Five former Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball players have made National Basketball Association (NBA) rosters as the league officially kicked off its 2022-23 season on Tuesday.
The players include former Murray State players
Ja Morant (Memphis) and
Cameron Payne (Phoenix), Tennessee State's
Robert Covington (L.A. Clippers), Belmont's
Dylan Windler (Cleveland) and Austin Peay's
Terry Taylor (Indiana).
Morant enters his fourth season in the NBA in 2022-23 and is coming off a season where he averaged 27.4 points, 6.7 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals/game as the Memphis Grizzlies finished 56-26 to finish second in the West. As a rookie in 2019-20, he won NBA Rookie of the Year honors, making him one of three non-Power 5 players to win the award since 1983-84. 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 is back with Phoenix for the third-straight full season and fourth year overall after joining the team at the end of the 2019-20 season. Payne helped the Suns to the 2021 NBA Finals, marking the fourth time in a six-year period an OVC player had competed in the Finals. Last year he played in 58 games, averaging 10.8 points, 4.9 assists and 2.6 rebounds/game. Payne has also played with Oklahoma City (where he was a lottery pick), Chicago and Cleveland. At Murray State Payne was named the 2014-15 OVC Male Athlete of the Year after averaging 20.2 points and 6.0 assists/game.
Covington begins his 10th season in the NBA and second year with the Los Angeles Clippers. 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 with the Houston Rockets in 2019-20. In 201-22 he joined the Portland Trailblazers playing a year and a half with them. Last year he joined the Portland Trailblazers, averaging 8.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks/game. Covington, who last season was the lone active player from a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in the NBA, has helped his alma mater by donating money for a new practice facility on the TSU campus. Last year he averaged 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds/game in 23 games with the Clippers.
After being selected 26th overall by Cleveland in 2019, Windler suffered an injury prior to the 2019-20 season and missed the entire year. He played in 31 games in 2020-21 and last year played in 50 games for the Cavs, averaging 2.2 points and 1.8 rebounds/game. At Belmont Windler capped his collegiate career by helping the Bruins earned an at-large berth to the 2019 NCAA Tournament where they topped Temple in the First Four. In the First Round against Maryland he recorded just the seventh 35-point, 10-rebound, 5+ 3-pointers made performance in NCAA history, as he had 35 points, 11 rebounds and seven 3-pointers.
Two-time former OVC Player of the Year Terry Taylor, who was undrafted out of Austin Peay, began last year on an Exhibit 10 contract with the Indiana Pacers and began the season in the G League. In December he signed a two-way contract with the Pacers and later in the season had a 24-point, 16-rebound game before his two-way contract was converted to a standard contract. He finished last season playing in 33 games (starting seven) and averaged 9.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists/game.
Former OVC Players on NBA Opening Night Rosters
Robert Covington, Los Angeles Clippers (
@Holla_At_Rob33)
Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies (
@JaMorant)
Cameron Payne, Phoenix Suns (
@campayne)
Terry Taylor, Indiana Pacers (
@TerryTaylor21)
Dylan Windler, Cleveland Cavaliers (
@Dylan_Windler23)