TSU has depth to make coach's vision work

With all five starters returning, Tigers hope to contend in OVC

Nashville, Tennessee -- Of the three transfers eligible to play men’s basketball at Tennessee State this season, Muniru Bawa stands taller than the others. The 6-foot-11, 240-pound Indiana transfer and Ghana native is pretty hard to miss. But like the other two transfers, Bawa will not be counted on to do anything more than contribute and find a role on the team, TSU Coach John Cooper said.

“My biggest concern is that I really worry about the expectations that he faces,” Cooper said. “Any time you’re at this level and you come in with that size there’s an expectation from the fan base and everybody around that he just comes in and he’s the savior.”

Beginning his third season, Cooper has five returning starters and adds three transfers and redshirt freshman M.J. Rhett to the mix. “I don’t even know who’s starting Friday,” Cooper said of the opener at Saint Louis. “Guys are going to play and guys are going to get minutes. I want them to be ready."

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