This article is the eighth in a series previewing each team in the Ohio Valley Conference.
How do you follow up your first conference championship in over 30 years if you're head coach Nolan Smith? How about bringing in the best portal class the OVC has seen since the transfer portal era began?
This is exactly what Tennessee State did. After returning just one rotational piece from last season, the Tigers have rebuilt in a big way. Of the 12 newcomers coming in this year, four have played significant minutes at power-conference schools at some point in their college careers, now looking for a fresh start in Nashville with the former NCAA National Champion Smith.
"I think a lot of these guys, first and foremost, they want to throw themselves into winning," Smith said. "A lot of the credit goes to last year's team that came in and bought into the culture of winning. They helped us do something special last season. Once you win, Tennessee State did a good job of selling itself, and now the group of guys that we've been able to go after want to come into this culture. Coming to the great city of Nashville, being a part of winning, building off of last season, I think that's what really has these guys excited, and the phone calls and the growth going forward really made it easy."
First up for Smith's recruits is San Diego transfer guard Ty-Laur Johnson, who spent time at both Louisville and Wake Forest in his college career after coming out of Overtime Elite. Johnson averaged 14.6 points, 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals for the Toreros out of the WCC last year. Now, he moves down to the OVC where he is garnering player of the year projections. As an experienced playmaker, the 6-foot senior looks to make it easier on offense for the Tiger's wealth of offensive weapons.
Along with Johnson, two former McDonalds All-Americans join the team in Aaron Bradshaw (Kentucky, Ohio State, Memphis) and Arterio Morris (Texas, Bethune-Cookman). Bradshaw stands 7-foot-1 and provides the ability to space the floor while having a 7-foot-4 wingspan to boot. He gives this lineup the defensive prowess needed in the OVC. Morris adds even more length to the backcourt and should be a capable complement to Johnson with his size and athleticism on the defensive end.
"To come here to this really good league to play against really good teams in this conference gives them an opportunity for them to come and show their talents and be a part of winning," Smith said. "We just want to maximize their full potential, and it's our job as coaches to get that out of them."
"Anything But Mid" OVC Men's Preview
"Anything But Mid" OVC Women's Preview
Rounding out the high-major transfers is fifth-year senior Josh Rivera, who, so far, is the only player in the OVC who has received a court injunction to play. The 6-foot-6 wing comes from Seton Hall, where he played 30 games for the Pirates and provided a solid defensive boost while on the court. His addition to the lineup should make this team one of the best defensive rosters in mid-major basketball, let alone the OVC.
"[I was] getting night sweats up at night, thinking about what Coach [Jeremy] Shulman is going to build down there at UT Martin with the size they had last year," Smith said. "I couldn't sleep at night, so I had to go out and get size to go against all the all the really good teams in our league was definitely a priority. Getting size makes us versatile defensively. Being able to switch and guard one through five and do a lot of things defensively – that's kind of what I like to do. That's what my staff and I want to do defensively, and then it also makes us very dangerous offensively. We want to put these guys in different spots on the court, guys that can play positionless basketball."
The rest of the lineup, while not former high-level recruits, fit exactly into the style that Smith has been known for since his first season in the league last year. Players such as Christian Alston (Abilene Christian), Daniel Vieira-Tuck (Texas A&M-Texarkana), Isaiah Stewart (Northern Illinois), Leyton McGovern (Compton College) and returner Kavien Jones all provide the length and size needed to succeed in the OVC.
With all the pieces to do it, Tennessee State is bound to be at the top of the conference once again, with the only need for them being cohesion across the board, but if this lineup can find a way to sort the talent out and find roles for each player, the Tigers are bound for their second straight tourney appearance.
