Coming into Rupp Arena tonight, the Nicholls Colonels are led by third-year head coach Tevon Saddler, who holds the title of youngest active head coach in Division I basketball.
At just 28 years old when hired in April 2023, Saddler, now 30, returned to his alma mater, Nicholls State University, after stops as a graduate assistant at South Alabama and an assistant at McNeese. Between those two jobs, Saddler was Nicholls’ director of basketball operations from 2019-2021, then returned home for his first head coaching job in 2023-24.
In his first two seasons with the Colonels, Saddler delivered back-to-back 20-win campaigns, a first in school history.