-6 over the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, winning 90 percent of their games and posting an .850 winning percentage with a 17-3 record against ranked opponents. The Bears were top-5 ranked for 29-consecutive AP Top 25 polls and finished the 2020-21 season with the nation’s third-longest active streak of 37-straight weeks ranked.
Baylor recorded a 28-2 mark in 2020-21, including 14-1 in Big Conference play, and the Bears posted a school-record 11 wins against ranked opponents, including a perfect 7-0 mark against top-10 opponents. Baylor had the best start in program history with an 18-game winning streak to begin the season, which was the fourth-longest winning streak by any team in Big 12 Conference history. Another school record was set with three All-Americans, as Jared Butler became the first consensus first-team All-American in program history, Davion Mitchell picked up All-America third-team honors on his way to sweeping National Defensive Player of the Year honors and MaCio Teague earned All-America third team recognition.
Tang assisted Baylor to what was then the best season in program history in 2019-20, posting a 26-4 record and spending five consecutive weeks ranked No. 1 nationally, which was the longest streak by any team since Kentucky in 2015. The Bears set a Big 12 Conference record with a 23-game winning streak and were projected to earn an NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed before the postseason was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All five of Baylor’s starters were named All-Big 12, the first time any team had done so in conference history.
Baylor extended its school-record streak to eight consecutive postseason appearances and finished 20-14 in 2018-19. The Bears went from being picked ninth in the Big 12 preseason poll to finishing fourth in the league despite losing four projected starters to injuries throughout the year. BU was two games into Big 12 play when leading scorer Tristan Clark went down with a season-ending injury. After switching to a three-guard lineup, BU went on a six-game winning streak and earned a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where the Bears knocked off Syracuse in the first round before falling against No. 1 seed Gonzaga.
Baylor finished with a 19-15 mark and advanced to the NIT second round in 2017-18. BU was ranked as high as No. 16 nationally, extending a streak to 11 consecutive seasons ranked, which was the ninth-longest streak nationally at the time. After a slew of injuries led to a 2-7 start to conference play, Baylor rebounded with a five-game winning streak that included wins over No. 10 Kansas and No. 7 Texas Tech and a double-overtime win at Texas.
The program reached new heights in 2016-17, earning Baylor’s first No. 1 national ranking and a school-record fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. BU rolled to a 15-0 start, climbing from unranked to No. 1 nationally in an eight-week span. Baylor recorded wins over top-10 opponents three times in its first eight games, with victories over No. 4 Oregon, No. 7 Xavier and No. 10 Louisville, the last of which secured the 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis title. BU also defeated No. 10 West Virginia for a school-record fourth top-10 win.
The Bears tied a school record with 12 wins in Big 12 play, leading to a program-best No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournmaent. BU knocked off New Mexico State and USC to advance to the Sweet 16 for the third time in a six-year span. It was the Bears’ ninth 20-win season in the last 10 years, accounting for nine of the 12, 20-win seasons in program history. The Bears finished the 2016-17 season ranked No. 12 nationally and had four players earn All-Big 12 honors with Motley, Manu Lecomte, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. and Ishmail Wainright recognized. Motley won the 2017 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award and was named Baylor’s first consensus All-American.
Baylor’s 2015-16 squad finished 22-12, and the Bears earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, marking a third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. BU finished the season ranked No. 21 in the AP poll, the fourth-highest final ranking in program history, and Baylor was one of 13 teams to remain ranked in the coaches’ poll throughout the entire season, climbing as high as No. 13 nationally.
The 2015-16 Bears also had four players earn All-Big 12 recognition, led by future NBA lottery pick Prince. Motley, Gathers and Lester Medford also earned all-conference honors.
The 2014-15 Baylor team went 24-10 and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, tying the best seed in program history and earning the program’s first-ever back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. The Bears knocked off a school-record seven top-25 ranked opponents. Additionally, three players earned All-Big 12 honors (Kenny Chery, Gathers, Prince), and Gathers was named an All-American.
In 2013-14, Tang helped guide Baylor to a late-season surge that led to 26 wins, including three victories in three days to reach the 2014 Big 12 Championship title game. BU then won a pair of NCAA Tournament games to advance to the Sweet 16 for the third time a five-year stretch, becoming one of only 12 programs nationally to accomplish the feat between 2010 and 2014.
Following the 2013-14 season, Jefferson was selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2014 NBA Draft, giving Baylor five players drafted in the three-year span from 2012-14. Fellow Bear Isaiah Austin was also honored at the draft, after the projected first-round pick had his career halted by a Marfan’s Syndrome Diagnosis.
Tang played a major role in leading Baylor to 23 wins and the program’s first national tournament championship in 2012-13, when the Bears went on a five-game run to the NIT title. For the first time in school history, every game during the 2012-13 season was televised, including a nation-leading 28 games on ESPN networks.
In addition to his assistant coaching duties, he served as interim head coach in Baylor’s first two Big 12 games of the 2012-13 season, leading BU to an overtime win against Texas and a 34-point win at Texas Tech -- the Bears’ largest-ever margin of victory in Lubbock. After the season, Jackson was selected in the 2013 NBA Draft, giving BU four draft picks in 2012-13, which ranked third nationally.
Baylor made history once again during the 2011-12 season, winning a school-record 30 games and advancing to the NCAA Tournament South Region Final for the second time in three seasons. The Bears were ranked throughout the season for the first time in program history, reaching as high as No. 3 in the polls and never dropping lower than 14th. Following the record-breaking season, the Bears had a program-record three players selected in the 2012 NBA Draft (Jones III, Acy, Miller).
During the 2009-10 season, the Bears won a then-school-record 28 games and tied for second in the Big 12 Conference standings with an 11-5 record. The Bears, who earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA South Region, won their first NCAA Tournament game in 60 years, advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in the modern tournament era. Baylor finished the 2009-10 season ranked No. 10 in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25 poll and No. 19 in the final AP Top 25 poll.
The Bears became a national media staple during the 2008-09 season as the program set several new school records. Baylor posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in school history, while advancing to its first Big 12 Championship title game, only to fall to Missouri. During its improbable postseason run, Baylor became the first No. 9 seed to advance to the Big 12 Championship title game.
Baylor’s 2008-09 squad did something the 2007-08 Bears were unable to accomplish -- win a postseason game. The Bears advanced to the NIT championship game with a semifinal win over San Diego State at Madison Square Garden before falling to Penn State in the title game.
The Bears rose to national prominence in 2007-08, making their second NCAA Tournament appearance in 68 years (1950) and their first since 1988. BU finished with a 21-11 overall record after a first-round loss to No. 18 Purdue, marking the fourth 20-win season in program history.
PRIOR TO BAYLOR
In his decade of service at Heritage Christian, Tang led the program to four state championships and built the Eagles into one of the state’s TAPPS powerhouses. His squad gained national attention in 2001, when one of Tang’s Eagles, junior Cedrick Hensley, scored 101 points in a game.
Feeding off that success, Tang and Heritage Christian became known for producing Division I athletes. Heritage Christian’s most-publicized recruit during Tang’s tenure was Vakeaton “Von” Wafer, a 2003 McDonald’s All-American who played at Florida State and was drafted with the 39th pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2005 NBA draft.
Tang’s last two squads at HCA featured other Division I signees in Hensley (Houston), Elijah Miller (Houston), Marlon Pompey (Texas A&M), Lamar Hurd (Oregon State), Tim Mayes (Richmond) and Tyler Jones (St. John’s).
Tang was also the athletic director at Heritage Christian, a birth-through-high school private school that boasted 145 students and just 30 high school students (10th-12th grades). Away from the gym, Tang served as youth pastor at First Assembly of God.
PERSONAL
Tang earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Charter Oak State College in September 2007. Tang and his wife Careylyen are parents of two, son Seven and daughter Aylyn.