Kansas State President Admits Mistakes in Handling Nae’Qwan Tomlin Situation
Kansas State basketball fans have been through a lot in the last several months, and much of the frustration and turmoil began last fall when former Wildcat Nae’Qwan Tomlin was involved in an altercation in Aggieville.
After an altercation at Tubby’s Sports Bar in the early morning hours of October 29, 2023, Tomlin was arrested for disorderly conduct and brawling or fighting, leading to an indefinite suspension handed out by Jerome Tang.
In early December, the Wildcats announced that Tomlin was no longer a part of the basketball program, which sparked all kinds of outrage among the K-State fan base.
In the days that followed, Kansas State students would begin protesting outside University President Richard Linton’s home, as the confusion and miscommunication surrounding Tomlin’s involvement with the team led to frustration from the fan base.
In an interview with The Mercury, President Linton says that, looking back, he wishes he’d been more clear that Tomlin was never coming back to play for the Wildcats after what transpired that evening in October.
“I think that might have helped in this situation, for sure,” Linton told The Mercury.
“I think in retrospect, when all of the misinformation was coming out, I wish I would have been a little bit more proactive. I think the communication line could have been better out of the university, out of athletics.”
The miscommunication that created such a situation was the first time in Linton’s two-year tenure that has otherwise been pretty well-regarded by folks in Manhattan.
Before his dismissal was announced, Jerome Tang said that Tomlin’s suspension was being treated like a “season-ending injury,” which sort of left the door open for his return. However, the decision to remove him from the program was corroborated across all levels of the athletic department, including Tang, Linton, and Athletic Director Gene Taylor.
“It was a collective conversation and a collective decision that was made together,” Linton said.
Linton also went on to say that Tang’s statements and treatment of Tomlin’s situation as a season-ending injury was appropriate and that it did play a big part in allowing the student-athlete to graduate.
“I think all of us wanted to be able to provide an opportunity for him to graduate, and I think that’s a university commitment and an athletic commitment,” Linton said. “And I think the coach wanted him to graduate, and I think that was one of the really positive outcomes was that he did graduate. That’s the really positive thing that we can say here.”
After graduating from Kansas State, Tomlin transferred to Memphis, where he appeared in 21 games, averaging 26.7 minutes per game, with 14.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 0.7 assists per game.
