Tennessee State knew exactly how long it had been since it last made March Madness. The Tigers men’s basketball team had a constant reminder hanging above them at home games.
The 1994 NCAA Tournament banner at the Gentry Center honors the most recent Tennessee State team to go dancing. It’s housed in the rafters along with a tribute to the 1993 team, the only other time the Tigers made it to March Madness. Until now.
Tennessee State punched its ticket to the big dance with a 93-67 win over Morehead State last Saturday in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship. The Tigers ended a 32-year NCAA Tournament drought in their first season under head coach Nolan Smith.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve done something,” Smith told Athlon Sports. “So now, it’s time for us to leave a legacy.”
Smith never shied away from the weight of that history. If anything, he embraced it. Smith said the moment he arrived on the HBCU campus last summer in Nashville, Tennessee, he looked up at those banners. And he knows a thing or two about raising banners.
Smith won the 2010 NCAA title as a player at Duke, where he was a three-year starter under legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski. After a five-year professional career, in the NBA and overseas, Smith returned to Durham, North Carolina, to continue his basketball education as an assistant coach for the Blue Devils.
Stints at Louisville and Memphis followed. And when former Tennessee State coach Brian Collins left the program to take a position with the Memphis Grizzlies, the Tigers turned to Smith to fill the vacancy. That was in July, well after the coaching carousel typically stops spinning.
Smith took over a veteran team that returned a trio of starters. Guards Aaron Nkrumah and Travis Harper II and forward Carlous Williams were a part of a group that lost by two points to eventual champion SIU Edwardsville in the OVC tournament semifinals last season.
“When you have guys that have worn the jersey and lost the year before, it’s very important because the care factor is there,” Smith said.
Guard Dante Harris followed Smith over from Memphis, and forward Jalen Pitre (Sacramento State) also joined Tennessee State in the transfer portal. That group, along with Antoine Lorrick III, another Tigers returner, make up the majority of Smith’s high-energy rotation.
“Everyone’s gonna play defense if you play for me,” Smith said. “You’re gonna compete on the defensive end. We’re gonna press. We’re gonna get steals. We’re gonna wreak havoc on the defensive end — that’s standard.”
True to form, Tennessee State led the OVC in steals per game (9.3). The Tigers are No. 2 in their conference in KenPom’s adjusted tempo metric. They also rank 15th nationally in fast break points per game (15.9) and in the top 25 in field goal attempts per game (63), though very few of those shots come from behind the arc.
“I’m not an analytic guy,” Smith said. “I know analytics, but I don’t look at analytics and let analytics tell me how to coach. I want my players to play basketball. I want them to do what makes them confident.”
That confidence bore out in Tennessee State’s best campaign as a Division I team. The Tigers were an NAIA powerhouse in the 1950s, when they won back-to-back-to-back titles. Their 23-9 record overall and 15-5 mark in OVC play this season both set new highs as a Division I program.
— Tennessee State Men’s Basketball (@TSUTigersMBB) March 8, 2026
Tennessee State has only lost two games in a row once all year, and none of its conference defeats were by double digits. The Tigers have won six in a row since a mid-February loss to Morehead State. Each of those games was against the OVC’s best, including a revenge game against the Eagles in the conference championship.
“The way we finished, I just knew we had a chance to do something extremely special,” Smith said. “We were defending. We were being tough. We were being resilient.”
Tennessee State will have to keep it up in March Madness in order to win its first tournament game; the 1993 and 1994 teams were one-and-done. The Tigers currently project as a No. 15 seed in ESPN’s latest bracket projection. But Smith isn’t content with just an appearance.
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“The one bit of information I gave them, I said, ‘Going into this tournament, get it in y’all minds right now: We are not a Cinderella. And we are not the underdog,’” Smith said. “We’re going into this tournament to be us.
“Do we know it’s gonna be a big-time game versus whoever we get lined up against? Absolutely. But we have a very confident and good basketball team that when you step into them lines, anything can happen.”
Tennessee State will find out its NCAA Tournament draw on Sunday with fans at a celebration inside the Gentry Center — under those two banners. Just one season into Smith’s tenure, the rafters already need an update.
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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Mar 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Basketball section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.