TTU Officially Welcomes Pelphrey To Campus

Tennessee Tech officially welcomed new men’s head basketball coach John Pelphrey to campus during a Friday press conference.

Pelphrey thanked both Athletic Director Mark Wilson and University Phil Oldham for their support during the process.

“I’m just really appreciative. For me, first and foremost, that the most important thing is who I work for,” Pelphrey said. “We were looking for a home and to have a chance to build something, to go to a place where we can learn, we can lead, and take on challenges in college basketball. This ended up being a really good fit for us.”

Tennessee Tech officially announced Pelphrey would lead the Golden Eagles earlier this week.

Pelphrey said he and his family were impressed with the people at Tennessee Tech and Cookeville from the very beginning.

“When I came on my visit, there were a lot of student-athletes who came to school here and never left. My wife came with me on my visit, met several people, and I had a chance to meet with her at the end of that night,” Pelphrey said. “It made her feel a certain way, which made me feel really good about moving our family here. I would say the thing about Cookeville is the people.”

Pelphrey said his primary goal in his first season will be establishing positive connections with his players.

“I just want us all to get on the same page, what we value, how we want to play the game, how we want to take care of each other, and how we want to put our teammates and the community first,” Pelphrey said. “I want to be selfless and I want to work hard. I think if we can take care of business every single day, then anything’s possible in terms of our schedule.”

Pelphrey comes to Tennessee Tech after three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Alabama. His last head-coaching role came at the University of Arkansas from 2007-2011, in which he set a single-season school record for most wins in a season at 23, and nearly won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship in 2008.