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BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men’s basketball coaches and communication directors,
Belmont has been picked the preseason favorite for the 2019-20 season. It marks the fifth-straight year the Bruins have been tabbed preseason favorites.
Belmont, who has won or shared five of the past seven OVC regular season championships, picked up 17 first-place votes and 237 points, to top last year’s co-champion and tournament champion
Murray State, who tallied the other seven first-place votes and 223 points.
Jacksonville State was picked third (187) and followed by
Austin Peay (180),
UT Martin (154),
Eastern Kentucky (128),
Eastern Illinois (124),
Morehead State (113),
Tennessee State (90),
SIUE (63),
Southeast Missouri (49) and
Tennessee Tech (36).
A year ago Belmont, the OVC regular season co-champions and tournament runner-up, became only the second team in OVC history to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament (and first since 1987). The Bruins earned a No. 11 seed, toppled Temple in the First Four in Dayton and then gave No. 6 seed Maryland all it could handle before falling in the final seconds of the game. This season the Bruins return 10 players from that team, including OVC Freshman of the Year
Nick Muszynski, but for the first time in 34 years have a new coach. After the storybook season Rick Byrd, who tallied 805 career victories, stepped down following the completion of his 33rd season with the Bruins. His replacement,
Casey Alexander, is no stranger to the program, having played for Byrd at Belmont and then serving as an assistant coach with the program for 16 years before taking head coaching jobs at Stetson and Lipscomb. Muszynski, one of three starters returning, started 32 games last season and averaged 14.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks/game (24th nationally) while hitting 60.4 percent from the field (20th nationally). Also returning is sophomore point guard
Grayson Murphy, who ranked 14th nationally in assists (6.5/game) and the team added graduate transfer
Tyler Scanlon from Boston University where he was a team captain for the Terriers last year.
Murray State captured its 26th OVC regular season and 17th OVC Tournament championships a year ago and went on to crush Marquette 83-64 in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. That marked the second-biggest win in tournament history by a No. 12 seed over a No. 5 seed. The Racers, who finished the year 28-5 overall, saw its season come to an end against Florida State in the Second Round. The season saw Ja Morant became a national sensation, as he averaged 24.5 points and 10.0 assists/game (the first player since the NCAA began recognizing assists in 1983 to achieve that feat), had a series of highlight dunks and finished the year as the No. 2 overall pick of the NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies (tied for the highest pick in OVC history). Although Morant is gone, the Racers have two Preseason All-OVC selections returning in sophomore guard
Tevin Brown and senior forward
Darnell Cowart. Brown knocked down 90 3-pointers a year ago (the second-most in the OVC) while Cowart improved all season long and finished the year averaging 10.3 points and 6.5 rebounds/game while hitting 54.8 percent from the field. Also back is sophomore
KJ Williams who led the OVC with a 69.8 field goal percentage.
Matt McMahon’s team also welcomes a trio of talented freshmen guards in
Chico Carter Jr.,
Noah Kamba and
DaQuan Smith.
Jacksonville State has won 20-plus games in each of its first three years under head coach
Ray Harper and the team’s 24 wins a season ago were the most in the school’s Division I Era. A year ago the Gamecocks finished 3-0 against Belmont and Murray State in the regular season but lost a two-point game to the Racers in the OVC Tournament semifinals. JSU did lose six seniors from last year’s team that was 15-3 in the OVC but do return senior guard
Ty Hudson who averaged 9.8 points and 2.7 assists/game while knocking down 40 trifectas. Also returning is senior forward
Jacara Cross (4.1 points/game, 26 blocked shots) and sophomore guard
De’Torrion Ware (5.3 points/game, 25 made 3-pointers).
In his debut season two years ago,
Matt Figger was named OVC Coach of the Year after guiding Austin Peay to a 19-15 overall record and 12-6 OVC mark. Figger topped those marks last season, leading the Governors to a 22-11 overall and 13-5 Conference mark as the Governors once again advanced to the semifinals of the OVC Tournament. This season the team will once again rely on two-time All-OVC first-team selection
Terry Taylor, who was named the OVC Preseason Player of the Year. A year ago Taylor ranked 18th nationally in offensive rebounding (3.36/game), 40th in scoring (20.5 points/game), 41st in double-doubles (12), 43rd in rebounding (8.9/game) and 62nd in field goal percentage (53.1%). He is the only rising junior in the country to tally 1,000 points and 500 rebounds while shooting better than 50 percent from the floor in each of the past two seasons. Taylor is one of four returning players that will be blended with a group of nine newcomers (six freshmen, a junior, a senior and a grad transfer). Among those newcomers is
Reginald Gee who averaged 13.0 points/game form Alabama State a season ago.
Picked 11th a season ago, UT Martin finished tied for seventh, earned a spot in the OVC Tournament field and topped Eastern Illinois in the first round. One of the key parts of last season is now senior
Craig Randall II who became eligible to play in January and helped lead a team that was 1-7 in OVC play at the time to a 6-4 finish down the stretch in the regular season. He averaged 16.3 points and 3.6 rebounds/game in the 12 total games he played in a season ago. He will be joined in the backcourt by redshirt sophomore
Parker Stewart, a transfer from Pittsburgh who is the son of head coach
Anthony Stewart. In 2017-18 at Pitt, Stewart averaged 9.1 points and 3.3 rebounds/game while leading the ACC in 3-point percentage in league games (42.5%). Also returning is Preseason All-OVC pick
Quintin Dove who averaged 13.3 points and 5.2 rebounds/game while hitting 59.7 percent from the field a season ago; he also earned OVC All-Tournament Team honors.
In the first season under head coach
A.W. Hamilton, Eastern Kentucky ranked second in Division I in possessions per game (78.8), 13th in scoring (82.6 ppg), second in steals (10.2 spg) and turnovers forced (18.3/game) and 11th in turnover margin (+3.9/game). Although the team lost 2,000-career point scorer Nick Mayo to graduation, they do return three starters and welcome several key newcomers who look to continue that pace of play. Among the returning starters is sophomore guard
Jomaru Brown, a Preseason All-OVC selection, who ranked 47th nationally in steals (1.94/game) last year while also adding 14.4 points and 3.0 rebounds per contest, and senior guard
Kelvin Robinson (7.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists/game). The team also welcomes junior forward
Darius Hicks, a transfer from North Carolina State.
Entering his eighth season with Eastern Illinois, head coach
Jay Spoonhour is now the longest active tenured coach in the OVC. This season his team returns all five starters from last year’s OVC Tournament squad, including Preseason All-OVC selection
Josiah Wallace. Wallace earned first-team All-OVC honors last year after averaging 15.5 points (eighth in the OVC), 3.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists/game while connecting on 61 3-pointers. Junior guard
Mack Smith led the team and ranked fourth in the OVC with 2.5 made 3-pointers/game (81 total) while averaging 12.8 points/contest; he enters the season having made a 3-pointer in 49 consecutive games, the longest active streak in Division I.
Shareef Smith led the team in both assists (3.8/game) and steals (1.2/game) a season ago.
After being picked near the bottom in the league’s preseason poll last year, Morehead State finished fifth in the final standings and won a first round OVC Tournament matchup, the team’s first tournament win since 2016. This season head coach
Preston Spradlin continues the building process with senior guard
Jordan Walker, a first-team All-OVC selection a year ago. Walker ranked seventh in the OVC in scoring (15.8 points/game) a season ago while also dishing out 85 assists, netting 39 steals and canning 72 3-pointers in 33 games. Also back is junior forward
James Baker who averaged 7.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks/game in 2018-19.
There are a lot of new faces in the Tennessee State program this season for second year head coach
Brian “Penny” Collins. Collins only has two returning players from a season ago in senior guard
Michael Littlejohn (9.1 ppg) and senior forward
Emmanuel Egbuta (6.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg). But despite the lack of returning experience, the Tigers have plenty of talent, including West Virginia graduate transfer
Wesley Harris (7.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg last season), Louisiana Tech transfer
Jy’Lan Washington (5.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg in 2017-18) and Southwest Tennessee Community College transfer
Carlos Marshall (12.8 ppg, 39.7 3FG% in 2017-18) among others.
After two seasons as an assistant coach with the program,
Brian Barone takes over as SIUE’s head coach in 2019-20. He takes over a team that returns its No. 2, 3, 4, 5, 9 and 10 players in terms of minutes played last year, giving the Cougars plenty of experience. Among those returning players is senior forward
Brandon Jackson who led the team in scoring (13.8 points/game) and rebounding (6.4/game) last season while connecting on 51.8 percent of his field goal attempts, and senior guard
Tyresse Williford who averaged 13.1 points and a team-best 3.7 assists/game. Among the team’s newcomers are freshman twins
Shamar and Lamar Wright. The twins are the sons of the late Lorenzen Wright, who played for Barone’s father, the late Tony Barone, with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Southeast Missouri returns nine players and welcomes six newcomers into the program this season, the fifth under head coach
Rick Ray. Among the returning players is senior guard
Skyler Hogan, who was the Redhawks second-leading scorer (10.6 points/game) last season in his first year with the program, and junior forward
Isaiah Gable, who ranked fourth on the team with 8.1 points/game and led the Redhawks with 51 made three-pointers. Senior forward
Quatarrius Wilson joins the program after transferring from McNeese where he averaged 10.9 points and 10.2 rebounds/game in 2017-18.
One of three new head coaches in the OVC,
John Pelphrey, the former head coach at South Alabama and Arkansas, inherits a team that has 11 freshmen or sophomores on its roster. Among those talented young players is sophomore guard
Jr. Clay, a second-team All-OVC selection last year who was named to the Preseason All-OVC Team. Clay averaged 14.4 points and 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals/game while knocking down 39 trifectas in 29 games. He will be teamed in the backcourt with fellow sophomore
Hunter Vick who averaged 11.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists/game while hitting 54 3-pointers.
The 2019-20 season kicks off with an exhibition contest on October 24 while the first regular season games will be played on Tuesday, November 5. The 2020 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament will be held March 4-7 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
2019-20 OVC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
1. Belmont (17 first-place votes) – 237 points
2. Murray State (7) – 223
3. Jacksonville State – 187
4. Austin Peay – 180
5. UT Martin – 154
6. Eastern Kentucky – 128
7. Eastern Illinois – 124
8. Morehead State – 113
9. Tennessee State – 90
10. SIUE – 63
11. Southeast Missouri – 49
12. Tennessee Tech - 36
2019-20 All-OVC Preseason Men’s Basketball Team
The 2019-20 OVC Preseason Men’s Basketball Team is headlined by Austin Peay junior
Terry Taylor who was named OVC Preseason Player of the Year.
Taylor, a two-time first-team All-OVC selection, is the first Austin Peay player to be named OVC Preseason Player of the Year since Drake Reed in 2007-08.
Overall, eight different schools were represented on the team with Belmont, Murray State and UT Martin leading the way with two selections apiece. Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State and Tennessee Tech had one pick apiece. The squad featured four players who were first-team All-OVC selections a year ago and was comprised of four seniors, two juniors and five sophomores.
A year ago Taylor averaged 20.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks/game while hitting 53.1 percent from the field. Nationally he ranked 18th in offensive rebounding (3.36/game), 40th in scoring, 41st in double-doubles (12), 43rd in rebounding and 62nd in field goal percentage.
Other returning first-team All-OVC selections from a year ago included Belmont sophomore center
Nick Muszynski (14.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks/game, 60.4 FG%), Eastern Illinois junior guard
Josiah Wallace (15.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists/game, 61 made 3-pointers) and Morehead State senior guard
Jordan Walker (15.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists/game, 72 made 3-pointers). In addition the team included two players who were second-team picks last year in Tennessee Tech sophomore guard
Jr. Clay (14.4 points, 4.3 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals/game) and UT Martin senior forward
Quintin Dove (13.3 points, 5.2 rebounds/game, 59.7 FG%).
The Preseason All-OVC team is rounded out by Belmont sophomore guard
Grayson Murphy (9.6 points, 6.5 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 steals/game), Eastern Kentucky sophomore guard
Jomaru Brown (14.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.9 steals/game), Murray State senior forward
Darnell Cowart (10.3 points, 6.5 rebounds/game, 54.8 FG%) and sophomore guard
Tevin Brown (11.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists/game and 90 made 3-pointers) and UT Martin senior guard
Craig Randall II (16.3 points, 3.6 rebounds/game, 43.6 FG%).
2019-20 Preseason All-OVC Men’s Basketball Team
Jomaru Brown, Eastern Kentucky
Tevin Brown, Murray State
Jr. Clay, Tennessee Tech
Darnell Cowart, Murray State
Quintin Dove, UT Martin
Grayson Murphy, Belmont
Nick Muszynski, Belmont
Craig Randall II, UT Martin
Terry Taylor, Austin Peay
Jordan Walker, Morehead State
Josiah Wallace, Eastern Illinois
2019-20 Preseason Player of the Year: Terry Taylor, Austin Peay