After a phenomenal season, Tennessee State was beaten in the first round of the March Madness tournament by Iowa State 108-74. Throughout the season, Smith has emerged as one of the most recognized coaches in the sport, taking over Tennessee State late in the 2025 offseason and quickly rebuilding them into a conference champion and a 15-seed in the March Madness tournament.
Due to his success, many believe that he will be a prospect for several college basketball job openings this offseason. But Smith has already made his decision. After Tennessee State's loss, he said he wants to stay at Tennessee State University and explained why.
“Build some special building some special. 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 added, “Now, I’m going to go have some conversations with my Athletic Director and get this done so we can run this back,”
Tennessee State had a historic season, 21-9 overall and 15-5 in conference. They ended the regular season on a four-game win streak and sit atop the OVC as the number one seed in the upcoming OVC tournament and ultimately emerged victorious. Nolan Smith was voted as OVC Coach of the Year.
In the post-game press conference, he spoke about the message he gave to his team following the loss.
“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.”
