Four former Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball players are on active rosters for the NBA Playoffs which officially begin on Saturday after the conclusion of the Play-In Tournament.

The players include former Murray State players Ja Morant (Memphis) and Cameron Payne (Phoenix), Tennessee State's Robert Covington (Portland) and Eastern Illinois' Alfonzo McKinnie (L.A. Lakers).

Morant, last year's NBA Rookie of the Year, averaged 19.1 points, 7.4 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game for the Grizzlies this season (all of which were equal to or better than his stats a year ago). He had 35 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals on Friday night to lift the Grizzlies past Golden State in the Play-In Round to help Memphis earn its first playoff berth since 2017. At Murray State Morant earned first-team consensus All-American honors, making him just the third OVC student-athlete to earn first-team consensus All-American honors joining Western Kentucky's Clem Haskins (1967) and Jim McDaniels (1971). Morant finished his final collegiate season with 331 assists, the sixth-most in NCAA single-season history.

Payne joined the Suns last year during the Orlando Bubble and has helped the Suns to the No. 2 seed in the West this season and a first round date with the defending champion Lakers.  Payne played in 60 games and averaged 8.4 points, 3.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds/game. The Suns are the fourth team the former Racer has played with, after stints with Oklahoma City, Chicago and Cleveland. Payne, who was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the 14th overall pick (last selection of the lottery), was the 2014-15 OVC Male Athlete of the Year.

Covington, in his eighth season in the NBA, was traded to the Trailblazers in the offseason. This year he has averaged 8.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks/game while hitting 40.1 percent from the field. After going undrafted out of Tennessee State, Covington played in the G-League before playing seven games with the Houston Rockets in 2013-14. He then played four full seasons and part of a fifth with the Philadelphia 76ers (2014-15 to 2018-19) before being traded to Minnesota. He spent parts of two seasons with the Timberwolves before playing 22 games last season with the Houston Rockets.

After advancing to the NBA Finals with Golden State in 2018-19, McKinnie played for Cleveland last season before being traded to the defending champion Lakers in the offseason. This year he has seen action in 39 games and is averaging 3.1 points and 1.4 rebounds/game. McKinnie played at Eastern Illinois (2010-12) before finishing his career at Green Bay (2013-15).