K-State Q&A: Jerome Tang, Iowa State spies, Big 12 refs, women’s basketball + more

As much as I love a good Big 12 basketball game, I am starting to get tired of the way they are being officiated.

It seems like fans on both sides walk away from every game complaining about the refs.

Kansas benefited from some late calls in a narrow home victory over TCU. Texas Tech clearly got away with a travel on its game-winning bucket against K-State. Then we had to watch Iowa State and K-State go at it for more than two and a half hours on Wednesday because there were 47 fouls.

I talked to some K-State fans who thought it was one of the worst officiated games they had witnessed, which makes sense from their perspective because Cam Carter was in foul trouble the whole way and the Wildcats were whistled for 27 fouls and the Cyclones went to the free-throw line 39 times.

But Iowa State fans seemed just as angry about the refs. They booed every call that went against the Cyclones and started several “(expletive) the refs” chants.

I suppose you could argue that if everyone is mad at the refs then they must be doing their jobs. But I don’t agree with that line of thinking here.

Big 12 refs have a hard job to do. I’m not trying to say they are any worse than the officials you will find in other conferences. There is a ton of contact in college basketball, and it’s nearly impossible to make everyone happy based on when they decide to blow their whistle and when they let things go.

But I do wish college games had more freedom of movement like you see in the NBA. Fouls are much more obvious at that level, which produces a cleaner product.

College officials have the power to make their games flow the same way. But it seems like they choose not to. That’s unfortunate, because some of these games are starting to feel like football. And they are lasting just as long.

End of rant.

Now let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.

What exactly happened behind the Kansas State bench at Iowa State? - @dinzerillo via X

K-State basketball coach Jerome Tang was not happy about something he witnessed in the crowd at Hilton Coliseum, and I outlined the situation here.

Basically, he was concerned that Iowa State had managers and other team representatives placed in spots behind the visitors bench where they could peer into team huddles during timeouts and potentially gain an unfair advantage by relaying information to the Cyclones before play resumed.

The seat assignments around the K-State bench were also a bit unusual, as the team’s sports information director and social media team had to sit behind the basket with media on press row rather than right next to the Wildcats like they normally do at road games. One of those spots was occupied by an ISU staffer of some sort.

K-State was also concerned that gave the Cyclones opportunities to get too close to their huddle and snoop around.

I guess there is more than just “magic” going on at Hilton.

The whole situation is weird. There isn’t a ton of information that anyone can glean from peering into a timeout huddle without knowing what was said. Also, there’s a reason that people say “if you’re not cheating you’re not trying.” I imagine Iowa State fans will laugh this off as a nothing burger and opposing fans will call them cheaters until the cows come home.

But teams, including K-State, always send someone to midcourt during timeouts to keep an eye on the other team so they can relay lineup information back to the head coach. If a team was obtaining that kind of information early, that could theoretically help them on a few possessions each game. That can make a difference in Big 12 games, which are always battles.

So I understand why Tang was upset.

Word on the street is that other Big 12 teams have noticed similar things at Iowa State. The Kansas Jayhawks go to Hilton Coliseum next. I wonder if they will be on high alert after all this.

My suggestion to any road team moving forward would be to take extra measures to protect your timeout huddle if you are truly worried about spies.

I seem to remember that when Nebraska came to Bramlage Coliseum earlier this season they had staffers holding up football style tarps to make sure no one could see into their huddle. Do something like that and you don’t have to worry about anyone spying on you.

What is the likelihood KU plays “home” football games in Manhattan over the next couple of years? - @RobHud3 via X

OK, that’s not bad.

It would be the ultimate sign of friendship for K-State to rent out its home stadium to Kansas while the Jayhawks build a new place to play in Lawrence. But there’s no way that will happen, which I’m sure you already were aware of.

There has been talk of the Jayhawks playing at least some of their home games at Arrowhead Stadium next season, which would make more sense than playing games on another school’s campus or asking fans to watch games in Lawrence in the middle of a construction zone.

My suggestion would be to play home games at Children’s Mercy Park. I love watching games at Sporting KC, and K-State held its spring game there once. It was a good time.

Now, that venue can’t hold more than 20,000 fans. But it’s closer than Arrowhead. It would also be a fun, intimate setting. The Chargers played games in a MLS stadium for a few years in Los Angeles and everyone survived.

All I can really say about this question is that K-State handled its stadium renovations the right way. The Wildcats never had to worry about where they were playing games while it was getting a face lift.

Non sports related question- since you made the fun drive to Iowa State to watch MBB - I’m assuming you stopped at your local Whataburger in KC. What is your standard order?Is spicy ketchup really better than regular ketchup?If you get a shake from there - what flavor? - @ChadFullington via X

Whataburger has become so prominent in the Kansas City area that I drove past three(!) different locations on my way to Iowa State.

Sadly, I only stopped at one.

The restaurant that Patrick Mahomes owns at The Legends is my go-to spot. It’s a really good Whataburger by the way. You will find some locations in Texas that are poorly run and very slow. I think that’s why some people don’t like it as a fast-food chain. But you can’t beat the good ones. I’ve never had a bad experience here.

Anyway, I have three standard orders.

For breakfast: Honey butter chicken biscuit plus a bacon and egg taquito.

For lunch or dinner: Bacon-and-cheese Whataburger with grilled jalapenos and no onions. Or the chicken strip basket with gravy.

Milkshake: Dr Pepper.

Ketchup: Always fancy.

Do you think the K-State women’s basketball team can climb all the way up to No. 1 in the rankings this season? - Andrew B. via e-mail

That ship probably sailed when No. 1 South Carolina won at No. 9 LSU earlier this week.

The Gamecocks are undefeated and currently receiving every first-place vote in the Associated Press poll. They probably need to lose twice for anyone to pass them.

But K-State is up to No. 4 in the AP poll and up to No. 2 in the coaches poll. So it’s not like we are talking about No. 1 as an impossible fantasy here.

Jeff Mittie’s team is in excellent shape to possibly win the Big 12 this season, though. The Wildcats are of to an 8-0 start in conference play and everyone but Oklahoma has one loss in league play. K-State pulled off a gutsy win at Baylor earlier this week without Ayoka Lee in the lineup.

Keep winning and good things will happen for them.