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HOWARD (24-11) – Kenny Blakeney’s Bison won MEAC regular season (11-3) and tournament titles and prevailed over America East champion UMBC in NCAA First Four for their first-ever NCAA win. Lost to No. 1 region seed Michigan in first round. Led by dynamic duo of league player of the year Bryce Harris and Morehouse transfer Cedric Taylor III who led MEAC in scoring (17.2 ppg.) and rebounding (6.9 and 6.7 rpg.).
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Tennessee State (23-10) – In his first year, Nolan Smith led the historic Tiger program to share of OVC regular season title (15-5) and OVC Tourney title and to first NCAA berth since 1994, falling as a 15-seed to 2-seed Iowa State. All-OVC trio of Player of the year Aaron Nkrumah (17.7 ppg), Travis Harper II (17.1), Dante Harris (11.7) led the way.
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Prairie View A&M (19-18) – Despite finishing eighth in SWAC regular season, Byron Smith’s troops got four wins in five days to take SWAC Tournament title, knocking off regular season champ Bethune-Cookman in the process. Went on to post first-ever NCAA win in First Four over Patriot League champ Lehigh before falling to No. 1 seed Florida. Trio of Dontae Horne (20.1 ppg.), Cory Wells (13.2) and Lance Williams (10.1) sparked postseason run.
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Bethune-Cookman (17-15) – Head coach Reggie Theus led Wildcats to first-ever SWAC regular season title (14-4) before losing to Prairie View in tournament quarterfinals. Jakobi Heady (18.2 ppg.), Daniel Rouzan (11.8) were Wildcat leaders.
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Morgan State (14-16) – Second-place finish (10-4) in MEAC earned head coach Kevin Broadus the league’s coach of the year award. Bears upset in tournament quarterfinals by Delaware State. Alfred Worrell’s 17.1 ppg. and Elijah Davis (13.8) led MSU.
