Jon Scheyer's Former Duke Basketball Co-Star Wins OVC COY

One 2010 Duke basketball national champion is doing big things in his first year as a head coach.

Mar 19, 2010; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Jon Scheyer (30), guard Nolan Smith (2) and center Brian Zoubek (55) talk on the bench during the second half in the first round of the 2010 NCAA mens basketball tournament againts Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. Duke won 77-44. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

It's no wonder the 2009-10 Duke basketball backcourt played so brilliantly en route to helping those Blue Devils capture what was the program's fourth of now-five national championships. After all, one of the starting guards on that squad has already snagged a Coach of the Year honor this season, and the other is a frontrunner to join him in that regard.

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On Tuesday afternoon, the Ohio Valley Conference announced that 2007-11 Duke basketball star and first-year Tennessee State Tigers head coach Nolan Smith is its Coach of the Year. Meanwhile, fourth-year Blue Devil head coach Jon Scheyer's top-ranked squad (28-2 overall, 16-1 ACC) secured the program's second straight outright ACC regular season crown by tallying a 93-64 road win over the NC State Wolfpack on Monday night.

Congrats @NdotSmitty!

Coach Smith becomes the 12th first-year head coach in Ohio Valley Conference history to earn Coach of the Year honors and is just the seventh first-year coach in league history to win COTY while capturing at least a share of the regular-season championship. pic.twitter.com/jqudDGRV29

— Tennessee State Men's Basketball (@TSUTigersMBB) March 3, 2026

Duke Basketball Alum Nolan Smith Swiftly Turning Around Tennessee State

Smith's Tennessee State team finished the regular season with a 21-9 overall record, including a 15-5 mark in OVC play. The Tigers earned the No. 1 seed for the OVC Tournament and became co-champions of the conference for the first time since 1995.

The 21 wins are Tennessee State's most in a season in over 60 years.

Nolan Smith speaks during a news conference introducing Smith as the new Tennessee State men’s basketball coach at Tennessee State University in Nashville , Tenn., Monday, July 21, 2025. | Nicole Hester / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

By snagging the top seed, the 37-year-old Smith and his bunch received a double bye in the OVC Tournament, thereby advancing to the semifinals at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., on Friday night and putting the Tigers just two wins shy of what would be the program's first NCAA Tournament invite since 1994. They won seven of their last eight outings in the regular season.

In addition to starring alongside Jon Scheyer for three years in Durham, Nolan Smith, who had stints as an assistant coach with the Louisville Cardinals and Memphis Tigers before being named Tennessee State's head coach back in July, was on now-retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski's Duke basketball staff alongside Scheyer from 2016 to 2022.

Following four seasons as a Duke basketball player, including his 2010-11 ACC Player of the Year campaign as a senior, Smith came off the board No. 21 overall at the 2011 NBA Draft and spent two years in the league with the Portland Trail Blazers.

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