Morehead State Tabbed as OVC Favorites

 

Editor: The following is part of a press release from ovcsports.com.

(Brentwood, TN) – In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men’s basketball coaches and communication directors, Morehead State has been picked the preseason favorites for the 2022-23 season. It marks the first time since 2009-10 that the Eagles have been tabbed the preseason favorites.

The Eagles were one of five different teams to pick up first-place votes, tallying seven top picks to finish with 138 points. They finished ahead of Tennessee State who had two first-place votes (130 points), UT Martin who had seven first-place votes (120 points), Southeast Missouri who had two first-place votes (115) and SIUE who picked up two first-place votes (111 points).

This season marks the 75th anniversary of the Ohio Valley Conference, as the league was formed in 1948. The league includes three teams making their OVC debut, including Lindenwood, Little Rock and Southern Indiana, each who became official members on July 1.

Morehead State has won 20-plus games each of the past two seasons, the first time since the Eagles had three-straight 20-win seasons from 2008-09 through 2010-11. This year marks the seventh for head coach Preston Spradlin who led the Eagles to the 2021 OVC Tournament Championship, and to the Tournament Title game a season ago.

Tennessee State led the way with four Preseason All-OVC selections this season, including guards Jr. Clay, Marcus Fitzgerald Jr.and Dedric Boyd and forward Zion Griffin. Clay came to the program for fellow league school Tennessee Tech where he earned four career All-OVC honors and thanks to an extra year of eligibility could become the first player in league history to earn a fifth honor.  This year marks the fifth with the program for head coach Brian “Penny” Collins.

Year number two for UT Martin head coach Ryan Ridder will feature Preseason Player of the Year KJ Simon, who came with Ridder from Bethune-Cookman and in his debut season with the Skyhawks was the only player in Division I to average at least 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. Simon was one of the top two-way players in the OVC last season. He will be joined in the backcourt by Parker Stewart, who averaged 19.2 points/game with the Skyhawks in 2019-20, before transferring to Indiana a year ago.

Southeast Missouri has showed improvement in both of its two seasons under Brad Korn, including finishing fourth in the Conference standings a year ago, earning its highest seed in the OVC Tournament since 2000. Although 63 percent of last year’s scoring has departed, the Redhawks do return sophomore guard Phillip Russell, a Preseason All-OVC selection.

Fourth-year head coach Brian Barone has three starters back from last year’s team, including redshirt sophomore guard Ray’Sean Taylor, who was among the national freshmen scoring leaders before suffering an injury late in the season. Taylor finished his debut season averaging 17.6 points/game, one of only two freshmen nationally to average above 17 points a contest (Duke’s Paolo Banchero was the other).

New OVC member Little Rock is coming off an unforgettable year that saw only one player appearing in all 28 games and the team using 17 different starting lineup combinations due to a string of injuries. This year is the fifth with the Trojans for head coach Darrell Walker, who led his team to the 2020 Sun Belt Regular Season Championship.

Southern Indiana begins its run in the OVC and its reclassification to Division I this season under third-year head coach Stan Gouard. The Screaming Eagles were a successful Division II program, including winning the 1995 National Championship, and led by Gouard who was playing for then coach Bruce Pearl. Gouard returns the top three scorers from last year’s squad.

Tennessee Tech’s roster will feature many new faces this year for fourth-year head coach John Pelphrey. The team will look at 6-9 center Daniel Ramsey for experience, as he begins his second year with the program after transferring from Xavier.

This marks year two for Marty Simmons as Eastern Illinois head coach. His first season featured a multiple of injuries that forced the squad to use 16 different starting lineup combinations. Among the team’s returning players are sophomores Rodolfo Bolisand Paul Bizimana, as well as senior big man Jermaine Hamlin.

Lindenwood is the final new OVC member and also making the leap from Division II like Southern Indiana (both of whom played in the Great Lakes Valley Conference). The Lions are led by fourth-year head coach Kyle Gerdeman, who already has a familiarity with the OVC after previously serving as an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri (2009-12).

Each OVC school is eligible to compete and win the OVC Tournament Championship, including Lindenwood and Southern Indiana, who are beginning the reclassification process to Division I. It was previously announced that should a transitioning school win an OVC Tournament Championship, the AQ shall be awarded to the tournament runner-up. Should the tournament runner-up also be a transitioning school, the AQ representative shall be the highest seed going into the tournament.

Preseason Predicted Order of Finish
1. Morehead State (7 first-place votes) – 138 points
2. Tennessee State (2) – 130
3. UT Martin (7) – 120
4. Southeast Missouri (2) – 115
5. SIUE (2) – 111
6. Little Rock – 102
7. Southern Indiana – 68
8. Tennessee Tech – 62
9. Eastern Illinois – 31
10. Lindenwood – 23

2022-23 All-OVC Preseason Men’s Basketball Team

The 2022-23 OVC Preseason Men’s Basketball Team is headlined by UT Martin senior guard KJ Simon. He is the first Skyhawk to be named OVC Preseason Player of the Year since 2008-09, when All-American and future NBA player Lester Hudson earned the honor.

Overall, seven different schools were represented on the team with Tennessee State leading the way with four picks. Southeast Missouri, SIUE and UT Martin had two selections apiece while Morehead State, Southern Indiana and Tennessee Tech each had one pick.

After transferring from Bethune-Cookman, Simon made an immediate impact for UTM last season, as he was the only player in Division I to average at least 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. Simon was a first-team All-OVC selection and was named OVC Newcomer of the Week five times during the year.

Other returning All-OVC selections from last year who made the preseason team were Southeast Missouri sophomore guard Phillip Russell (13.4 points, 3.2 assists/game) and Tennessee State graduate guard Jr. Clay (12.9 points, 3.7 assists and 1.7 steals/game at Tennessee Tech) while SIUE sophomore Ray’Sean Taylor (17.6 points, 5.0 rebounds/game) earned All-Newcomer honors.

Two other players previously earned All-OVC accolades before transferring away from the league and then back this season. Those players are Morehead State senior guard Mark Freeman (who played at Tennessee State and averaged 8.8 points and 3.5 assists/game at Illinois State last year) and UT Martin graduate guard Parker Stewart (who averaged 19.2 points/game at UTM in 2020-21, before transferring to Indiana last season).

The team was rounded out by Southeast Missouri senior guard Chris Harris (9.4 points, 2.9 rebounds/game), SIUE sophomore forward DeeJuan Pruitt (10.2 points, 6.9 rebounds/game), Southern Indiana senior guard Jelani Simmons (14.2 points, 4.5 rebounds/game), Tennessee Tech graduate guard Ty Perry (11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds/game) and a trio of Tennessee State players in sophomore guard Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. (11.5 points/game, 35 steals), senior guard Dedric Boyd (9.8 points, 2.7 rebounds/game) and graduate forward Zion Griffin (11.1 points, 4.0 rebounds/game).