Tevon Saddler

Biography

Tevon Saddler was named the 13th head coach of Nicholls State University men's basketball on April 20, 2023, becoming the youngest active Division I head coach in the country. In his first two seasons, Saddler wasted no time in making history, leading the Colonels to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in program history. His 20 overall victories and 13 Southland Conference wins both set new records for a first-year head coach at Nicholls, while his team added just the eighth and ninth 20-win campaigns in school history. For his immediate impact, Saddler earned national recognition as a 2024 Joe B. Hall Award Finalist, presented to the top first-year head coach, and a 2024 Ben Jobe Award Finalist, honoring the nation's top minority head coach. He was also named HoopDirt.com Division I Coach of the Week during the season. Saddler's coaching journey has taken him through multiple levels of Division I basketball, building a foundation of experience that prepared him for his return to Thibodaux. Prior to being named head coach, he spent the 2022–23 season at the University of Maryland as the director of player personnel. The year before, he served as an assistant coach at McNeese. Saddler also returned to Nicholls from 2019–21 as director of basketball operations, during which time the Colonels won 39 games overall, posted a 29–7 conference record, and captured the 2020–21 Southland regular season championship. His first coaching stop came at South Alabama in 2018–19