BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - For the second year in a row Morehead State University senior center Kenneth Faried was tabbed both the 2010-11 Ohio Valley Conference Player and Defensive Player of the Year as announced by the Conference on Tuesday. 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 second year in a row, and Tennessee State guard Patrick Miller, who was tabbed OVC Freshman of the Year.
Faried is the 12th player in OVC history to repeat as OVC Player of the Year (and first since UT Martin's Lester Hudson won the award in 2008 and 2009) and first Morehead State player to win the award in back-to-back seasons. Overall five different MSU players have won OVC Player of the Year honors. This season Faried led the nation in rebounding (14.3) and double-doubles (25) in becoming the NCAA's Modern Era (since 1973) rebounding champion, passing NBA great Tim Duncan during the season. Faried enters the postseason with 1,607 rebounds, the second-most in OVC history and 12th most in NCAA history (all years). The senior's 82 career double-doubles is currently the most among active players and is fifth in NCAA history. This year Faried also led the OVC in scoring (17.6 points/game) and blocked shots (2.1/game), was second in steals (2.0/game) and third in field goal percentage (64.0%). Three times during the year Faried had a 20/20 game, which accounted for a third of all 20/20 contests nationally during the season. The center had 25 points and 20 rebounds in a win at SIU Edwardsville, 23 points and 23 rebounds (the most caroms in a single game nationally this season) in a win over Tennessee State and the next game out had 21 points and 20 rebounds against Jacksonville State; Faried currently has five 20/20 games in his career. He is the only player in OVC history to have more than 1,900 points and 1,600 rebounds in a career. During the year Faried was named OVC Player of the Week a record eight times and he took home the honor 15 times in his four-year career (another OVC record).
Faried was also named OVC Defensive Player of the Year, the third-straight season he has accomplished that feat; in fact he is the only player to win the honor since the award began in 2008-09. In addition to setting the NCAA Modern Era rebounding mark, Faried has 442 rebounds this season, just seven away from the OVC single-season Top 10 list, which would mark the third-straight season he has cracked that list. After ranking second nationally in rebounding each of the last two seasons (13.0 rebounds/game in each year), Faried increased his per-game total to 14.2 caroms/contest, which ranks first nationally. That number increased to 15.2 rebounds/game in 18 OVC games. The senior also had a league-best 66 blocks in 31 regular season games, increasing his career total to 225, which ranks third in OVC history. Faried also netted 62 steals, increasing his career mark to 223, which is seventh in League history.
In his fifth season with the Racer program, Kennedy led Murray State to its record 22nd OVC Championship and second in as many seasons as the team compiled a 23-7 overall record and 14-4 mark in Conference play. After winning an OVC-record 31 games last year and topping Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Kennedy's team got off to a 4-4 start this season before going 19-3 over its final 22 games in the regular season. Overall it marked MSU's 24th 20-plus win season in program history. Kennedy is now 107-51 in five years at Murray State including an impressive 70-24 in OVC play. His team once again was successful with defense (the squad led the OVC in scoring defense at 60.9 points/game allowed) and had a balanced attack, as no player averaged more than 12.0 points/game and eight players averaged between 12.0 and 4.9 points/contest. The Racers did not have a 20-point scorer in a game this year until its 21st game of the season (Jan. 29), which made them the final Division I team (out of 345 total squads) to have a 20-point scorer. The team also did not have a player in the Top 10 in scoring and Top 9 in rebounding in the OVC statistical leaders. Kennedy is the ninth different Murray State head coach to win the OVC Coach of the Year honor (that group has a total of 14 awards), and first to win it in back-to-back seasons.
In his first season at Tennessee State, Miller made an immediate impact and helped the Tigers to a 10-8 Conference mark, the first time the Tigers have finished above .500 in OVC play since the 2005-06 season. He also helped TSU earn the No. 5 seed in this week's OVC Tournament, the highest seed for the program since earning a No. 2 seed in the 1996 OVC Tournament. Miller did a little bit of everything well on the court, averaging 11.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals/game. Miller was third on this team in scoring (17th in the league) while ranking 11th in the OVC in both assists and steals/game. He had a season-high 22 points in a game against Tennessee Tech and in a contest against Murray State had 13 points, seven assists, five rebounds and six steals. Miller was named OVC Freshman of the Week three times during the year.
ALL-OVC TEAMS
This year's first and second-team All-OVC squads included 10 players from six OVC schools. Murray State led the way with three selections (one first-team, two second-team) followed by Morehead State and Tennessee State with two selections apiece. The first and second-teams each included two seniors, two juniors and a sophomore.
Faried, the OVC Player of the Year, was the only repeat first-team selection, as he earned first-team honors for the third-straight season. He was joined on the first-team by senior teammate Demonte Harper, Austin Peay junior guard TyShwan Edmondson, Murray State sophomore guard Isaiah Canaan (last year's OVC Freshman of the Year) and Tennessee Tech junior forward Kevin Murphy (a second-team pick a year ago).
In his senior season, Harper picked up his scoring production, improving from 11.9 points/game last season to 15.4 points/contest this season, a mark that ranked fifth in the OVC. Harper also ranked seventh in the league in assists (3.3/game), ninth in steals (1.5/game) and 10th in 3-point percentage (40.0%). Harper knocked down 52 total trifectas during the regular season, the second-most on his team. Harper scored 35 points in a victory at SIU Edwardsville, which was the second-highest point total by an OVC player this year. In directing the Eagles offense, Harper averaged 33.5 minutes/game, a mark that was sixth in the OVC.
After transferring to Austin Peay from Midland College Edmondson came off the bench in the Governors first four games before breaking the starting lineup against nationally-ranked Purdue. Following a season-ending injury to Anthony Campbell (the team's leading returning scorer), Edmondson stepped up his game even more, averaging 17.6 points/game during the regular season, which was just percentage points behind Faried for the league-lead. Edmondson earned two OVC Player of the Week honors during the season and scored 30 or more points in a game twice (one of just two OVC players to accomplish that feat).
Canaan followed up his rookie campaign that saw him earn OVC Freshman of the Year honors as well as being named MVP of the OVC Tournament, by leading a balanced Murray State offensive attack this season. The guard averaged 12.0 points/game to go along with 2.4 assists, 1.9 rebounds and 1.03 steals/game. Canaan was tied for the team-lead with 55 3-pointers and connected from long range at a 40.7 percent clip. After the Racers did not have a 20-point scorer through the first 20 games of the season, Canaan broke through with 24 points in a home win over UT Martin; he added 21 points two games later as Murray State won at arch rival Austin Peay, avenging a loss from earlier in the season. His play down the stretch allowed Murray State to win its 22nd OVC regular season championship.
Murphy led Tennessee Tech in scoring for the second year in a row, averaging 15.8 points to go along with 4.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.9 steals/game. The 15.8 points/game ranked the junior third in the league in scoring, while his 46.9 percent field goal percentage was 12th-best in the league. Murphy scored in double figures in 25 of his 29 games during the campaign, helping the Golden Eagles to a 12-6 League record and No. 4 seed in the OVC Tournament. The forward had a season-high 31 points in a home game with Murray State and scored 25 on three other occasions.
Five individuals were named to the All-OVC second-team, including two pairs of teammates in Murray State senior guards Isacc Miles and B.J. Jenkins (both of who were first-team picks last season) and Tennessee State forwards Robert Covington and Kenny Moore. The team was rounded out by Southeast Missouri State junior forward Leon Powell (who ended the regular season leading the NCAA in field goal percentage).
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 three players who were on the All-OVC first or second-teams, including Austin Peay's Edmondson, Southeast Missouri's Powell and Tennessee State's Moore and a fourth player, TSU's Miller, who was the OVC Freshman of the Year. The team was rounded out by Tennessee Tech junior transfer Zac Swansey.
2010-11 All-OVC Men's Basketball Teams and Award Winners
OVC Player of the Year: Kenneth Faried, Morehead State
OVC Defensive Player of the Year: Kenneth Faried, Morehead State
OVC Freshmen of the Year: Patrick Miller, Tennessee State
OVC Coach of the Year: Billy Kennedy, Murray State
All-OVC First-Team
Kenneth Faried, Morehead State
TyShwan Edmondson, Austin Peay
Kevin Murphy, Tennessee Tech
Demonte Harper, Morehead State
Isaiah Canaan, Murray State
All-OVC Second-Team
Leon Powell, Southeast Missouri
Isacc Miles, Murray State
B.J. Jenkins, Murray State
Robert Covington, Tennessee State
Kenny Moore, Tennessee State
OVC All-Newcomer Team
TyShwan Edmondson, Austin Peay
Kenny Moore, Tennessee State
Leon Powell, Southeast Missouri
Zac Swansey, Tennessee Tech
Patrick Miller, Tennessee State