Following a hard-fought end to their historic season, head coach Nolan Smith made it clear he’s proud of Tennessee State and is ready to build a lasting legacy at the HBCU.
Though the final score against Iowa State (108-74)wasn’t what they wanted, Smith made sure his players understood their historic impact.
“I’m just extremely proud of my guys,” Smith said. “And I told them in the locker room that they’re legends, you know?” He emphasized that breaking a 32-year championship drought is a monumental achievement that will stand the test of time. “They’ll be forever be remembered in Nashville and in the TSU community,” he added.
Establishing a winning culture
Nolan Smith played his college ball at Duke, where the NCAA Tournament is a birthright. But at his new HBCU home, it is a rarity.
He admitted that establishing that winning culture wasn’t perfectly smooth from day one.
“They didn’t really like me at first,” he joked. “I think I think we’re pretty close now, but, just so proud of them. This this group of guys they bought into the process of of becoming a champion. And that process has had bumps in it has challenges, has adversity, has everything.
Moving forward, his expectations are even bigger.
“I love building off a winning… I’m obsessed with winning,” Smith declared.
The next class of players will have big shoes to fill for Nolan Smith and his coaching staff at TSU. He expects future teams to do even better than averaging 81 points a game and be a top-ten team nationally in steals.
“That’s what I’m going to go get now. I have to rebuild,” he stated.
Smith wants to stay at Tennessee State
In an era of high turnover in college sports, Smith was asked directly why he wants to stay at Tennessee State.
“Build some special building some special,” he told the reporter. “You know, why wouldn’t you want to continue to do what you just did right? Why wouldn’t you want to come back and repeat?” he asked.
That’s a tall task at any HBCU, especially one like Tennessee State which has been fighting to get what it is owed from the government. But Smith sounds excited about what lies ahead at TSU and not elsewhere.
He his press conference with a clear plan for the HBCU. “Now, I’m going to go have some conversations with my Athletic Director and get this done so we can run this back,” Smith said.