Tennessee State basketball's Nolan Smith voted OVC co-coach of the year

[ASFN Admin]

Tennessee State basketball first-year coach Nolan Smith has been named the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball co-coach of the year, and Tigers senior Aaron Nkrumah is the OVC player of the year, according to a vote by the league's basketball head coaches and communications directors.

Smith led the Tigers (21-9, 15-5 in OVC) to a share of the regular season championship with Morehead State. TSU will be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament March 4-7 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. Smith shared the coach of the year honor with Morehead State's Jonathan Mattox, who led the Eagles (19-12, 15-5) to the No. 2 seed in the tournament.

TSU received a double bye into the tournament and will play on March 6 (7 p.m. CT, ESPNU).

The only other TSU coaches to earn OVC coach of the year were Dana Ford in 2015-16 and Frankie Allen in 1992-93.


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Why TSU's Aaron Nkrumah named OVC player of the year​

Nkrumah, a 6-foot-6 guard from Worcester, Massachusetts, is the second-leading scorer in the OVC (17.7 ppg.). He leads the conference in steals (2.9) and is TSU's second-leading rebounder (5.6).

Nkrumah transferred from Worcester State in 2024-25 and made the All-OVC second team that season.

TSU's Travis Harper II joined Nkrumah on the All-OVC first team. The 6-6 guard from Columbus, Georgia, is the third-leading scorer in the conference (17.4 ppg.). He has started in 53 of the 54 games in which he has played since transferring from Clayton State in 2024-25.

A third TSU guard, graduate student Dante Harris, made the All-OVC second team and All-Newcomer team. The former Memphis (2024-25), Virginia (2023-24), and Georgetown (2020-22) player leads the Tigers, averaging 4.6 assists per game. He also averages 11.7 points.

Southern Illinois Edwardsville's Arnas Sakenis was the OVC defensive player of the year, and UT Martin's Matas Deniusas was the freshman of the year.

All-OVC first team​

Aaron Nkrumah, Tennessee State G

Anias Futrell, Lindenwood G

Travis Harper II, Tennessee State G

George Marshall, Morehead State Sr. G

Johnathan Lawson, Little Rock Sr. G

Andrija Bukumirović, UT Martin Jr. G/F

Jadis Jones, Lindenwood So. G

Luke Almodovar, Southeast Missouri Jr. G

All-OVC second team​

Dontrez Williams, Lindenwood So. G

Matas Deniusas, UT Martin Fr. F

Brendan Terry, Southeast Missouri Sr. F

Jon Carroll, Morehead State Jr. F

BJ Ward, Southeast Missouri Jr. G

Zion Fruster, Eastern Illinois Sr. G

Dante Harris, Tennessee State Gr. G

Tyler King, SIUE Jr. G

All-Newcomer team​

Luke Almodovar, Southeast Missouri Jr. G

Matas Deniusas, UT Martin Fr. F

Dontrez Williams, Lindenwood Sp. G

Jon Carroll, Morehead State Jr. F

Dante Harris, Tennessee State Gr. G

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee State's Nolan Smith shares OVC coach of the year honor

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