Tennessee State guard Aaron Nkrumah appears to be like to finish the drought of NBA draft picks from HBCUs
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Tennessee State guard Aaron “AK” Nkrumah didn’t anticipate to even be on the NBA’s G League draft mix in May.
Days earlier than the occasion, Nkrumah obtained a late invitation to attend after a spot opened. Once there, he impressed scouts together with his athleticism, versatility and hustle, incomes a promotion to the NBA draft mix and remodeling from an under-the-radar prospect right into a athlete on NBA draft boards.
“When I scored 22 in the G League combine, that’s when I knew — ‘All right, I could really play with these guys,’” Nkrumah advised Andscape. “I just needed the platform. I just needed the stage to prove that I belong. … I’ve never really had buzz like that. … It made me want more success.”
It has been almost 15 years because the final time a athlete from a traditionally Black faculty or college was chosen within the NBA draft; the Orlando Magic took Norfolk State middle Kyle O’Quinn with the forty ninth general choose in 2012.
Now, after figuring out with NBA groups, Nkrumah is on the verge of ending the drought through the 2026 NBA draft this week in New York.
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Nkrumah’s NBA pursuit carries significance for each Tennessee State and HBCU basketball as an entire.
Former Tennessee State standout Robert Covington, the newest HBCU success story within the league, went undrafted however performed 11 seasons within the NBA (2013-24). Former Winston-Salem State guard Javonte Cooke, who signed a two-way contract with the Portland Trailblazers in October 2025, is the newest HBCU athlete to action within the NBA. He was referred to as up for 19 video games through the 2025-26 campaign earlier than being waived in March.
Nkrumah’s path to changing into an NBA draft prospect has been something however standard. The Worcester, Massachusetts, native started his basketball profession enjoying recreationally at outside parks and in pickup video games however didn’t begin enjoying organized basketball till center college. After starting his faculty profession at Nichols College, a Division III college in Massachusetts, he transferred to Worcester State, one other D-III Massachusetts college, for the 2022-23 campaign.
In his first campaign at Worcester State, Nkrumah averaged a team-high 16.9 factors per matchup and earned Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors. In his second campaign with the Lancers, he elevated his scoring common to twenty.0 factors per matchup and repeated as MASCAC Player of the Year.
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After the campaign ended, the 6-foot-6, 175-pounder entered the switch portal, seeking to show he may compete on the Division I stage.
After being recruited by former Tennessee State head leader Brian “Penny” Collins and assistant leader Joshua Bone Jr., Nkrumah transferred to the traditionally Black college for the 2024-25 campaign.
“The biggest growing pains I had making a jump from D-III to D-I was the physicality and understanding for the game,” Nkrumah mentioned. “I just had to embrace all the information coaches are giving me while trying to produce, so it was a lot to soak in. I was able to stay grounded and just be myself.”
Bone, who’s now the assistant males’s basketball leader at Middle Tennessee State, recalled seeing flashes of Nkrumah’s potential day by day in apply, particularly when he would ship a robust dunk that may deliver the fitness center to a standstill. Bone knew Nkrumah’s mixture of athleticism and management separated him from others on the ground.
“He trains like he has something to prove from day one, so that’s a testament to who he is,” Bone mentioned. “He’s always been the hardest worker on the team. … He’s really humble, but he’s been a killer since he stepped on campus.”
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In his first campaign at Tennessee State, Nkrumah averaged 10.9 factors, 5.3 rebounds and three.0 assists per matchup.
“From my IQ standpoint, my game really grew in that aspect, because Penny really nailed everything into my head, like what I needed to be doing, like how I’m supposed to be doing it and just regular things that would benefit the team, helping us win games,” Nkrumah mentioned.
When Collins left Tennessee State in the summertime of 2025 to pursue a job with the Memphis Grizzlies, Nkrumah and several other different gamers determined to return to TSU to action underneath former Trailblazers guard Nolan Smith, the brand new males’s basketball leader.
“Everyone enjoyed playing with each other, so we all decided to stay and play for each other, and then when Nolan came in, he kind of just brought in what he knew, and we were really bought in to what he has to offer and obviously his championship DNA,” Nkrumah mentioned of Smith, who performed on Duke’s nationwide chip workforce in 2010. “We were open to just buying in.”
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Playing for Smith provided Nkrumah a brand new layer of improvement throughout his senior campaign. Under Smith’s steering, Nkrumah gained a better understanding of decisionmaking and shot choice. He averaged 17.7 factors, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and a couple of.8 steals per matchup, incomes Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year honors and main the Tigers to their first NCAA event look since 1994.
“He plays to win. He’s a winner. He’s won everywhere he’s been, from D-III to here,” Smith mentioned. “When you talk to him, he wants to win. Those are the things — the winning attitude and the winning energy — that will show up in workouts. … When you get a guy like Aaron Nkrumah, you’re going to get a guy who’s about winning, and that’s what the NBA is looking for right now.”
With Nkrumah’s convention athlete of the 12 months award and robust NCAA event look — he scored 21 factors towards No. 2 seed Iowa State — Smith believes Nkrumah shouldn’t have been a last-minute invitee to the G League draft mix.
“That to me was almost disrespectful to HBCUs and the talent at HBCUs, that a guy like Aaron Nkrumah gets overlooked,” Smith mentioned. “But it’s OK — it’s all a part of his story. It’s been a part of his journey from the place he began to right here, after which he’s going to proceed to knock down that wall.
“What he accomplished this season, and the fact that he got there and was still ready, no matter the circumstance, just shows you what type of person that he was, what type of basketball player he was, that he was ready for his moment, and he took full advantage of it.”
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Nkrumah mentioned he entered the campaign realizing he would declare for the NBA draft and centered on proving he belonged on the subsequent stage.
“The season really never ended for me. I stayed in the gym — I didn’t take a break,” Nkrumah mentioned. “I was ready from a physical standpoint, but mentally, I was kind of just going into it with a nothing-to-lose [mentality], because I feel like, I said many times, ‘I belong here.’”
For those that know him, Nkrumah’s breakout attempt on the NBA G League draft mix wasn’t a shock. Bone mentioned the mix gave the remainder of the world the chance to see what he had seen in particular person for greater than a 12 months.
“I think a lot of these scouts — they know what they’re doing, but they’d rather go to the Tennessees or Kentucky and Dukes to find these guys,” Bone mentioned. “But [Nkrumah] just sheds light on HBCUs, and you never know what you’re going to get, so you can get a steal. If you can play at an HBCU and be successful, you can be successful anywhere.”
Nkrumah has spent the previous a number of weeks finishing exercises with greater than half of the NBA’s groups and assembly with scouts and coaches.
If he hears his identify referred to as on draft evening, he would add to Tennessee State’s wealthy skilled basketball custom. The Tigers are tied with Jackson State for essentially the most draft picks amongst HBCUs, with 23 draftees every — however none because the mid-Nineties.
Nkrumah is taken into account a second-round prospect with the potential to signal a two-way contract. He plans on spending draft evening together with his household in his hometown of Worcester.
Nkrumah mentioned ending the NBA draft drought for HBCU gamers would imply “everything to him.”
“When I was playing D-III, I didn’t think I would have the chance to play in the league,” Nkrumah mentioned. “I can’t explain it, [but] it would be a dream come true. … It will just let you know, if you can play [high-level basketball], they will find you.”
Mia Berry is the senior HBCU author for Andscape and covers the whole lot from sports activities to student-led protests. She is a Detroit native (What up Doe!), long-suffering Detroit sports activities fan and Notre Dame alumna who randomly shouts, “Go Irish.”
