The Ohio Valley Conference usually has the distinction of being the conference that provides the first automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. This year, it was responsible for the second bid of championship week, thanks to Long Island securing its bid first because it is playing an ineligible team in its conference finals. Enough about Long Island, let’s talk about the automatic bid from the Ohio Valley.
Tennessee State swept the conference regular season and now has a conference tournament championship under its belt. Duke legend Nolan Smith coaches the Tigers, who turned the program into an NCAA Tournament team in his first year at the helm. The Tigers are making their first appearance since their back-to-back appearances in 1992 and 1993. The Tigers are likely headed to a 15 seed, and may slip to a 16, but should avoid Dayton. They are going to pose some matchup problems in that game for three simple reasons.
Offensive Prowess
The Tigers are a lot of fun to watch play basketball. They play at a lightning pace and look like they are having a lot of fun. The lightning pace allows Tennessee State to keep constant pressure on opposing defenses and on the rim. Tennessee State takes one of the highest volumes of two-point shots in the country, and most of those come from their three bona fide stars.
Robert Nkrumah is the Ohio Valley Player of the Year, and it's evident as to why when you watch him play. The guard has a quick first step and gets into the paint with ease. He does shoot under 50% from inside the arc, but a lot of that is because he is going too fast. Nkrumah is a stat-sheet stuffer, a good passer, and an elite finisher in transition.
I mentioned three stars and have only mentioned one. There is Dante Harris, the point guard for the high-powered Tigers. Harris is a transfer from Memphis who is not a shooter but can break down anyone one-on-one and get to the rim. He is one of the best passers in the game and, once again, is another extremely quick guard.
Then there is Travis Harper II, who is the shooter but also gets to the rim and scores at the basket. Harper doesn’t have the counting stats that the other guards do, but he is more fun to watch than the other two. He is a high flyer who just makes wow plays. Tennessee State doesn’t need to shoot threes to put up a ton of points because they are faster than you and are going to get in the paint at all costs. The defensive pressure is relentless.
Nolan Smith
How can a coach be a key to a team winning a game? Well, when that coach is a Duke Legend who did nothing but win and then comes in to lead your program and seemingly change the fortunes virtually overnight, that’s how. Many fans probably don’t know Tennessee State's history before coach Smith or why this season is so special. Let’s refresh.
The Tigers have been a Division 1 team for 51 years and are making their third overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament. That isn’t a very good ratio, but given they play in a one-bid league, that number isn’t all that surprising. Looking more closely at the numbers shows how special this season is. The 23 wins and 15 conference wins are the highest in program history, and Tennessee State has a chance to win its first March Madness game this year.
That is all thanks to Nolan Smith, who didn’t come in and change up the roster; he knew he could win with the guys he had and gave them the confidence to compete and make mistakes. It turned out that Tennessee State had a ton of talent and made its third NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. That is a heck of a return on investment, at least after the first year. If Smith can successfully recruit with the NIL limitations that Tennessee State has, he can build them into a Murray State- and Belmont-type dominance in the Ohio Valley. Coach Smith has these guys playing with a ton of confidence, and confidence is a beautiful thing in basketball.
Defense
This one should go without saying, but there are times when teams that play extremely fast, like Tennessee State, just don’t give any effort on the defensive end to save energy for the offensive end. That usually results in games being extremely high-scoring and in a track meet breaking out. Â
That could not be further from the truth for the Tigers. Are they the best defensive team in the country? No, but they do play pretty good defense and force the opponent into a half-court offense most of the time. The contrast is stark here. The Tigers play very fast on offense, but force teams to play fairly slowly on defense. This allows the Tigers to set up their defense, which is elite at grabbing steals and turning teams over. The defense will always lead to easy transition baskets for Tennessee State, which can be deadly when playing a team with their offensive prowess.
Robert Nkrumah, remember him, the Ohio Valley player of the year, is one of the best in the country, and he is getting steals and going the other way for easy baskets. The guard is currently averaging just under 3 steals per game, which led the conference. Tennessee State forces about 15 turnovers a night, and it is one of the ways they'll keep this game closer than their opponent would like. Turnovers are always the great equalizer.