Division I program lands Lexington native who challenged for Mr. Basketball

Former Henry Clay standout Isaiah "Pun" Tisdale signed with East Tennessee State University on Thursday.

Tisdale, a 6-foot-1 guard who starred for Vincennes Junior College in Indiana, was a first-team All-American junior college selection as a sophomore after averaging 17.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists and leading Vincennes to a 34-3 record and an appearance in the NJCAA Final Four.

"When I first spoke to Vincennes head coach Todd Franklin about him, he told me Isaiah was one of the best all-around guys he’d ever coached and he expressed to me how much he loved him as a person and as a player," ETSU Coach Steve Forbes said in a news release. "That’s high praise coming from a NJCAA Hall of Fame coach and I took that to heart."

Tisdale was co-11th Region Player of the Year in 2016 along with Paul Laurence Dunbar's Darius Williams. He was a first-team All-State selection after his senior season, in which he averaged 19 points and led the Blue Devils to a 28-6 record. They fell to Dunbar, the eventual state champion, in the 11th Region tournament semifinals.

"Pun," Tisdale's nickname, was given to him by his mother and was inspired by the rapper "Big Pun."

"He was real big and I was big when I was a baby," Tisdale told the Herald-Leader in 2015.

Indiana and Wichita State were among the other programs interested in Tisdale, who will have two years of eligibility at ETSU.

This story was originally published April 26, 2018 at 12:07 PM with the headline "Division I program lands Lexington native who challenged for Mr. Basketball."