MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Kansas State men’s basketball team was surrounded by good vibes for more than a week after Jerome Tang was hired as the squad’s new head coach.
But that excitement came to a halt on Thursday when Nijel Pack, a 6-foot guard who was by far K-State’s best player last season, decided to enter his name in the NCAA transfer portal rather than return for his junior season with the Wildcats.
Some might call it Tang’s first loss.
Pack is the fourth K-State basketball player who has decided to continue his college career elsewhere since Tang arrived in Manhattan. But unlike the other three departing transfers (Selton Miguel, Carlton Linguard, Luke Kasubke), Pack will be sorely missed. And difficult to replace.
No one was better under former coach Bruce Weber this past season.
Pack, a talented combo guard with impressive shooting range, led the Wildcats with 17.4 points per game and earned first-team All-Big 12 honors as a sophomore. His return was already in doubt because he has declared for the NBA draft as an early entrant. But few expected him to do more than test the pro waters. Odds were good he would eventually choose to remain in college.
It just seems unlikely he will be playing for K-State in the future. Pack did leave the door cracked open for a return when he announced his departure on social media.
“This season has been exciting, and will forever leave an impression on my heart,” Pack wrote. “Every decision I’ve ever made has been rooted in faith, love and divine purpose. After much thought and prayer, I have decided to enter the transfer portal. I want to explore all of my options, but K-State will certainly be one of the schools I consider.”
It is rare for players to enter the transfer portal and return to their previous school, but it has happened before.
Pack’s departure comes as a surprise, because he was complimentary of Tang immediately after his introductory news conference last week.
“Man, I’m excited,” Pack said. “It was cool to finally get to meet him after seeing everything online about him. I’ve heard he is a great coach. Obviously being at Baylor and all the things that they’ve done. It’s really exciting to get him at this program to see what he can do for us and help us become better.”
But he also made it clear he wasn’t thrilled that the Wildcats allowed Weber to resign as coach after 10 eventful seasons in Manhattan.
“It sucks,” Pack said. “We all came here to play for Bruce Weber.”
Pack is originally from Indianapolis and may look to continue his college career closer to home after receiving only light recruiting interest from Big Ten schools coming out of high school.
“I would like to express sincere gratitude to K-State for believing in my ability to honor their name,” Pack said. “I want to thank my coaches, teachers, teammates, family, fans and the community at large for aiding in my growth throughout my time here in Kansas. This is the beginning of my next chapter.”
K-State fans would have loved for Pack to return next season. Pack eclipsed 30 points in three games for the Wildcats as a sophomore and made 43.6% of his shots from 3-point range. He would have been a huge building block for Tang in his debut season.
Tang has said that he thought the Wildcats were set to return one of the top back courts in the Big 12 with Markquis Nowell and Pack handling the ball.
Instead, the Wildcats will look much different at the guard position next year.
Tang currently has five open scholarships to use this offseason as he works to reshape the roster.
