BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - Morehead State University junior center Kenneth Faried was tabbed both the 2009-10 Ohio Valley Conference Player and Defensive Player of the Year as announced by the Conference on Thursday. Joining Faried among the awards winners (done by a vote the League's head coaches and sports information directors) is Murray State's Billy Kennedy, who was named OVC Coach of the Year for the first time, and Murray State's Isaiah Canaan who was tabbed OVC Freshman of the Year.
Faried is the fifth Morehead State player to win the league's highest honor and first since Ricky Minard took home Player of the Year honors in 2002-03. In his third year with the Eagles, Faried ranked second in the league in scoring (17.0 points/game), first in rebounding (13.2), second in blocked shots (1.9/game), fourth in steals (1.6) and fourth in field goal percentage (56.7%). Nationally, Faried ranks first in rebounding and second in double-doubles, recording 22 double-dips in 31 total games. There were only seven games this year he failed to pull down double-digit rebounds and in 15 of his games he had 15 or more caroms, including a season-high 21 boards in a road win at Tennessee State. In that game, he also scored 23 points, which was one of just nine 20/20 games nationally this season. Faried also increased his points/game production from a season ago, from 13.9 points a game to a team-best 17.0 this season. That included nine games with 20 or more points. Faried was named OVC Player of the Week five times during the 2009-10 season.
Faried also repeated as the OVC Defensive Player of the Year, which was awarded for the first time by the OVC in 2008-09. At the end of the regular season Faried had 1,118 career rebounds, a mark that already ranks eighth in OVC history. Besides grabbing rebounds at a record pace, Faried also altered shots, blocking 58 in 31 games. That included a season-high five in a road game at Austin Peay and also against UT Martin in the regular season finale. His 51 total steals is also tops on the Morehead State team.
In his fourth season with the Racer program, Kennedy led Murray State to its record 21st OVC Championship (and first since 2005-06), compiling a 17-1 Conference record and 28-4 overall regular season mark; the 28 victories is just one shy of the program's all-time single-season record (set by the 1997-98 team). Overall it marked the 23rd 20-plus win season for the Racer program. Along the way Murray State won 17-straight games at one point of the season, which was tied for the longest winning streak nationally until a loss in late February. Dating back to the end of the 2008-09 season, Kennedy led Murray State to 23-straight OVC wins, which was the second-longest streak in Conference history (trailing only a 25-win stretch by Western Kentucky). Overall Kennedy is 81-43 in four years with the team, including a 56-20 mark in Conference games. This season Kennedy took a team of talented players and had them buy into sharing both minutes and points per game equally, as no Racer player averaged more than 10.8 points/game this season (and six were within a range of 10.8 to 9.5 points/game). With the balanced attack, four of Murray State's five starters were named to the All-OVC team this season and his sixth man took home OVC Freshman of the Year honors. Overall Kennedy is the ninth different Murray State head coach to win the OVC Coach of the Year honor (that group of nine have won a total of 13 awards), and first since Mick Cronin took home the honor in 2005-06.
Canaan became the second Murray State player in as many years to win Freshman of the Year honors, following in the footsteps of last year's winner Ivan Aska. The Biloxi, Miss. native came off the bench in all 32 Racer games and averaged 10.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists/game. He ranked 26th in the OVC in scoring, 10th in field goal percentage (49.5%) and second in 3-point percentage (45.4%). He was named OVC Freshman of the Week three times during the season and scored a season-best 22 points in the regular season finale, a road win over Eastern Kentucky, where he hit 5-of-6 from 3-point range. His biggest highlight of the season came on Feb. 16 when he hit a basket from his knees at midcourt, beating an expiring shot clock in a win over Southeast Missouri; the play was SportsCenter's No. 1 Play of the Day.
ALL-OVC TEAMS
This year's first and second-team All-OVC teams included 10 players from five OVC schools. Murray State led the way with four selections (two first-team, two second-team) followed by Austin Peay and Morehead State, who had two selections apiece. The first-team included four juniors and a senior while the second-team had four seniors and a sophomore.
Faried, the OVC Player of the Year, was the only repeat first-team selection this season. He was joined by Austin Peay guard Wesley Channels (a second-team pick a year ago), Murray State guard Isacc Miles (an All-Newcomer selection last season), Murray State junior newcomer B.J. Jenkins and Eastern Illinois junior guard Tyler Laser.
Channels has been a key contributor for the Governors in his four years with the program. This season the Memphis, Tenn. native was third in the league in scoring (16.9) in all games, but in Conference-only games his 18.4 points/game was tops among all players. Channels, who ranks in the top 10 active OVC players in five different career stat categories, also pulled down 4.3 rebounds/game (19th in the league), dished out 2.9 assists/game (12th-best) and had 45 steals (9th-best). The senior was fourth in the OVC in 3-pointers made/game (2.2), connecting on 71 triples during the season. Channels also averaged a league-high 35.23minutes per contest.
Miles was one of the top all-around players in the league on the best team in the conference in 2009-10. The junior averaged just 9.5 points per/game, but led the Racers in assists (121, fifth in the OVC), including a season-best 11 helpers in the team's OVC Tournament first round win over Tennessee State. Miles was also third on his team in steals (37) while usually drawing the assignment of guarding the opposing team's top player. He was the catalyst in leading Murray State to a 17-1 league mark and the squad's 21 OVC Championship.
In his first season with Murray State after transferring from Liberty, Jenkins helped lead the balanced Racer offensive attack with a 10.7 points/game average, second-most on the team. He also knocked down a team-high 61 3-pointers (1.9/game which ranked 10th in the OVC) and led the OVC in steals with 61 (1.9/game).
Laser's sharp-shooting helped Eastern Illinois to an 19-11 overall record and 11-7 OVC mark, which tied for third in the standings. The Panthers also had its first winning season since 2000-01, the year they won their only OVC Tournament Championship. The team's first round victory over Eastern Kentucky was also the program's first since the 2001 season. Laser ranked eighth in the OVC in scoring (14.1 points/game), third in free throw percentage (83.7%) and sixth in 3-pointers made (2.2/game).
Five individuals were named to the All-OVC second-team including a pair of senior forwards from Murray State - Danero Thomas (a second-team pick last year) and Tony Easley (the OVC leader in field goal percentage and blocked shots) - as well as Morehead State senior forward Maze Stallworth, Eastern Kentucky senior forward Josh Taylor and Austin Peay sophomore forward/guard Anthony Campbell.
Five players were selected to the OVC All-Newcomer Team, which was comprised of first-year players (freshman and transfers) in the league. The five included two players from each Murray State and Tennessee State and one player from Eastern Illinois. Canaan, the OVC Freshman of the Year, led the selections and was joined by his teammate Jenkins, who was also a first-team All-OVC pick. Tennessee State was represented by freshman forward Robert Covington and freshman guard Jacquan Nobles. Eastern Illinois redshirt freshman forward James Hollowell rounded out the team.
OVC Player of the Year: Kenneth Faried, Morehead State
OVC Defensive Player of the Year: Kenneth Faried, Morehead State
OVC Freshmen of the Year: Isaiah Canaan, Murray State
OVC Coach of the Year: Billy Kennedy, Murray State
ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM
Kenneth Faried, Morehead State
Wesley Channels, Austin Peay
Isacc Miles, Murray State
Tyler Laser, Eastern Illinois
B.J. Jenkins, Murray State
ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
Anthony Campbell, Austin Peay
Maze Stallworth, Morehead State
Danero Thomas, Murray State
Tony Easley, Murray State
Josh Taylor, Eastern Kentucky
ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
B.J. Jenkins, Murray State
Isaiah Canaan, Murray State
Robert Covington, Tennessee State
James Hollowell, Eastern Illinois
Jacquan Nobles, Tennessee State