Ohio Valley Conference

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - Belmont senior Evan Bradds repeated as 2016-17 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year after leading the Bruins to a 15-1 league record and second-straight OVC regular season championship, while Tennessee State senior Tahjere McCall repeated as Defensive Player of the Year after leading the Conference in steals for the second-consecutive season. In other voting conducted by league head coaches and sports information directors, Southeast Missouri's Denzel Mahoney was named OVC Freshman of the Year while Rick Byrd was tabbed OVC Coach of the Year for the third time in his career.

Bradds is the 14th player in OVC history to repeat as OVC Player of the Year and first since Murray State's Isaiah Canaan accomplished the feat in 2012 and 2013. He will finish his career as one of the top shooters in OVC history, as he enters this week with a career 67.4 field goal percentage, which is the best mark in OVC history and currently third in NCAA Division I history. He led all NCAA Division I players in field goal percentage in 2014-15 and 2015-16 and this season currently ranks eighth (64.1%) nationally after going 10-for-10 in his regular season finale against Tennessee State. Bradds also ranks 21st nationally in scoring (20.8 points/game) and 71st in rebounding (8.6/game). He is also only 40 points away from tying Ian Clark for Belmont's Division I career scoring record. Bradds scored in double figures in all but one game of the season (and in 95 of 126 career games), including netting a season-high 32 points in a road victory over Morehead State. The senior recorded seven double-doubles including registering a season-high 16 rebounds against Middle Tennessee. Bradds is one of 10 finalists nationally (and the only one not from a power conference) for the Julius Erving Award (given to the top small forward in the nation) as well as one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. He has also been named a CoSIDA Academic All-District pick as he looks to repeat as an Academic All-American selection this season. Other Belmont players to have been named OVC Player of the Year include current Golden State Warrior Ian Clark (2012-13) and J.J. Mann (2013-14).

McCall is the third player to repeat as OVC Defensive Player of the Year, joining Morehead State All-America (and current Denver Nugget) Kenneth Faried (who won three-straight awards from 2009-11) and Eastern Kentucky guard Corey Walden (2014 and 2015). A season ago McCall sparked a Tennessee State team that improved from five to 20 wins as he established a new school single-season record with 72 steals. This season he broke that record and enters postseason play with 76 steals, despite missing three games due to injury. He currently ranks sixth nationally in steals/game (2.92) and has had three or more steals in 16 games this season. He also helped the Tigers lead the OVC and rank 43rd nationally in field goal percentage defense (40.9%). McCall has also taken over as the team's primary point guard and dished out 40 more assists than he did last year, currently ranking him 47th nationally in assists/game (5.1). He is also third on the TSU team with 4.9 rebounds/contest and had a pair of three-block games in 2016-17. McCall had a season-high six steals in the season-opener at UC Davis, a win that sparked the team to a 6-0 start to the season, the best start in the program's Division I history. He also pulled down 11 rebounds in a pair of games, both of which were TSU wins.

After easing his way into the season, Mahoney came along strong to help Southeast Missouri to a 9-7 Conference record, its first winning record in OVC play since 2011-12. He ranked second on the team in scoring (14.2 points/game), including scoring in double figures in 16 of the final 17 games of the season, and leading the team in scoring in nine of his last 12 contests. Overall Mahoney scored 20 or more points eight times, including netting a season-high 23 points at UT Martin (where he canned 12-of-12 free throws) and in a key road victory over Murray State (which eventually led to a season sweep of the Racers for the first time in 74 years). In all games this season Mahoney ranked 17th in the OVC scoring but increased that to 16.6 points/game in Conference games, a mark that was 10th in the league. Overall, he added 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists/game while hitting 45.4 percent from the field, 37.6 percent from 3-point range and 79.9 percent from the free throw line (13th in the OVC) in 31 games, all of which he started. Mahoney was named OVC Freshman of the Week five times during the season, all of which came in the final seven weeks of the regular season. He is the second Southeast Missouri player to be named OVC Freshman of the Year, joining Derek Winans who won the award in 2001-02.

For the third time Byrd was named OVC Coach of the Year, joining awards he earned in each 2012-13 and 2013-14. For his career he has been named the conference or district Coach of the Year 13 times. Picked to win the OVC in the preseason, Belmont compiled a 15-1 league record, which was five games better than second place. The Bruins won its fourth OVC regular season title in five years as a member of the OVC and earned the No. 1 seed for this week's OVC Tournament. Overall Belmont has won 20 or more games in 11 of the past 12 seasons. The team's 16 conference championships (both regular season and tournament) since 2006 are third most nationally behind only Kansas and Gonzaga. Now in his 31st season at Belmont (and 36th year overall), Byrd has 753 career victories, which ranks him sixth among active NCAA Division I coaches.

ALL-OVC TEAMS
This year's first and second-team All-OVC squads included 15 players from nine different OVC schools. Each Belmont, Morehead State, Murray State, Southeast Missouri, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech had two selections apiece. The first and second-teams included seven seniors, five juniors, one sophomore and two freshmen.

Bradds, the OVC Player of the Year, was the top vote getter and earned his third-straight All-OVC honor; he was a second-team selection as a sophomore and a first-team pick a year ago. Bradds was one of three repeat first-team selections from last year as he was joined by Eastern Kentucky sophomore forward Nick Mayo (18.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists/game) and Tennessee State's McCall, the OVC Defensive Player of the Year. Another player, Austin Peay junior guard Josh Robinson, was a second-team selection last year but moved up to first-team this year after ranking third in the OVC in scoring (20.3 points/game)

The All-OVC first-team included six other players including Belmont junior guard Austin Luke, who ranks second nationally in assists (7.4/game). Murray State had a pair of newcomers in junior guard Jonathan Stark and junior forward Terrell Miller. Stark led the OVC in scoring (21.1 points/game) during the regular season while knocking down a league-best 93 3-pointers. Miller averaged 16.1 points and 8.1 rebounds/game in his first year in the OVC, including hitting 49.9 percent of his field goal attempts.

Morehead State senior guard Xavier Moon earned his first All-OVC honor after averaging 16.0 points/game and dishing out 4.6 assists/contest (fifth in the OVC) while connecting on 41.1 percent of his three-point attempts. After leading UT Martin to its second-straight OVC West Division title, senior guard Jacolby Mobley earned first-team honors after averaging 19.4 points/game and hitting 83 3-pointers. The first-team was rounded out by Southeast Missouri State senior guard Antonius Cleveland who averaged 17.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals/game while hitting 55.7 percent from the field.

The All-OVC second-team included Southeast Missouri's Mahoney, the OVC Freshman of the Year. He was joined by Tennessee State senior forward Wayne Martin (14.3 points, 9.2 rebounds/game and 57.8 field goal percentage), Morehead State senior forward DeJuan Marrero (12.0 points and 8.5 rebounds/game), UT Martin senior forward Javier Martinez (12.8 points, 8.6 rebounds/game and 67.7 field goal percentage) and Jacksonville State junior guard Malcolm Drumwright (12.2 points, 3.8 assists and 2.4 rebounds/game).

The OVC All-Newcomer Team is comprised of first-year players (freshman and transfers) in the league. Included in the selections was Mahoney, the OVC Freshman of the Year, as well as All-OVC first-team picks Stark and Miller from Murray State. The team was rounded out by Eastern Kentucky freshman guard Asante Gist (15.9 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds/game) and UT Martin junior guard Matthew Butler (13.8 points, 3.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds/game while making 76 3-pointers.

2016-17 All-OVC Basketball Teams and Awards
OVC Player of the Year: Evan Bradds, Belmont
OVC Defensive Player of the Year: Tahjere McCall, Tennessee State
OVC Freshman of the Year: Denzel Mahoney, Southeast Missouri
OVC Coach of the Year: Rick Byrd, Belmont

ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM
Evan Bradds, Belmont
Xavier Moon, Morehead State
Jonathan Stark, Murray States
Jacolby Mobley, UT Martin
Nick Mayo, Eastern Kentucky
Antonius Cleveland, Southeast Missouri
Tahjere McCall, Tennessee State
Josh Robinson, Austin Peay
Terrell Miller, Murray State
Austin Luke, Belmont

ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
Wayne Martin, Tennessee State
DeJuan Marrero, Morehead State
Javier Martinez, UT Martin
Malcom Drumwright, Jacksonville State
Denzel Mahoney, Southeast Missouri

ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
Jonathan Stark, Murray State
Denzel Mahoney, Southeast Missouri
Terrell Miller, Murray State
Asante Gist, Eastern Kentucky
Matthew Butler, UT Martin