The Tennessee State Tigers basketball team represents Tennessee State University (TSU) in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The school's team currently competes in the NCAA Division I's Ohio Valley Conference. They play their home games at the Gentry Complex and are led by first-year head coach Nolan Smith.
While they were a member of the NAIA, they were three time national champions (1957, 1958, 1959). TSU was the first team to win three consecutive basketball national championships at any level of college basketball â a feat only repeated by UCLA (seven straight championships from 1967âÂÂ1973) and Kentucky State (1970, 1971, 1972). The 1957 championship made TSU the first historically black college to win a national championship. The team was coached by Harold Hunter from 1960 to 1968. Hunter still holds the record as the second-winningest men's basketball coach in Tennessee State's history. Hunter had succeeded outgoing coach John McLendon, who left in 1959.
The Tigers joined NCAA Division I for the 1977âÂÂ78 season and joined the OVC for the 1986âÂÂ87 season. Since joining Division I, Tennessee State has appeared three times in the NCAA Tournament, most recently in 2026.
Seventeen former Tennessee State Tigers have played in the NBA; the best known are Ben Warley, Robert Covington, Dick Barnett, John Barnhill, Truck Robinson, Anthony Mason and Carlos Rogers.
The Tigers have appeared in three NCAA Division I Tournaments. Their combined record is 0âÂÂ3.
The Tigers have appeared in seven NCAA Division II Tournaments. Their record is 18âÂÂ8.
The Tigers have appeared in seven NAIA Tournaments. Their combined record is 23âÂÂ4 and are three time national champions (1957, 1958, 1959). Those same teams were later announced as inductees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on April 6, 2019, with those teams being "the first collegiate team to win back-to-back-to-back championships."
The Tigers have appeared in three CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournaments (CIT). Their combined record is 0âÂÂ3. They accepted an invitation to the 2020 CIT before it was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.