Morehead State junior guard Ricky Minard, who ranks among the OVC's top 15 players in 11 of 12 statistical categories, was selected as the OVC men's basketball Player of the Year for 2002-03 in voting by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
The conference's other top honors went to Tennessee-Martin junior guard Earl Bullock as the OVC Newcomer of the Year, Eastern Kentucky guard Matt Witt as the OVC Freshman of the Year, and Austin Peay's Dave Loos as OVC Coach of the Year. The awards were announced Thursday afternoon in Nashville on the eve of the semifinals and finals of the 2003 OVC Basketball Tournament.
Minard has been one of the most dominant players in the conference over the last three years, having won OVC Freshman of the Year honors in 2000-2001, then following that with a first-team All-OVC season as a sophomore in 2001-02. The 6-foot-4 guard from Mansfield, Ohio, has had a spectacular all-around season in 2002-03, helping the Eagles claim a share of the OVC regular season title for the first time since the 1983-84 campaign. In addition to ranking as the league's second-leading scorer with an average of 22.5 points per game, he ranks in the top 15 among OVC leaders in rebounding (12th), field goal percentage (13th), assists (fifth), free throw percentage (second), steals (second), three-point field goal percentage (11th), three-pointers made (ninth), blocked shots (13th), assist/turnover ratio (eighth), and defensive rebounds (eighth). He has scored in double figures in all but one game this year, and he has gone over 20 points 15 times. Minard is the first player from Morehead State to win the award since Brett Roberts won it in 1991-92.
Bullock made a big impact in his first season in the OVC. The 6-foot-2 guard from Lineville, Ala., led the Skyhawks and is sixth in the conference in scoring at 16.0 ppg. He is the league's leader in three-points made, having knocked down 94 treys on the year to tie him for 10th on the OVC's single-season list. Bullock scored in double figures in 24 of UTM's 28 games, topping the 20-point mark seven times. He becomes the third Skyhawk to win Newcomer of the Year, and the second in the last three seasons.
Witt had a spectacular rookie season, becoming the first player to win OVC Rookie of the Week honors in every week it was awarded during the year. The 6-foot guard from Tipp City, Ohio, averaged 13.6 ppg as a freshman, helping the Colonels reach the OVC tournament for the first time in five years. He led Eastern Kentucky and is third in the league in assists with 144, and he was tops on the team and ninth in the conference with 42 steals. He made 54 three-pointers this season, and he tallied double figures 18 times on the year. He is the first Eastern Kentucky player to capture OVC Freshman of the Year accolades since 1990-91 and just the second ever.
Loos picks up his third Coach of the Year award, having won the honor in 1990-91 and 1996-97. In his 13th year with the Governors, Loos guided Austin Peay to a share of its fifth OVC regular-season title and its first since 1996-97. APSU reached the 20-win plateau for the 10th time in school history and the fourth time as a Division I school. In addition to guiding the Govs to the top seed in the OVC Tournament with a 13-3 conference record and an overall mark of 21-7, Loos led APSU to an early-season upset of Memphis, his alma mater. It is the fifth time an Austin Peay coach has claimed Coach of the Year honors.
Joining Minard on the All-OVC first team are senior guard Henry Domercant of Eastern Illinois, junior forward Adrian Henning of Austin Peay, senior forward/center Damien Kinloch of Tennessee Tech and senior center James Singleton of Murray State. Minard and Domercant were both unanimous selections to the first team.
Domercant, the 2001-02 OVC Player of the Year, set the OVC's all-time scoring record in his final game, breaking the old mark held by Akron's Joe Jakubick. His 2,602 career points places him 26th, all-time, in NCAA history. The 6-foot-4 senior from Naperville, Ill., is currently the nation's second-leading scorer, averaging 27.9 ppg. He has gone over 20 points in 23 of 29 games this year and over 30 13 times. Domercant was the nation's second-leading scorer in 2001-02, becoming EIU's first All-American in 13 years when the Associated Press named him to its squad. He followed up a sophomore season in which he was fourth in the nation in scoring. Domercant shattered nearly every school offensive record during his career at EIU.
Henning was named to the All-OVC team for the first time after helping Austin Peay win a share of the OVC regular season championship. The 6-foot-6 forward from Memphis, Tenn., put together an outstanding campaign, leading the Govs in scoring and rebounding and ranking among the OVC's top 10 in six statistical categories. Henning is eighth in the league in scoring with an average of 18.9 ppg and sixth in rebounds with an average of 7.0 rpg. He also ranks sixth in the OVC in field goal percentage at 58.4 percent and fifth in blocked shots with 31. He finished fourth among league leaders in defensive rebounds and ninth in offensive rebounds.
Kinloch earned a spot on the All-OVC first team for the second straight year after winning the OVC Newcomer of the Year award last season. The 6-foot-8 senior from Charleston, S.C., is the conference's fourth-leading scorer with 16.2 ppg and the league's third-leading rebounder with 8.4 rpg. His 58.9 field goal percentage ranks him fourth in the OVC, and his 30 blocked shots ranks him seventh. Kinloch, who helped Tech to an 18-11 overall record, is third in the conference in defensive rebounds and fourth in offensive boards.
Singleton moves up to the All-OVC first team after being named to the second team last season. The 6-foot-8 senior from Chicago is the OVC's top rebounder with an average of 10.9 boards per game, ranking him ninth in the nation in that category. He led MSU and ranked 11th in the league in scoring with an average of 15.1 points per game. Singleton is second in the conference with 15 blocked shots, and he is the OVC's leader in defensive rebounds, while ranking third in offensive boards. He has had 19 double-doubles on the year.
Chosen to the second team were junior guard Cameron Crisp of Tennessee Tech, senior guard Shawn Fields of Eastern Kentucky, junior center Josh Lewis of Austin Peay, senior guard Chez Marks of Morehead State and junior guard/forward Cuthbert Victor of Murray State.
Selected to the All-OVC third team were UTM's Bullock, sophomore guard Anthony Davis of Austin Peay, senior guard Marquis Sykes of Morehead State, junior forward Joey Walker of Tennessee-Martin and sophomore guard Derek Winans of Southeast Missouri.
All-OVC First Team
Henry Domercant, 6'4, 200, Sr., G, Naperville, Ill. - Eastern Illinois*
Adrian Henning, 6'6, 205, Jr., F, Memphis, Tenn. - Austin Peay
Damien Kinloch, 6'8, 230, Sr., C/F, Charleston, SC - Tennessee Tech*
Ricky Minard, 6'4, 195, Jr., G, Mansfield, Ohio - Morehead State*
James Singleton, 6'8, 225, Sr., C, Chicago, Ill. - Murray State*
All-OVC Second Team
Cameron Crisp, 6'4, 190, Jr., G, Bolivar, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech#
Shawn Fields, 6'3, 195, Sr., G, Lexington, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky#
Josh Lewis, 6'8, 210, Jr., C, Lexington, Ky. - Austin Peay
Chez Marks, 6'3, 160, Sr., G, Paris, Ky. - Morehead State
Cuthbert Victor, 6'5, 210, Jr., G/F, St. Croix, V.I. - Murray State
All-OVC Third Team
Earl Bullock, 6'2, 190, Jr., G, Lineville, Ala. - Tennessee-Martin
Anthony Davis, 6'2, 190, So., G - Inglewood, Cal. - Austin Peay
Marquis Sykes, 6'0, 173, Sr.,G, Mansfield, Ohio - Morehead State%
Joey Walker, 6'6, 220, Jr., F, Dickson, Tenn. - Tennessee-Martin
Derek Winans, 6'2, 175, So.,G, E.Cape Girardeau, Ill. - Southeast Missouri%
* All-OVC 1st Team in 2001-02 # All-OVC 2nd Team in 2001-02 % All-OVC 3rd Team in 2001-02
OVC Player of the Year: Ricky Minard, Morehead State
OVC Coach of the Year: Dave Loos, Austin Peay
OVC Newcomer of the Year: Earl Bullock, Tennessee-Martin
OVC Freshman of the Year: Matt Witt, Eastern Kentucky