Leaders in creating opportunities for all
For 75 years, the Ohio Valley Conference has been a leader in college sports on many social and cultural issues ranging from racial integration, Title IX, and sportsmanship on and off the field. Read more below on the OVC’s radical past in leadership on the issues of racial integration, Title IX and sportsmanship.
Breaking Barriers
The OVC was less than a decade old when one of its founding members became a pioneer in the world of sports and society. During the time of racial segregation in the South, Morehead State became one of the first predominantly white mid-southern institutions to accept a Black student in 1956. Just two years later, in 1958, Marshall Banks earned athletically-related aid at Morehead. Howard Murphy, another Black athlete, earned a scholarship to Morehead a year later. These proved to be wise decisions, not only culturally but athletically, as Murphy earned all-conference recognition as a halfback in football in 1961. Meanwhile, the Atlantic Coast Conference did not have a Black football player until 1963 (Darryl Hill at Maryland) and the Southeastern Conference not until 1966 (Nate Northington at Kentucky).
With racial barriers broken, the league’s other institutions began to desegregate their teams as well. Willie Brown and Art Polk, for example, became the first two African American men’s basketball players to sign athletic scholarships at MTSU in 1966. Brown went on to break MTSU’s all-time career scoring record with 1,524 points over three seasons.
Inclusivity at its Finest
After Title IX legislation passed in 1972, women's athletics began a rebirth on the national scene as the NCAA soon began sponsoring and marketing women's sports. Recognizing the need to provide increased opportunities for female athletes, the OVC began formulating plans for women’s athletics in 1975 and established women's championships in the sports of basketball, tennis and track. The conference also added cross country and volleyball within the next four years. These sports were initially governed by the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), but the overall strength of women's programs in the league was demonstrated by the automatic bids the OVC instantly received when the NCAA became the governing body for women’s athletics in 1982. The conference later added women’s golf and softball in 1994, women’s soccer in 1998, and beach volleyball in 2020.
Without Title IX or the OVC institutions’ quick adoption of women’s sports, the world may not have ever known one of the greatest figures in women’s basketball history. Pat Head Summitt is a name synonymous with excellence, and while she may be known primarily for her coaching legacy at the University of Tennessee, Summitt’s story started before she ever got to Knoxville. A member of the UT- Martin women’s basketball team from 1970-1974, she also excelled on the US national team and served as co-captain of the first US women’s Olympic basketball team in 1976. She later became the first person in history to lead the US to an Olympic medal as a player and coach.
It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, it is how you play the game
Just as the OVC led the way on racial integration, the OVC was ahead of the curve on sportsmanship as well.. In 1995, the OVC implemented a first-of-its-kind "Sportsmanship Statement,” a policy which promotes principles of fair play, ethical conduct and respect for one's opponent. The statement has become a model for others to follow across the nation and has answered the challenge of the NCAA Presidents’ Commission to improve sportsmanship in collegiate athletics.
Additionally, the OVC annually presents the Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award, in honor of the former Morehead State student-athlete, coach and athletics director, to a junior or senior student-athlete with significant athletic contributions who best exemplifies the characteristics of sportsmanship and citizenship. Most recently, the Conference has also implemented the OVC Institutional and Team Sportsmanship Awards, which are presented to one institution and 19 sport-specific teams voted by their peers to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical conduct as outlined by the OVC and NCAA.