K-State coach Jerome Tang blasts Big 12 ref Gary Maxwell after loss at Houston
It’s rare for Jerome Tang to get called for a technical foul in any basketball game, so it came as a major surprise when the Kansas State head coach picked up two of them this week in consecutive road games against Iowa State and Houston.
His latest technical foul came late in the second half of a 74-52 loss against Houston on Saturday at Fertitta Center.
He was not happy about it, to say the least.
“I have a lot of thoughts on them,” Tang said of his recent technical fouls. “They didn’t tell me how much the fine was, so my wife might be kind of mad at me.”
Tang was just getting started.
On Wednesday, Tang got a technical foul for reacting to a late call that went against K-State forward David N’Guessan in a loss at Iowa State.
On Saturday, he followed that up with another technical foul for what he described as standing up to Big 12 referee Gary Maxwell, who served as the head official in Houston.
“I got a technical for waving my hands in the last game, so I didn’t wave my hands this game,” he said. “Then I got a technical for telling Gary that he was the adult and he needs to act like it, because he was chirping with one of my players.
“I’m always going to defend my guys. When my guys are wrong I am going to correct them. But what Gary Maxwell did and said to my player was not warranted. All I told him was, he’s better than that as a person and he’s the adult. Then I got a technical for that.”
Tang went on to accuse Maxwell of saying inappropriate things to K-State guard Cam Carter, who led the Wildcats with 16 points against the Cougars.
He thinks it was no coincidence that Carter fouled out with 4 minutes, 46 seconds remaining in the game.
“He told Cam Carter that if he wasn’t quiet he would get him out of the game,” Tang said. “And then he proceeded to call two tick-tack fouls on him. Like, bro, you are the adult here. We can tuck our egos away and say, ‘Let the kids play the game.’”
You don’t usually hear Big 12 coaches talk about the officials, especially by name, in this manner.
The Big 12 has policies against coaches and players saying anything negative about their referees in public settings. The conference could end up fining or reprimanding Tang for his comments following his team’s loss against the Cougars, which dropped the Wildcats to 14-6 on the season and 4-3 in the Big 12.
But it doesn’t sound like that will bother Tang if it happens.
He wants everyone to be held accountable when K-State takes the court, even the referees who have called him for a technical foul in consecutive games.
“I don’t get it,” Tang said. “But it’s OK. That is the position that I am in and that is the position that (Big 12 refs) are in. They have the authority in that situation so we take it and we move on.
“But there has got to be accountability for everybody’s actions. Mine are you see it on national television and I get a technical and I have to answer to my AD. I think everyone in this game should have accountability for something.”
