Ohio Valley Conference

EIU's Henry Domercant

Eastern Illinois junior forward Henry Domercant, the nation's second-leading scorer, was selected as the OVC men's basketball Player of the Year for 2001-02 in voting by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.

The conference's other top honors went to Tennessee Tech junior center Damien Kinloch as the OVC Newcomer of the Year, Southeast Missouri guard Derek Winans as the OVC Freshman of the Year, and Tennessee Tech's Jeff Lebo as OVC Coach of the Year. The awards will be presented Thursday afternoon in Louisville on the eve of the semifinals and finals of the 2002 OVC Basketball Tournament.

Domercant has been a scoring machine for Eastern Illinois the past two years. The 6-foot-4 guard from Lisle, Ill., is the only player to be among the top five in the nation in scoring each of the last two years. His 26.6 points per game is the second-highest average of any Division I player this season, and he has made the OVC first team in each of the last two years. Domercant also ranks among national leaders in three-point shots made per game (3.4/13th) and free throw percentage (89.0/16th). He is among the top five in the OVC in six different statistical categories, including rebounds (7.1 rpg/5th) and three-point FG percentage (39.4%/5th). This season, he scored in double figures in all but one of EIU's 30 games, going over the 20-point mark 23 times and over the 30-point mark 13 times. Domercant had 40 points in the Panthers' win over Loyola-Chicago in December. He also recorded double-doubles in six games this season. He is the third-leading scorer in EIU history with 1,773 points, and he became the school's single-season scoring leader this year with 798 points. Domercant is the first Panther to be named OVC Player of the Year.

Kinloch made a huge impact in his first season in the OVC, helping Tennessee Tech to its second straight regular season conference crown and its best record (22-5) in school history. The 6-foot-8 center from Charleston, S.C., led the Golden Eagles and was fifth in the conference in scoring at 16.9 ppg. He was the league's second-leading rebounder, averaging 8.4 boards per game, and he was third in field goal percentage at 59.2 percent. Kinloch was seventh in the OVC in bocked shots, averaging 1.22 per contest. He scored in double figures in 23 of Tech's 27 games, topping the 20-point mark eight times. In OVC play, Kinloch upped his scoring average to 17.8 ppg. He was also featured on CollegeInsider.com as one of the 10 players who have made this college basketball season interesting. He becomes the third Tech player to win Newcomer of the Year.

Winans had a spectacular rookie season, ranking among the OVC's top 20 players in nine different statistical categories. The 6-foot-2 guard from East Cape Girardeau, Ill., led Southeast Missouri and was eighth in the league in scoring at 14.9 ppg, and tallied double figures in 21 of his 27 games this season. Winans is also among league leaders in rebounds (4.7 rpg/20th), assists (2.92 apg/9th), steals (1.5 spg/9th), free throw percentage (80%/8th) and three-point percentage (37.4%/8th). He is the first Southeast Missouri player to capture OVC Freshman of the Year accolades.

Lebo becomes the first coach in league history to win Coach of the Year honors in three consecutive seasons. In just his fourth year with the Golden Eagles, Lebo guided Tennessee Tech to its second straight OVC regular-season title and its most wins (22) in school history. Tech set a school record for conference victories in a season with 15, topping the mark of 13 set just last year. This season, the Golden Eagles became only the second team since the OVC went to a 16-game schedule to suffer only one loss in league play . With a 22-5 overall record, the Golden Eagles can also become only the ninth team in league history to post 25 wins in a season if they win the OVC Tournament.

Joining Domercant and Kinloch on the All-OVC first team are sophomore forward Ricky Minard of Morehead State, senior guard Nick Stapleton of Austin Peay and senior guard Justin Burdine of Murray State. Domercant, Kinloch, Minard and Stapleton were all unanimous selections to the first team.

Minard is a first-team selection after earning the league's Freshman of the Year award and being selected to the All-OVC second team last season. The 6-foot-4 forward from Mansfield, Ohio, is third in the OVC and sixth in the nation in scoring at 22.4 ppg, and has netted 20 or more points in 17 games. Minard ranks among the top 15 in the OVC in every statistical category, leading the league in steals (2.56 spg) and finishing seventh in assists (3.15 apg) and fourth in three-pointers per game (2.3 pg).

Stapleton makes the All-OVC first team after earning a spot on the second team the last two seasons and the All-Newcomer squad as a freshman. The 6-foot-1 guard from Flint, Mich., put together another outstanding campaign, ranking second in the conference in scoring (22.8 ppg), 10th in assists (2.8 apg) and fifth in three-pointers made per game (2.27 pg). Stapleton is 11th on the OVC's career scoring list with 2,016 points and needs just 41 more to move into the top 10. He also has made 325 career three-pointers, ranking him fourth among the conference's all-time leaders in that category.

Burdine moved up to the All-OVC first team after earning third-team honors a year ago. The 6-foot-1 guard from Savannah, Tenn., is the OVC's fourth-leading scorer, averaging 20 ppg. He is second in the conference with an average of 3.04 three-point field goals made per game. Burdine led Murray State's furious comeback late in the season in which the Racers went on a seven-game winning streak to claim the third seed in the upcoming tournament. In that span, he averaged 22.6 ppg and shot 43.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Six players were selected to the All-OVC second team due to a tie in the balloting. Chosen to the squad were sophomore guard Cameron Crisp of Tennessee Tech, junior forward Shawn Fields of Eastern Kentucky, senior forward Brian Foster of Tennessee-Martin, sophomore guard Garrett Richardson of Tennessee State, junior forward James Singleton of Murray State and senior forward Kyle Umberger of Morehead State.

Selected to the All-OVC third team were junior guard Brent Jolly of Tennessee Tech, senior forward Kyle Rolston of Tennessee State, senior center Jeremy Sargent of Tennessee-Martin, junior guard Marquis Sykes of Morehead State and freshman guard Derek Winans of Southeast Missouri.


2001-02 ALL-OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAMS
(as voted on by the league's head basketball coaches and sports information directors)

All-OVC First Team
Justin Burdine, 6'1, 170, Sr., G, Savannah, Tenn. - Murray State%
Henry Domercant, 6'4, 200, Jr., F, Lisle, Ill. - Eastern Illinois*
Ricky Minard, 6'4, 191, So., F, Mansfield, Ohio - Morehead State#
Damien Kinloch, 6'8, 210, Jr., C, Charleston, SC - Tennessee Tech
Nick Stapleton, 6'1, 165, Sr., G, Flint, Mich. - Austin Peay#


All-OVC Second Team
Cameron Crisp, 6'2, 180, So., G, Bolivar, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech
Shawn Fields, 6'3, 195, Jr., G, Lexington, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky
Brian Foster, 6'5, 225, Sr., F, Ironton, Mo. - Tennessee-Martin#
Garrett Richardson, 6'3, 180, So., G, El Paso, Texas - Tennessee State
James Singleton, 6'8, 210, Jr., F, Chicago, Ill. - Murray State
Kyle Umberger, 6'6, 245, Sr., F, Ashland, Ky. - Morehead State%


All-OVC Third Team
Brent Jolly, 6'5, 180, Jr., G, Sparta, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech%
Kyle Rolston, 6'4, 185, Sr.,F, Nashville, Tenn. - Tennessee State
Jeremy Sargent, 6'8, 210, Sr., C, Thomasville, Ala. - Tennessee-Martin
Marquis Sykes, 6'0, 173, Jr.,G, Mansfield, Ohio - Morehead State
Derek Winans, 6'2, 165, Fr.,G, E.Cape Girardeau, Ill. - Southeast Missouri



OVC Player of the Year: Henry Domercant, Eastern Illinois

OVC Coach of the Year: Jeff Lebo, Tennessee Tech

OVC Newcomer of the Year: Damien Kinloch, Tennessee Tech

OVC Freshman of the Year: Derek Winans, Southeast Missouri


* - All-OVC 1st Team in 2000-01
# - All-OVC 2nd Team in 2000-01
% - All-OVC 3rd Team in 2000-01