Tennessee State basketball vs. Fisk features Nashville Public Schools coaching flavor

Metro Nashville Public Schools will be on display Monday (7:30 p.m. CT) when Tennessee State basketball opens the 2024-25 season against neighborhood rival Fisk at Gentry Center.

The two Historically Black College and Universities are located about one mile from each other, which makes the matchup interesting in itself. But the fact that the coaches for both teams − Tennessee State’s Brian “Penny” Collins and Fisk’s Jeremiah Crutcher − both are Metro Nashville Public Schools graduates and former players makes it even more compelling.

Collins, who played at Whites Creek, is headed into his seventh season at TSU and Crutcher, who played at Hunters Lane, is in his first season after replacing former NBA All-Star Kenny Anderson at Fisk in July.

There also is a connection between Collins and Crutcher, who both were point guards, in that Collins was a graduate assistant coach at TSU when Crutcher played for the Tigers from 2008-10. It goes even further. Crutcher was the coach at Collins’ alma mater Whites Creek the previous three seasons and led the Cobras to the TSSAA Class 2A semifinals last season.

“I love this because it’s great for the community,” Collins said. “There is so much history and tradition in this rivalry going way back and now we’ve got a new element with two Metro public school guys coaching each team. You see what the local ties have done for us at TSU with so many people now supporting us and it’s going to be the same for Fisk with Jeremiah, a guy who earned his way up, to get the job.”

TSU is coming off a back-to-back 18-win seasons while Fisk, an NAIA program, went 14-16 last season, its best record in Anderson’s six seasons.

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This marks the third straight year TSU has opened the season against Fisk and the Bulldogs…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/tennessee-state-basketball-vs-fisk-110319189.html

Author : The Tennessean

Publish date : 2024-11-04 11:03:00

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