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2025–26 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball team

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The 2025–26 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball team represented Tennessee Technological University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Eagles were led by John Pelphrey in his seventh and final year as head coach, and played their home games at the Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tennessee as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 13–18, 8–12 in OVC play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They failed to qualify for the OVC tournament.

ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Record13–18 (8–12 OVC)
Headcoach
Associate headcoachBlake Gray (7th season)
Quick facts Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball, Conference ...
2025–26 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Record13–18 (8–12 OVC)
Head coach
Associate head coachBlake Gray (7th season)
Assistant coaches
  • Stefan King (4th season)
  • Ezra Pinzur (1st season)
  • Ronrico White (1st season)
  • Miloš Babić (2nd season)
Home arenaEblen Center
Seasons
← 2024–25
2026–27 →
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More information Conf., Overall ...
2025–26 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
Tennessee State †15–5 .75023–10  .697
Morehead State15–5 .75020–13  .606
Southeast Missouri State14–6 .70020–13  .606
UT Martin13–7 .65022–11  .667
SIU Edwardsville12–8 .60019–13  .594
Lindenwood11–9 .55018–15  .545
Little Rock9–11 .45012–20  .375
Eastern Illinois8–12 .40013–20  .394
Tennessee Tech8–12 .40013–18  .419
Southern Indiana4–16 .2007–23  .233
Western Illinois1–19 .0505–26  .161
† 2026 OVC tournament winner
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On March 3, 2026, the school fired head coach John Pelphrey.[1] On March 12, the school named former Fairleigh Dickinson and Iona head coach, Tobin Anderson, the team's new head coach.[2]

On August 13, 2025, the school announced that the season would be the last for the team in the Ohio Valley Conference, as they will join the Southern Conference on July 1, 2026.[3]

Previous season

The Golden Eagles finished the 2024–25 season 15–17, 10–10 in OVC play to finish tied for fifth place.[4] They were defeated by UT Martin in the first round of the OVC tournament.[5]

Preseason

On October 14, 2025, the OVC released their preseason polls. Tennessee Tech was picked to finish seventh in the conference.[6]

Preseason rankings

More information Place, Team ...
ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll
Place Team Votes
1Little Rock188 (12)
2Southeast Missouri State177 (6)
3SIU Edwardsville163 (1)
4Tennessee State135 (1)
T-5Lindenwood100
Morehead State
7Tennessee Tech80
8UT Martin79
9Southern Indiana67 (2)
10Eastern Illinois63
11Western Illinois57
(#) first-place votes
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Source:[6]

Players to Watch

Each OVC team selected two "Players to Watch" for their team.

More information Player, Position ...
Players to Watch
Player Position Year
JaJuan Nicholls Forward Junior
Mekhi Cameron Guard Graduate Senior
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Source:[6]

Roster

More information Players, Coaches ...
2025–26 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearHometown
G 0 Malik Ferguson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)190 lb (86 kg) Jr Grovetown, Georgia
G 1 Mekhi Cameron 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)195 lb (88 kg) RS Sr Atlanta, Georgia
G/F 2 Jacobe Whitted 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)205 lb (93 kg) Fr Birmingham, Alabama
G 3 Jah'Kim Payne 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)181 lb (82 kg) Jr Atlanta, Georgia
F 4 Mekhi Turner 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)215 lb (98 kg) So Atlanta, Georgia
G 5 Ja'Quavian Florence 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)195 lb (88 kg) GS Atlanta, Georgia
G 6 Brandon Muntu 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)208 lb (94 kg) GS Calgary, Alberta
F 7 JuJuan Nicholls 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)220 lb (100 kg) Jr Scranton, Pennsylvania
G 8 Ty Owens 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)185 lb (84 kg) Jr Port St. Lucie, Florida
G 10 Grant Slatten 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)195 lb (88 kg) RS Sr Sparta, Tennessee
F 11 Dani Pounds 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)225 lb (102 kg) Jr Atlanta, Georgia
G 12 Hagan Preston 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)187 lb (85 kg) Fr Lexington, Kentucky
G 13 C.J. McPherson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)211 lb (96 kg) Jr Virginia Beach, Virginia
G 23 Colin Ayers 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)170 lb (77 kg) RS Fr Hilham, Tennessee
F 24 Owen Varnado 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)215 lb (98 kg) Sr Muskegon, Michigan
G 32 Maguire Evans 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)180 lb (82 kg) Fr Cleveland, Tennessee
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: November 25, 2025

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Schedule and results

More information Date time, TV, Rank# ...
Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
October 21, 2025*
2:15 p.m.		 SC Central Christian College W 99–38  –
 Eblen Center (581)
Cookeville, TN
October 27, 2025*
6:30 p.m.		 at Belmont L 70–74  –
 Curb Event Center 
Nashville, TN
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025*
6:30 p.m., ESPN+		 at Western Kentucky L 70–82  0–1
 E. A. Diddle Arena (3,247)
Bowling Green, KY
November 7, 2025*
6:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at Charlotte L 65–70  0–2
 Dale F. Halton Arena (2,699)
Charlotte, NC
November 10, 2025*
6:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Virginia–Lynchburg W 118–58  1–2
 Eblen Center (540)
Cookeville, TN
November 13, 2025*
6:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Berea W 86–64  2–2
 Eblen Center (667)
Cookeville, TN
November 17, 2025*
6:00 p.m., ESPN+		 West Georgia L 59–61  2–3
 Eblen Center (648)
Cookeville, TN
November 19, 2025*
6:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at USC Upstate W 88–84  3–3
 G. B. Hodge Center (471)
Spartanburg, SC
November 26, 2025*
6:00 p.m., SECN		 at No. 19 Kentucky L 54–104  3–4
 Rupp Arena (19,602)
Lexington, KY
November 29, 2025*
1:00 p.m., SECN+		 at Georgia L 81–123  3–5
 Stegeman Coliseum (7,125)
Athens, GA
December 3, 2025*
11:00 a.m., ESPN+		 at Lipscomb L 80–83  3–6
 Allen Arena (1,905)
Nashville, TN
December 6, 2025*
1:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at West Georgia W 87–59  4–6
 The Coliseum (567)
Carrollton, GA
December 13, 2025*
3:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Bethel (TN) W 101–69  5–6
 Eblen Center (855)
Cookeville, TN
OVC regular season
December 18, 2025
7:30 p.m., ESPN+		 Southeast Missouri State W 85–74  6–6
(1–0)		 Eblen Center (751)
Cookeville, TN
December 20, 2025
3:00 p.m., ESPN+		 UT Martin L 62–86  6–7
(1–1)		 Eblen Center (875)
Cookeville, TN
December 30, 2025
7:30 p.m., ESPN+		 Tennessee State L 76–88  6–8
(1–2)		 Eblen Center (1,273)
Cookeville, TN
January 1, 2026
5:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at Little Rock L 58–77  6–9
(1–3)		 Jack Stephens Center (1,127)
Little Rock, AR
January 8, 2026
7:30 p.m., ESPN+		 at Eastern Illinois L 61–71  6–10
(1–4)		 Lantz Arena (736)
Charleston, IL
January 10, 2026
3:30 p.m., ESPN+		 at Western Illinois W 59–54  7–10
(2–4)		 Western Hall (735)
Macomb, IL
January 15, 2026
7:30 p.m., ESPN+		 Southern Indiana L 54–71  7–11
(2–5)		 Eblen Center (1,250)
Cookeville, TN
January 17, 2026
3:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Morehead State L 70–76  7–12
(2–6)		 Eblen Center (1,175)
Cookeville, TN
January 22, 2026
7:30 p.m., ESPN+		 at Lindenwood L 68–89  7–13
(2–7)		 Hyland Performance Arena (1,057)
St. Charles, MO
January 24, 2026
4:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at SIU Edwardsville L 58–62  7–14
(2–8)		 First Community Arena (1,623)
Edwardsville, IL
January 31, 2026
3:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Little Rock W 87–77  8–14
(3–8)		 Eblen Center (1,101)
Cookeville, TN
February 2, 2026
7:30 p.m., ESPN+		 at Tennessee State W 90–85  9–14
(4–8)		 Gentry Center (1,153)
Nashville, TN
February 5, 2026
7:30 p.m., ESPN+		 Western Illinois W 97–72  10–14
(5–8)		 Eblen Center (1,038)
Cookeville, TN
February 7, 2026
3:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Eastern Illinois L 54–60  10–15
(5–9)		 Eblen Center (1,077)
Cookeville, TN
February 12, 2026
4:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at Morehead State L 66–73  10–16
(5–10)		 Ellis Johnson Arena (2,234)
Morehead, KY
February 14, 2026
3:30 p.m., ESPN+		 at Southern Indiana W 82–74  11–16
(6–10)		 Liberty Arena (1,769)
Evansville, IN
February 19, 2026
7:30 p.m., ESPN+		 SIU Edwardsville W 62–52  12–16
(7–10)		 Eblen Center (1,230)
Cookeville, TN
February 21, 2026
3:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Lindenwood W 72–57  13–16
(8–10)		 Eblen Center (1,247)
Cookeville, TN
February 26, 2026
7:30 p.m., ESPN+		 at UT Martin L 49–64  13–17
(8–11)		 Skyhawk Arena (1,297)
Martin, TN
February 28, 2026
3:45 p.m., ESPN+		 at Southeast Missouri State L 73–89  13–18
(8–12)		 Show Me Center (3,200)
Cape Girardeau, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.
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Sources:[7][8]

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