Paul Mills, Jerome Tang to break tie from time as Texas high school basketball coaches

Two decades ago when Paul Mills and Jerome Tang would spend 15-hour days together as ambitious, fledgling coaches just starting out in the college basketball world, their late-night chats in the Baylor coaches office inevitably turned to the future.

“We would be up at the office at 2 a.m., writing letters, watching One Shining Moment,” Tang said. “We had our own dreams and we used to talk about how we’ll be head coaches someday and have our teams in the NCAA Tournament and go on a run.”

Nearly 20 years later, those dreams came true: Mills led No. 15 seed Oral Roberts to the Sweet 16 in 2021, then Tang guided Kansas State to the Elite Eight in his first year as head coach last season.

But there was another thing that would sometimes come up when they would talk about their futures as head coaches: settling a score that dates back before their time at Baylor when they were both high school basketball coaches in Texas.

During a six-year span from 1997-02, Mills and Tang squared off against each other four times with each coach winning twice.

“Back when we were at Baylor, we would say, ‘Hey, someday we’re going to break the tie,’” Mills said. “We always talked about it being in the national championship game.”

For now, bragging rights in the friendly rivalry will be at stake on Thursday when Mills looks to lead Wichita State to its first win over K-State since 2001 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. The 7:30 p.m. game will be available to watch on streaming on ESPN+.

“Our families have never vacationed together, but if we win, I may have to suggest it,” Mills joked, “just so I can get a day of ribbing.”

A coaching bond formed in Texas high school basketball ranks

Houston was a good place to be for a basketball coach in the 1990s.

The city was still buzzing from the Phi Slama Jama era, Hakeem Olajuwon and the Rockets won back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995, and Houston was becoming one of the most fertile metropolitan areas for high school talent.

Inspired by the movie “Hoosiers,” Paul Mills achieved his dream of becoming a high school basketball coach near his hometown of Houston when he was hired to coach at North Belt Christian Academy in 1995.

It didn’t take long for Mills to cross paths with another up-and-coming coach named Jerome Tang, who was trying to launch Heritage Christian Academy in the nearby suburb of Cleveland.

“Basketball is very important inside the city of Houston and there were a number of us coaches who just really loved the game, so we were always around it,” Mills said. “Tang was coaching Houston Hoops, this premier AAU team, and he would coach younger guys and run some tournaments. So when I was out watching players, I always saw Jerome because he was at all of those events. We constantly ended up in the same gyms.”

The first time the two coaches met on the sidelines, Mills’ North Belt Christian team blew out Tang’s Heritage Christian. By Tang’s recollection, his team was shut out 36-0 in the first quarter.

“My team wasn’t very good then, and he had some grown men on his team. And they beat us bad,” Tang said. “We couldn’t get the ball across halfcourt, but Paul called off the press after the first quarter. I’ll always remember that about him. You could tell he cared about the kids. He was just a terrific guy.”

The following year, North Belt and Heritage played again, except this time Tang’s team came out victorious. In Tang’s memory, he recalls Mills becoming so upset that he kicked a chair over during the loss.

“(Mills) says all the time that he cut his teeth on Rick Majerus coaching tapes, but I think he also had a little Bobby Knight in him,” Tang said laughing.

When asked for his own account of the alleged chair kick, Mills shook his head some 25 years after the fact.

“I’ve heard him tell that one before and he just made that stuff up,” Mills said. “I love Jerome, but the indicator on how you know he’s embellishing is if his lips are moving.”

By the time Mills moved to his next school, Fort Bend Baptist Academy, in 1998, Tang had turned Heritage into a powerhouse in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools.

Mills is proud of a double-digit win over Heritage in the first meeting, but still vividly remembers the stomping Tang’s team delivered to his team the next year.

“They had this player named Cedrick Hensley, who scored 101 points in a game, and one of our players said, ‘Did you see the gum at the bottom of Cedrick’s shoes?’ Because he was dunking so much on us,” Mills said. “Jerome went in at halftime and they’re up by 50 and he said, ‘Listen, the guy over at Fort Bend is a friend of mine, so we’re going to take our foot off the gas.’ And Lamar Hurd, one of their players, said, ‘Well, coach Mills is no friend of ours.’ And they turned a 50-point beating into a 100-point beating, at least that’s what it felt like.”

This time, it was Tang’s turn to laugh when relayed the story Mills told.

“We tend to embellish little things about each other,” Tang said. “But that’s what brothers do, right?”

How their time at Baylor molded Paul Mills and Jerome Tang

The friendship between Mills and Tang stretches back three decades, but their 14 years together at Baylor were truly transformational.

“We would crack so many jokes and we’ve been on so many road trips together and been in the office together,” Mills said. “His kids would stay the night at my house and my kids would stay the night at his. We were just in the trenches together for a long time.”

Being on the ground floor of arguably the greatest turnaround in college basketball history created a bond that is stronger than the typical one coaches share.

“Paul is like a brother to me and I absolutely love him,” Tang said. “I’m so proud of him and so happy for him and (wife) Wendy and the girls. It’s so fun to be able to see how he’s impacting guys’ lives there (at Wichita State). He is going to change people’s lives and change the culture.”

When it comes to tactics, Mills and Tang are quite different as basketball coaches.

But when it comes to how they want to run their programs, they share the same vision. In fact, Mills has drawn inspiration from Tang’s unwavering positivity.

“He remains optimistic in the face of trials and he is just extremely positive and sees the glass half full,” Mills said. “He has tremendous energy and he just enjoys recruiting, enjoys getting to know people and enjoys being out in the community. When you have someone with that enthusiasm and that kind of optimism, you know that person is going to be successful. His enthusiasm and his optimism, I learned a lot from.”

Their deep level of friendship was on full display during the 2021 NCAA tournament.

Tang, who was still the associate head coach under Scott Drew, admits to being distracted during the end of Baylor’s 79-55 win over Hartford in the first round because he was glued to the scoreboard for updates on how Mills’ Oral Roberts team was doing against Ohio State.

“During the timeouts at our game, they would put up that game on the big board and honestly, I stopped paying attention in our timeout to watch,” Tang said. “When they got to overtime and they win, I was in tears. Like real tears. (Baylor player) Mark Vital actually handed me a towel to wipe my face because I was so happy for Paul. I remembered all of those late nights, all of those conversations, all of those road trips and all of those dreams we had as young adults. So to be able to see him fulfill that dream, I was really emotional.

“I remember coach Drew coming out of the timeout and looking at my face and going, ‘Man, you’re crying. Mills won, huh?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ It was a special moment.”

Two weeks later, the roles were reversed when Baylor went on to win the national championship with an 86-70 win over Gonzaga.

When one achieved coaching bliss, the other was overcome by emotion.

“I probably cried more than they did,” Mills said. “I was so happy for them because I knew the work that went into it. There’s just this level of support and appreciation for understanding how hard coaching is and understanding the sacrifice that people have to make and how good you have to be in order to do what those guys did at Baylor. I was so happy for Jerome.”

There won’t be any tears following Thursday’s game, but perhaps a light-hearted joke from the winner about taking the series lead when the coaching rivalry resumes 21 years later.

With the four-year series between WSU and KSU concluding with a game at Koch Arena next year, it’s possible Mills and Tang could end up tied once again.

Don’t worry, they talked about that possibility all of those years ago.

“We might just have to go back and be high school coaches after we retire to settle it,” Tang said.

Wichita State vs. Kansas State basketball preview

Records: WSU 8-3, KSU 8-3

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: T-Mobile Center (18,000), Kansas City, Mo.

How to watch: ESPN+ (Ted Emrich and Kevin Lehman)

Radio: KEYN, 103.7-FM (Mike Kennedy and Bob Hull)

KenPom says: KSU 74, WSU 69

Series history: KSU leads 22-11

Projected starting lineups

Wichita State Shockers (8-3)

Coach: Paul Mills, first season, 8-3

Kansas State (8-3)

Coach: Jerome Tang, second season, 34-13