Markquis Nowell reacts to Kansas State firing his former coach Jerome Tang: 'This is a disgrace'

Kansas State‘s firing of head basketball coach Jerome Tang has sparked national outrage due to the school’s attempt to avoid paying the buyout and fire Tang for cause. National media members have criticized the Wildcats and now one of their own has, too.

Markquis Nowell, an icon on Tang’s Elite Eight team in 2023, took to Twitter/X on Tuesday morning, responding to a video from ESPN’s Seth Greenberg calling out K-State. Nowell did not hide what he thought of the school’s attempt to fire Tang with cause.

“I truly agree with you Seth! Coach Tang said nothing wrong during his press conference,” Nowell wrote in his post. “All he said was that there is a certain standard you have to play with when playing at Kansas State and the guys that he has there have not met it! cannot believe this this is a disgrace !!”

The program’s downward spiral since Nowell took it on that magical Elite Eight run was evident. K-State made the NIT the following season, missed all postseason play last year with a 16-17 record, and was barreling towards an all-time low under Tang this year, currently sitting at 10-15 overall and 1-11 in league play.

K-State cited comments made in a postgame press conference as the reason why it was firing Tang for cause. In a rant that went viral, Tang said players did not deserve to wear the K-State uniform and many would not be back in it next year.

Tang has now retained Tom Mars and Bennett Speyer as his attorneys for his case against the university. Mars sent an ominous message toward the Wildcats’ athletic department on Monday, but told On3 that their camp will wait to file a suit for a couple of days in the case K-State brass “regain their senses.”

Greenberg’s comments that Nowell was responding to came on Monday afternoon while on the set of SportsCenter. He then doubled down on that during Monday night action, continuing to go after K-State for its decision.

“They decided to fire him — without cause, because they don’t have a cause,” Greenberg said at halftime of Monday’s Duke vs. Syracuse matchup in the ACC. “Honor the contract and pay the man. The only thing he did, he did not win enough games. That’s why they’re firing him end of conversation.”

Tang finished his tenure with a 71-57 overall record in nearly four seasons at the helm of the program. He led the Wildcats to a 26-10 record in 2022-23 and took K-State all the way to the Elite Eight before things went downhill over the coming seasons.

Since that run, K-State went 45-47, which ended in his termination on Sunday. Matthew Driscoll will serve as the team’s interim head coach for the rest of the year.

On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this report