NCAA Basketball: Seniors who never got their moment in NCAA Tournament

Tray Boyd, Jeromy Rodriguez, Isaiah Tisdale, and Lucas N’Guessan – ETSU Buccaneers

East Tennessee State had a magical season. The 30 wins they accumulated before the season was canceled was already a school record. The Buccaneers were a team poised to make a ton of noise in March. They were deep, had a tremendous amount of shooting and were led by a ton of great seniors. The seniors were never able to see the fruits of their spoils and while their season ended with a win, ETSU still never got hear their name called on Selection Sunday.

For the fantastic group of seniors Tray Boyd, Jeromy Rodriguez, Isaiah Tisdale, and Lucas N’Guessan the players should not be ashamed of the year they had. Boyd was the offensive player that made everything go. He is a great shooter and an efficient scorer. Boyd was a two-year player for the Buccaneers after transferring from Northwest Florida State Community College. Boyd has length and makes him one of the better defensive players in the league as well. The guard was the best player for the best team in the league all year long. He was going to be a load to deal with when the stakes were highest in the NCAA tournament.

Rodriguez and Tisdale were also both JUCO transfers and both played a key role for head coach Steve Forbes in their two years at ETSU. Rodriguez patrolled the lane and was a skilled offensive and defensive player. He was a good rebounder and while he didn’t have a great year this year he was still good enough, like everyone on this roster to provide a matchup nightmare for power schools. Tisdale was on the floor to shoot from deep. Almost half of his shots for the year were from deep and he made a lot of them.

Finally, N’Guessan transferred down a level to the mid-major program from the Big 12 by way of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. N’Guessan has no regrets as he had a chance to make the NCAA tournament both seasons he was in Johnson City. The big man was efficient and was a great rebounder. He also led the team in blocks and had the height and size to compete with the countries elite underneath.

Coach Forbes has been a hot name for high major jobs and has always stayed put. This was the best season he has ever had as a coach and while the ETSU fans will never forget it the ETSU season is ultimately incomplete as this team had so much more to accomplish, especially the Seniors who all were going to make an impact in the tournament.