No. 11 – Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles
John Pelphrey was building momentum at Tennessee Tech … until last season. The Golden Eagles increased their win totals during each of his first three seasons, but injuries weren’t kind to Pelphrey’s team and they slipped to just ten victories.
Pelphrey will be building around the solid duo of Daniel Egbuniewe and Rodney Johnson Jr. Both players grabbed over five rebounds per game and the 6’5 Johnson averaged 10.7 points per game. The 6’7 Egbuniewe is the OVC’s leading returning rebounder (5.8 per game) and chipped in 7.6 points per game last season.
Center David Craig missed the final 18 games, guard Grant Strong was out after just eight games and Grant Slatten missed the entire season.
Division 1 transfers Ola Ajiboye (Valparaiso) and Mekhi Cameron (Northern Colorado) bring experience. Ajiboye averaged over three points and three rebounds coming off the Valpo bench and will help TTU’s interior defense.
Junior college transfers Ray Glasgow and Jaylon Johnson were explosive scorers for their previous teams. Jucorecruiting.com called Johnson one of its top-100 junior college players last season. JaJuan Nicholls was a double digit NAIA scorer last year.
Pelphrey is expecting growth from sophomore returners Kyle Layton and Rylee Samons.
Intriguing freshman guard Joshua Heard will be fun to watch. After scoring 1,780 high school points playing for TTU’s local Cookeville High School, he originally signed with D2 power Lincoln Memorial, but has landed with the Golden Eagles.
The 6’5 guard played for his father (Josh) who was an all-OVC player for TTU. Heard is ranked as Tennessee’s sixth best high school player and second best shooting guard.
If the Golden Eagles can stay healthy, Pelphrey’s building plan could get back on schedule.