Isaiah Tisdale was named Director of Player Development on May 22, 2023. 

Another Buccaneer from the historic 2019-20 squad is back home, as ETSU men’s basketball head coach Brooks Savage added Tisdale to his staff. Tisdale reunites with Coach Savage and assistant coach Joe Hugley in Johnson City.

Tisdale spent the past two seasons at Wake Forest as a graduate manager where he just graduated with a master’s degree in liberal arts studies.

During his two years at Wake Forest, Tisdale was an offensive assistant, worked on the development of players on the court and was the community service liaison. Tisdale helped coach Alondes Williams, Jake LaRavia and Ty Appleby. Williams was named 2022 ACC Player of the Year, while he and Appleby received Associated Press ACC Player of the Year honors – marking the first time in school history that Wake Forest had back-to-back AP ACC Player of the Year award winners. LaRavia was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2022 NBA Draft and Williams signed with the Brooklyn Nets. 

Tisdale, who was a two-year starter for the Bucs from 2018-20, played in 67 games (54 starts) and totaled 605 points, 251 rebounds, 193 assists and 86 steals. The Buccaneer guard averaged 8.8 points and 2.9 rebounds, while leading the Blue & Gold with 98 assists in 2018-19. As a senior, Tisdale posted 9.2 points and 4.6 rebounds, while dishing out a team-best 95 assists.

Tisdale had many key moments during the historic 2019-20 season where ETSU won a school record 30 games en route to capturing both the Southern Conference regular season and tournament titles. The Lexington, Ky. native came up with the clutch game-winning steal to secure the 49-48 win over Wofford on New Year’s Day, while seven days later, he took a key charge on SoCon Player of the Year Isaiah Miller in the closing seconds, keeping ETSU’s lead intact against UNCG as the Bucs went on to win by seven in Greensboro Coliseum.

During ETSU’s SoCon Tournament run, Tisdale led the Blue & Gold as he was eventually named Tournament MVP. Tisdale averaged 16.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in the wins over VMI, Western Carolina and Wofford. Tisdale saved his best for last as he totaled 24 points on 5-of-8 shooting (4-of-7 from three) and made a career-high 10 free throws to defeat the Terriers. Following the postseason tournament, Tisdale went on to be named SoCon Student Athlete of the Week and later received his degree in interdisciplinary studies.

Prior to ETSU, Tisdale played two seasons at Vincennes where he was a two-time NJCAA All-American and was the 15th-ranked Junior College player in the country. Tisdale finished his two seasons at Vincennes with an overall record of 66-6, while registering 1,167 points and 346 assists. The Lexington, Ky. native earned all-tournament honors at the NJCAA Nationals in 2017 where Tisdale led Vincennes to the Elite Eight. Tisdale received an associate’s degree in general studies at Vincennes.