With so many players leaving from last years men’s basketball team, head coach Steve Forbes had to replace the former SoCon Player of the Year, Desonta Bradford, at point guard.
Isaiah Tisdale
(Courtesy of the ETSU Bucs)
He recruited junior Isaiah Tisdale from Lexington, Kentucky, to help fill that position. Tisdale attended high school at Henry Clay where he capped off an impressive senior year of high school basketball being named to the all-state team.
After his high school, Tisdale played basketball at Vincennes Junior College. While there, Tisdale’s impact speaks for itself, leading the team to a 66-6 record and scoring over 1,000 points. His ability to score led to him being named a first-team All-American.
This past season at Vincennes, Tisdale led the team to a 34-3 record and taking them to the final four at that level. He did so while showing off his well-rounded game, averaging 17 points per game including nearly the same amount of rebounds and assists with four each.
This season for the Bucs with so much scoring diversity, the Bucs have not had to lean on Tisdale to put up the same production as he did the season prior. Instead, Tisdale has been a consistent scorer, averaging 11 points per game, and scores very efficiently, shooting over 50 percent from the field.
Defensively Tisdale has also made his mark by leading the team in steals with 12 on the season.
“My main goal is to become a better leader because it can definitely help me on the court with the players and off the court outside of basketball,” Tisdale said in an interview for East Tennessee State Athletics. “Team goal is to definitely win the SoCon championship and make it to the NCAA tournament.”
Tisdale has been grateful for the family-type environment that Coach Forbes led him into and believes that will contribute to his play throughout his time here at ETSU.
In conference play, Tisdale showed why Forbes recruited him in a loss against Wofford where the team was struggling to score.
His scoring was a bright spot. He finished with 18 points on six of seven shooting. As of now, Tisdale and the Bucs are 7-3 and have lost the only conference game they have played so far. With Tisdale becoming more aggressive offensively, the Bucs are in good position to be at the top of such a tough conference season ahead.
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