Tennessee State’s Breakthrough Season

First NCAA Tournament Since 1994

(St. Louis, MO) – Tennessee State’s breakthrough season has culminated in an NCAA Tournament invitation. The Tigers were 93-67 winners in Saturday night’s Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship game.

After tying Morehead State for the regular season crown, the Tigers were dominant in their championship win over the Eagles.

Three Tigers were named to the all-tournament team. Regular season ‘Player of the Year’ Aaron Nkrumah, all-conference guard Travis Harper II and second-teamer Dante Harris were so named. They were joined on the all-tournament team by Southeast Missouri’s Braxton Stacker and Morehead’s George Marshall.

After recording a 16-point, eleven-rebound double-double during the championship game, Harris was named the tournament MVP.

Breakthrough Season & Connected Tigers

Coach Nolan Smith and his players believe their tight connection was the key to their success. Players repeatedly talked about their friendship and bond of brotherhood. After noting that former coach Brian ‘Penny’ Collins brought many of the players to Nashville, they leaned on Smith’s winning expertise.

Nkrumah says that coach Smith is a ‘winner’.

“I mean, he’s a winner,” said Nkrumah. “He as that championship DNA, so I think that’s what we needed as a team. He did a good job in stealing that into us.”

Harper says the rookie head coach encouraged the players to look up at the last TSU NCAA Tournament banner (1994) to help them believe they could make history.

“Hey, we made history,” said Harper. “I’m just proud of everybody on the team for just coming together and sticking together. Like the returners sticking together when we got a new coach, trusting him. He trusted in us.”

Unlikely Paths

There were many different routes to the building of this breakthrough season. Harper played two seasons at Division 2 Clayton State prior to joining the Tigers last season. Nkrumah spent some time at the D3 level.

Harris came from the other direction. Two seasons at Georgetown included a Big East Tournament MVP (2022), an injury-plagued season at Virginia and limited playing time at Memphis.

Smith had never been a head coach and was hired extremely late in the offseason. Coach Collins was hired to the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies’ staff. Nkrumah says his route to the Division 1, NCAA Tournament is miraculous.

“I didn’t have no offers coming out of high school,” says Nkrumah. “I had to go prep, had to go D3 and I did my two years there. You know, coach ‘Penny’ recruited me. It’s just a blessing. You can’t write a story better than mine. You don’t typically see this route.”

The highly decorated Duke player, Smith spent seasons coaching at his alma mater and spent last season at Memphis. Now he’s the head coach of an NCAA Tournament team. This is his and his team’s breakthrough season.

Smith says winning a conference tournament as a coach is a better feeling than when he was a player.

“This means more than when I was a player, 100%,” said Smith. “When I got into coaching, I always told myself, ‘it’s always going to be about the players. To be first time head coach, it really does mean more to me. This is what basketball is all about, you know ‘giving back’. Becoming a coach to give back to these young men and let them do special things. This means way more to me than anything I’ve done as a player.”

Do Good

 

Editor: Cover photo, courtesy of ovcsports.com.