EIU Selected Fifth In OVC Pre-season Men's Basketball Poll

EIU posted a 17-15 record last season under head coach Jay Spoonhour as the Panthers.  Wallace was a first team All-OVC selection last season for the second straight year as he led EIU in scoring at 15.4 points per game.  Smith was a second team All-OVC performer last year and enters the season as the NCAA Division I active leader in consecutive games with a made 3-pointer at 81 straight.

In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men's basketball coaches and communication directors, rivals Austin Peay and Murray State have been picked the preseason favorites for the 2020-21 season. It marks the first time since 2009-10 that the poll has produced co-favorites.

It also marks the first time since the 2011-12 season that the Governors have been picked first in the preseason poll, and first time since 2014-15 that the Racers have been tabbed the favorites. Dating back to 1979-80 (the first year preseason polls were available), Murray State (18) and Austin Peay (7) have been tabbed the favorites more than any other OVC team.

Austin Peay picked up nine first-place votes while Murray State garnered 10 top nods as each finished with 226 points. Belmont received the other five first-place votes and 214 points in being tabbed third. Eastern Kentucky was picked fourth (173) and followed by Eastern Illinois (153), Tennessee State (139), Jacksonville State (124), Morehead State (87), Tennessee Tech (84), UT Martin (80), SIUE (48) and Southeast Missouri (30).

Now in his fourth season, Matt Figger is the first coach in Austin Peay history with 20-win seasons in two of his first three years on the bench. The Govs won 22 games in 2018-19 and followed that with 21 wins a season ago (the team's first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 2006-07/2007-08). During that time he has won 39 Conference games and led his team to the semifinals of the OVC Tournament in each of his three seasons.  This year he has one of the top teammate tandems in college basketball in senior forward Terry Taylor and sophomore guard Jordyn Adams. Taylor, the OVC Preseason Player of the Year selection for the second-straight season, earned OVC Player of the Year honors at the end of the 2019-20 campaign after being the only Division I player to rank in the Top 15 nationally in both scoring (13th at 21.8 points/game) and rebounding (10th at 11.0 per game). Taylor, who tied the OVC single-season mark by earning OVC Player of the Week honors eight times last season, is on pace to become just the fifth player in OVC history with 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. Adams finished fourth nationally among freshmen in scoring, averaging 17.4 points/game while connecting on 60 3-pointers and hitting 79 percent from the free throw line.

Despite coming up short in the OVC Tournament Championship game, Murray State did claim its third-straight and record 27th overall OVC regular season crown. The Racers are 52-8 in OVC play (regular season plus conference tournament) since 2017-18, which is the fourth-best winning percentage nationally over that time, trailing only Gonzaga, New Mexico State and Vermont. Head coach Matt McMahon reached his third-straight 20-win season last year, making him just the third MSU coach to ever achieve that mark; McMahon is 110-51 in his five years as the head of the Racers program. The program lost only one starter from last year's team that was 23-9 overall and has two Preseason All-OVC selections back. Junior guard Tevin Brown was the only player in the OVC last season to rank in the Top 10 in scoring (17.9 points/game, 5th), assists (3.7/game, 8th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4/game, 10th). Brown knocked down 85 3-pointers (at a 41.9% clip, which ranked 16th nationally) and in just two years with the program ranks ninth in school history with 175 made trifectas. The other preseason selection is junior forward KJ Williams who came off the bench to average 13.7 points and 7.4 rebounds/game a season ago. Williams had seven double-doubles a year ago, including back-to-back efforts in the final week of the regular season. Murray State enters the year with a 21-game home court winning streak, the sixth-longest streak nationally.

Last year Belmont shared the OVC regular season championship with Murray State for the second-straight season and met the Racers in the OVC Tournament Championship game for the third season. The back-and-forth game came down to the closing seconds when graduate transfer Tyler Scanlon scored on a backdoor reverse layup with 3.8 seconds remaining to give the Bruins the 76-75 victory. It marked the third tournament crown for Belmont since joining the OVC in the 2012-13 season and first for head coach Casey Alexander who took over prior to last season. Belmont has two starters returning, both of whom were first-team All-OVC selections a season ago in junior point guard Grayson Murphy and junior center Nick Muszynski. Murphy, who is on pace to become the OVC's career assist leader, led the nation in rebounding from the point guard position last season (7.4/game) while also ranking second nationally among all players in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.69), sixth in steals (2.61) and 17th in assists (6.2/game). Murphy had 86 steals, the eighth-most in OVC single-season history and was one of five Division I players to post an 8-point, 5-rebound, 6-assist and 7-steal game during the season. Muszynski was named MVP of the OVC Tournament after averaging 16.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.5 assists in two wins and scored 25 points in the tournament final. Muszynski ranked 16th nationally in field goal percentage (59.6%) and 72nd in blocks (1.58/game).

In just his second season with the program, A.W. Hamilton was named OVC Coach of the Year after leading Eastern Kentucky to its first OVC Tournament appearance since 2015. EKU finished the year with 12 conference wins, the third-most in program history, and ranked fifth nationally in forced turnovers (18.23/game), ninth in steals (9.2/game) and 12th in turnover margin (+4.2/game). Among the team's returning players is junior guard Jomaru Brown, a first-team All-OVC pick a season ago after ranking fourth in the OVC and 71st nationally in scoring (18.4 points/game). Brown scored a career-high 41 points against Western Kentucky last season, a mark that ranked fourth in school history. The team returns three additional starters including junior forward Tre King, who was also named to this year's Preseason All-OVC team. King averaged 11.3 points and 5.1 rebounds/game a season ago and ranked in the Top 15 in the OVC in field goal percentage (52.8%), free throw percentage (79.1%), steals (1.2/game), blocks (0.8/game) and offensive rebounds (1.9/game). Also back is sophomore Michael Moreno, who averaged 8.6 points and a team-best 6.1 rebounds/game as a freshman.

Eastern Illinois won its final four games of the regular season to finish 9-9 in conference play and qualify for the OVC Tournament where the Panthers topped Jacksonville State in the first round. Included in its late-season winning streak was a 27-point second half come-from-behind victory over Murray State, marking just the seventh time in Division I history that a team trailed by that many points in the second half and come back to win. This year head coach Jay Spoonhour, who enters his ninth year with the program which makes him the longest active tenured coach in the OVC, returns a pair of Preseason All-OVC selections in senior guards Josiah Wallace and Mack Smith. Wallace has earned first-team All-OVC honors in each of the past two years and last team led EIU and ranked eighth in the OVC in scoring at 15.6 points/game. Wallace had a streak of seven-straight 20-plus point games, the longest streak in the program since 2001-02. Last year Smith extended his streak of consecutive games with a made 3-pointer to 81, which is just seven away from tying the all-time NCAA record (88 by Illinois' Cory Bradford). Overall Smith made 79 3-pointers a year ago and his 214 career 3-pointers ranks him third in Eastern Illinois history.

Last year Tennessee State entered the season with almost an entirely new roster, as they returned just two players. This season head coach Brian "Penny" Collins enters his third year with the program with more returning players and experience. Among those returning players is junior guard Carlos Marshall Jr. who earned second-team All-OVC honors in his debut season a year ago after leading the team in scoring at 11.8 points/game. Marshall also added 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists/game for a team that finished the campaign with 18 overall victories. Also back is senior forward Shakem Johnson who started 32 of 33 games last year, and sophomore point guard Mark Freeman who dished out 131 assists (4.2/game).

After three-straight seasons with 20 or more wins, Jacksonville State fell below that mark last year, but did finish 8-10 in OVC play and qualify for the OVC Tournament. This year head coach Ray Harper will look to senior guard/forward Kayne Henry to be a leader on the team. In his debut season with the Gamecocks, Henry was named OVC Newcomer of the Week four times and finished the year by averaging 10.9 points and 6.9 rebounds/game while hitting 49.6 percent from the field. Overall Henry ranked ninth in the league in rebounding and 15th in field goal percentage.  Also returning is senior forward Martin Roub who averaged 5.1 points/game while starting half of the team's games a year ago.

This season marks the fifth for Morehead State under head coach Preston Spradlin, who has taken the team to the OVC Tournament in three of his four seasons. The Eagles graduated its top two scorers from last season but returns a young but experienced group of players. Included in that is sophomore forward Tyzhaun Claude who started 19 of 30 games last season and averaged 9.5 points and 6.4 rebounds/game while hitting 59.7 percent from the field. Also back is senior forward James Baker who averaged 9.1 points and 4.4 rebounds/game and blocked a team-best 42 shots last season. Also eligible is McNeese State transfer KJ Hunt who sat out last season due to transfer rules.

Tennessee Tech won four of its final seven OVC games a season ago in its first season under head coach John Pelphrey. This season the Golden Eagles have its backcourt returning in junior guard Jr. Clay and sophomore guard Keishawn Davidson. Clay has earned second-team All-OVC honors in both of his years with the program; last season he led the team and ranked 11th in the OVC in scoring at 13.4 points/game and fifth in the league in steals (56). Clay completed his well-rounded stat line by averaging 3.9 assists and 3.6 rebounds/game. In his debut season Davidson started 28 games and averaged a team-high 30.7 minutes/game. He led the team and ranked third in the OVC with 4.4 assists/game while also scoring 9.0 points/game and netting 30 total steals.

UT Martin narrowly missed out on the OVC Tournament field a season ago and will look to be back in the field of eight this season. Returning is redshirt junior Parker Stewart, who declared for the NBA Draft (one of a handful of OVC players to do so) but withdrew his name to play a second season for his father, Anthony Stewart. Stewart ranked 44th nationally in scoring (19.2 points/game) in his first year after transferring from Pitt. The guard also ranked 36th nationally in 3-pointers made/game (2.84) and scored 30 or more points in a game four different times.

After two years on the bench as an assistant coach, Brian Barone took over as the head coach at SIUE last year. This year the team returns several of its top scorers from last year, including junior guard Cam Williams and senior guard Mike Adewunmi. Williams was third on the team in scoring last year at 9.6 points/game while connecting on 30 three-pointers, the second-best mark among SIUE players. Adewunmi added 8.2 points and a team-high 5.1 rebounds/game in his debut season with the team. Also back are sophomore twins Shamar and Lamar Wright. The twins are the sons of the late Lorenzen Wright, who played for Barone's father, the late Tony Barone, with the Memphis Grizzlies. Last year Shamar started 18 games and averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds/game while Lamar came off the bench to add 1.3 points and 1.1 rebounds/game.

The lone new coach in the league is Brad Korn at Southeast Missouri. Korn played collegiately at nearby Southern Illinois and came to SEMO after five years at Kansas State, the last four as an assistant coach after one year as Director of Operations. Among the team's returning players is sophomore guard DQ Nicholas, who started 19 games last year and averaged 7.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists/game, and redshirt junior guard Chris Harris who averaged 15.5 points/game in his first two games of the season before getting injured and missing the remainder of the season. The 2020-21 season will see the first regular season games played on November 25. The 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament will be held March 3-6 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, the fourth-straight year the event has been held at the venue.

2020-21 Preseason Predicted Order of Finish

1. Austin Peay (9 first-place votes) - 226 points   Murray State (10 first-place votes)  - 226

3. Belmont (5) - 214

4. Eastern Kentucky - 173

5. Eastern Illinois - 153

6. Tennessee State - 139

7. Jacksonville State - 124

8. Morehead State - 87

9. Tennessee Tech - 84

10. UT Martin - 80

11. SIUE - 48

12. Southeast Missouri - 30

 2020-21 All-OVC Preseason Men's Basketball Team

The 2020-21 OVC Preseason Men's Basketball Team is headlined by Austin Peay senior Terry Taylor who was named OVC Preseason Player of the Year for the second-straight season.

Taylor is the just the fifth player to be named OVC Preseason Player of the Year twice, joining  Murray State's Marcus Brown (1994-95 & 1995-96) and Isaac Spencer (1999-00 & 2000-01), Eastern Illinois' Henry Domercant (2001-02 & 2002-03) and Morehead State's Kenneth Faried (2009-10 & 2010-11)

Overall, eight different schools were represented on the team with Austin Peay, Belmont, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky and Murray State leading the way with two picks apiece. Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin each had one selection. The squad features three seniors, nine juniors and a sophomore. All 13 selections were named to the All-OVC Team last season, eight being first-team picks and five being second-team selections.

Taylor has earned first-team All-OVC honors in each of his first three season. If he earns the award this season, he will be only the third player in OVC history to earn four first-team All-OVC accolades (joining Eastern Kentucky's Nick Mayo and Western Kentucky's Ralph Crosthwaite). Last season Taylor was the only Division I player to rank in the Top 15 nationally in both scoring (13th at 21.8 points/game) and rebounding (10th at 11.0 per game). Taylor is on pace to become just the fifth player in OVC history with 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.

Other returning first-team All-OVC selections from 2019-20 include Austin Peay sophomore guard Jordyn Adams (17.4 points, 3.2 rebounds/game, 60 made 3-pointers), Murray State junior guard Tevin Brown (17.9 points and 3.7 assists/game, 85 made 3-pointers) and junior forward KJ Williams (12.7 points, 7.3 rebounds/game, 54.4 FG%), Belmont junior guard Grayson Murphy (9.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.6 steals/game) and junior center Nick Muszynski (15.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks game, 59.6 FG%), Eastern Kentucky junior guard Jomaru Brown (18.4 points and 2.7 assists/game, 45 made 3-pointers) and Eastern Illinois senior guard Josiah Wallace (15.6 points and 4.4 rebounds/game, 46.2 FG%).

Returning second-team All-OVC picks included Tennessee State junior guard Carlos Marshall Jr. (11.8 points and 4.4 rebounds/game, 51 made 3-pointers), UT Martin junior guard Parker Stewart (19.2 points and 4.6 rebounds/game, 71 made 3-pointers), Tennessee Tech junior guard Jr. Clay (13.4 points, 3.9 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals/game), Eastern Kentucky junior forward Tre King (11.3 points and 5.1 rebounds/game, 51.6 FG%) and Eastern Illinois senior guard Mack Smith (13.4 points and 3.1 rebounds/game, 79 made 3-pointers).

2020-21 Preseason All-OVC Men's Basketball Team

Jordyn Adams, Austin Peay

Tevin Brown, Murray State

Jomaru Brown, Eastern Kentucky

Jr. Clay, Tennessee Tech

Tre King, Eastern Kentucky

Carlos Marshall Jr., Tennessee State

Grayson Murphy, Belmont

Nick Muszynski, Belmont

Mack Smith, Eastern Illinois

Parker Stewart, UT Martin

Terry Taylor, Austin Peay

Josiah Wallace, Eastern Illinois

KJ Williams, Murray State