Nashville, TN -- (Sports Network) - Tennessee State has named John Cooper as its new men's basketball coach.

Cooper replaces Cy Alexander, who was fired in February. Alexander was in his sixth season with the Tigers, who were 6-16 before his dismissal and finished with a mark of 12-18 with Mark Pittman as interim coach.

"We had an outstanding group of candidates from which to choose," said Tennessee State president Melvin N. Johnson. "We were looking for the right fit, a combination of integrity, energy, respectability, community involvement and commitment to player and team development. John Cooper was very impressive in the final interview process."

Cooper, who will be a collegiate head coach for the first time, has over 15 years of coaching experience. He had spent the past five seasons as an assistant at Auburn and also worked at Oregon, South Carolina and Fayetteville State.