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BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men’s basketball coaches and communication directors,
Morehead State has been picked the preseason favorites for the 2022-23 season. It marks the first time since 2009-10 that the Eagles have been tabbed the preseason favorites.
The Eagles were one of five different teams to pick up first-place votes, tallying seven top picks to finish with 138 points. They finished ahead of
Tennessee State who had two first-place votes (130 points),
UT Martin who had seven first-place votes (120 points),
Southeast Missouri who had two first-place votes (115) and
SIUE who picked up two first-place votes (111 points). The poll was rounded out by
Little Rock (102),
Southern Indiana (68),
Tennessee Tech (62),
Eastern Illinois (31) and
Lindenwood (23).
This season marks the 75th anniversary of the Ohio Valley Conference, as the league was formed in 1948. The league includes three teams making their OVC debut, including Lindenwood, Little Rock and Southern Indiana, each who became official members on July 1.
Morehead State has won 20-plus games each of the past two seasons, the first time since the Eagles had three-straight 20-win seasons from 2008-09 through 2010-11. This year marks the seventh for head coach
Preston Spradlin who led the Eagles to the 2021 OVC Tournament Championship, and to the Tournament Title game a season ago. After losing four starters from last year’s team, he has added a mix of transfers and freshmen to bolster this year’s MSU roster. Among those players is point guard
Mark Freeman who started his career at Tennessee State before playing at Illinois State where he averaged 8.8 points and 3.5 assists/game last season. Also new to the program is NAIA All-American
Alex Gross, a 6-10 big man who averaged 23.8 points, 14.5 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 3.1 blocks/game last season at Olivet Nazarene The team’s leading returner scorer is fifth-year forward
Jake Wolfe who started 33 games last season, averaging 5.8 points/game.
Tennessee State led the way with four Preseason All-OVC selections this season, including guards
Jr. Clay,
Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. and
Dedric Boyd and forward
Zion Griffin. Clay came to the program for fellow league school Tennessee Tech where he earned four career All-OVC honors and thanks to an extra year of eligibility could become the first player in league history to earn a fifth honor. Last year he averaged 12.9 points, 3.7 assists and 1.7 steals/game. Fitzgerald was second on the TSU team last season, tallying 11.5 points/game and hitting an impressive 84.0 percent at the free throw line. Boyd hit 59 3-pointers in his debut season with the Tigers a year ago while Griffin, a transfer from UIC averaged 11.1 points/game and hit over 50 percent from the field for the Flames. This year marks the fifth with the program for head coach
Brian “Penny” Collins.
Year number two for UT Martin head coach
Ryan Ridder will feature Preseason Player of the Year
KJ Simon, who came with Ridder from Bethune-Cookman and in his debut season with the Skyhawks was the only player in Division I to average at least 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. Simon was one of the top two-way players in the OVC last season. He will be joined in the backcourt by
Parker Stewart, who averaged 19.2 points/game with the Skyhawks in 2019-20, before transferring to Indiana a year ago. After starting 31 games for the Hoosier he returned to Martin for his final collegiate season.
Southeast Missouri has showed improvement in both of its two seasons under
Brad Korn, including finishing fourth in the Conference standings a year ago, earning its highest seed in the OVC Tournament since 2000. Although 63 percent of last year’s scoring has departed, the Redhawks do return sophomore guard
Phillip Russell, a Preseason All-OVC selection. Last year he averaged 13.4 points, 3.2 assists and 2.5 rebounds/game while hitting 48 3-pointers. Joining Russell on the Preseason All-OVC Team is fifth-year guard Chris Harris, who averaged 9.4 points and 2.9 rebounds/game in 29 games, most of them coming off the bench.
Fourth-year head coach
Brian Barone has three starters back from last year’s team, including redshirt sophomore guard
Ray’Sean Taylor, who was among the national freshmen scoring leaders before suffering an injury late in the season. Taylor finished his debut season averaging 17.6 points/game, one of only two freshmen nationally to average above 17 points a contest (Duke’s Paolo Banchero was the other). Taylor hit 51 trifectas and 43.7 percent from the field, while adding 67 assists and 37 steals in 21 games. Also back is sophomore forward
DeeJuan Pruitt, who is the leading returning rebounder in the OVC and 6.9 caroms per game, and twins
Shamar and
Lamar Wright.
New OVC member Little Rock is coming off an unforgettable year that saw only one player appearing in all 28 games and the team using 17 different starting lineup combinations due to a string of injuries. This year is the fifth with the Trojans for head coach
Darrell Walker, who led his team to the 2020 Sun Belt Regular Season Championship. Among the team’s top returning players are a pair of wings in
Jovan Stulic (7.8 points/game, 42 3-pointers) and
Isaiah Palermo (10.8 points/game, 46.4 percent from the field). Also back is big man
DeAntoni Gordon, who was limited to just eight games last year.
Southern Indiana begins its run in the OVC and its reclassification to Division I this season under third-year head coach
Stan Gouard. The Screaming Eagles were a successful Division II program, including winning the 1995 National Championship, and led by Gouard who was playing for then coach Bruce Pearl. Gouard returns the top three scorers from last year’s squad including
Jelani Simmons (14.2 ppg),
Tyler Henry (12.2) and
Jacob Polakovich (11.5). Simmons, who began his career at Youngstown State, was selected to the Preseason All-OVC team after averaging 14.2 points and 4.5 rebounds/game and adding 40 steals last season.
Tennessee Tech’s roster will feature many new faces this year for fourth-year head coach
John Pelphrey. The team will look at 6-9 center
Daniel Ramsey for experience, as he begins his second year with the program after transferring from Xavier. He averaged 7.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per contest a season ago. The Golden Eagles welcome Lafayette transfer
Ty Perry, who is coming off a campaign where he averaged 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists/game while making 60 3-pointers.
This marks year two for
Marty Simmons as Eastern Illinois head coach. His first season featured a multiple of injuries that forced the squad to use 16 different starting lineup combinations. Among the team’s returning players are sophomores
Rodolfo Bolis and
Paul Bizimana, as well as senior big man
Jermaine Hamlin, who is in his second year with the team after transferring from Illinois. The Panthers also welcome talented freshman
Kyle Thomas, a 6’10 center whose father, Daryl, played with Simmons at Indiana.
Lindenwood is the final new OVC member and also making the leap from Division II like Southern Indiana (both of whom played in the Great Lakes Valley Conference). The Lions are led by fourth-year head coach
Kyle Gerdeman, who already has a familiarity with the OVC after previously serving as an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri (2009-12). Lindenwood welcomes two starters back in senior guards
Kevin Caldwell Jr. (14.0 points/game, 53 made 3-pointers) and
Brandon Trimble (8.4 points/game, 44% from 3-point range).
The 2022-23 season will see the first regular season games played on Monday, November 7. The 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament will be held March 1-4 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, the sixth-straight year the event has been held at the venue.
Each OVC school is eligible to compete and win the OVC Tournament Championship, including Lindenwood and Southern Indiana, who are beginning the reclassification process to Division I. It was previously announced that should a transitioning school win an OVC Tournament Championship, the AQ shall be awarded to the tournament runner-up. Should the tournament runner-up also be a transitioning school, the AQ representative shall be the highest seed going into the tournament.
Preseason Predicted Order of Finish
1. Morehead State (7 first-place votes) – 138 points
2. Tennessee State (2) - 130
3. UT Martin (7) - 120
4. Southeast Missouri (2) - 115
5. SIUE (2) - 111
6. Little Rock - 102
7. Southern Indiana - 68
8. Tennessee Tech - 62
9. Eastern Illinois - 31
10. Lindenwood - 23
2022-23 All-OVC Preseason Men’s Basketball Team
The 2022-23 OVC Preseason Men’s Basketball Team is headlined by UT Martin senior guard
KJ Simon. He is the first Skyhawk to be named OVC Preseason Player of the Year since 2008-09, when All-American and future NBA player Lester Hudson earned the honor.
Overall, seven different schools were represented on the team with Tennessee State leading the way with four picks. Southeast Missouri, SIUE and UT Martin had two selections apiece while Morehead State, Southern Indiana and Tennessee Tech each had one pick.
After transferring from Bethune-Cookman, Simon made an immediate impact for UTM last season, as he was the only player in Division I to average at least 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. Simon was a first-team All-OVC selection and was named OVC Newcomer of the Week five times during the year. He scored in double figures 24 times, including pouring in a career-best 30 points (on 13-of-22 shooting) in a win over UNC Asheville.
Other returning All-OVC selections from last year who made the preseason team were Southeast Missouri sophomore guard
Phillip Russell (13.4 points, 3.2 assists/game) and Tennessee State graduate guard
Jr. Clay (12.9 points, 3.7 assists and 1.7 steals/game at Tennessee Tech) while SIUE sophomore
Ray’Sean Taylor (17.6 points, 5.0 rebounds/game) earned All-Newcomer honors.
Two other players previously earned All-OVC accolades before transferring away from the league and then back this season. Those players are Morehead State senior guard
Mark Freeman (who played at Tennessee State and averaged 8.8 points and 3.5 assists/game at Illinois State last year) and UT Martin graduate guard
Parker Stewart (who averaged 19.2 points/game at UTM in 2020-21, before transferring to Indiana last season).
The team was rounded out by Southeast Missouri senior guard
Chris Harris (9.4 points, 2.9 rebounds/game), SIUE sophomore forward
DeeJuan Pruitt (10.2 points, 6.9 rebounds/game), Southern Indiana senior guard
Jelani Simmons (14.2 points, 4.5 rebounds/game), Tennessee Tech graduate guard
Ty Perry (11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds/game) and a trio of Tennessee State players in sophomore guard
Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. (11.5 points/game, 35 steals), senior guard
Dedric Boyd (9.8 points, 2.7 rebounds/game) and graduate forward
Zion Griffin (11.1 points, 4.0 rebounds/game).
2022-23 Preseason All-OVC Team
Preseason OVC Player of the Year: KJ Simon, UT Martin
G - Mark Freeman, Morehead State
G - Chris Harris, Southeast Missouri
G - Phillip Russell, Southeast Missouri
G - Ray’Sean Taylor, SIUE
F - DeeJuan Pruitt, SIUE
G - Jelani Simmons, Southern Indiana
G - Jr. Clay, Tennessee State
G - Marcus Fitzgerald, Tennessee State
F - Zion Griffin, Tennessee State
G - Dedric Boyd, Tennessee State
G - Ty Perry, Tennessee Tech
G - KJ Simon, UT Martin
G - Parker Stewart, UT Martin