• Hoops For Heroes Photo Gallery
A total of 18 military veterans and their families were honored this past weekend at the OVC Basketball Championships through the 5th annual Hoops for Heroes program.
Before tip-off of Friday night's men's semifinal game at the OVC Basketball Championships and again before Saturday's men's championship game, several military service men and women were brought to center court and honored for their service. During each presentation, the honorees received a long, standing ovation from the crowd as they received a handshake from the Commissioner and were recognized.
Every single OVC member institution was represented by having at least one Hoops for Heroes honoree at this year's tournament with several schools being able to send multiple honorees.
Hoops for Heroes is an initiative that was created jointly by the Ohio Valley Conference and SAAC's at member institutions in order to honor military men and women in OVC communities. During the course of the academic year, the SAAC members at each school raise money through various ways to sponsor sending at least one service man or woman, along with his/her family, to the OVC Basketball Championships in Nashville. Each school's SAAC select its veteran in their own way but every honoree was recognized prior to the tournament, either during a home basketball game or other related event at the campus of the school that sponsored him or her. All honorees received a two-night hotel stay in Nashville, up to four tickets to Friday and Saturday's tournament sessions along with gas and meal gift cards.
2015 Hoops For Heroes Honorees
Austin Peay: Joe Nansen
Belmont: Nathaniel Firestone
Eastern Illinois: Jacob Lachapelle, Peter Santoro, Derrick Jackson, Tim Worman
Eastern Kentucky: Shannon Neely, Edmund Furphy
Jacksonville State: Ben Tomlinson
Morehead State: Thomas Palmer
Murray State: Ronald Melone
Southeast Missouri: Courtney Blissett
SIUE: Linda Raback
Tennessee State: Ebenezer Apengtang
Tennessee Tech: Michael Peterson, Santanna Jackson, Rockey Rushing
UT Martin: Ed Baker