Bruins Picked Again

Editor: The following is part of a press release from ovcsports.com.

(Brentwood, TN) – In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men’s basketball coaches and communication directors, Belmont has been picked the preseason favorite for the 2018-19 season. It marks the fourth-straight year the Bruins have been tabbed preseason favorites.

Belmont, who has won four of the past six OVC regular season championships, picked up eight first-place votes, to edge last year’s regular season and tournament champions Murray State by six points (227 to 221). The Racers led the way with nine first-place votes while Jacksonville State, the 2017 OVC Tournament champions, picked up the other seven first-place votes and 211 total points in being picked third. Austin Peay was picked fourth (188) and followed by Tennessee Tech (135), Eastern Kentucky(118), Eastern Illinois (116), Tennessee State (101), Southeast Missouri (82), Morehead State (78), UT Martin (77) and SIUE (30).

A year ago Belmont compiled a 15-3 league record and advanced to the championship game of the OVC Tournament before falling to Murray State. This season Rick Byrd, who enters his 33rd year at Belmont (he is one of just five Division I head coaches to be with the same program for 30 or more years), has six letterwinners returning including a pair of starters in Dylan Windlerand Kevin McClain. Windler, the Preseason OVC Player of the Year, is one of the top all-around players in the league and a season ago averaged 17.3 points (fourth in the OVC) and 9.3 rebounds/game (tops in the OVC) while shooting 55.9 percent from the field (third in the OVC) and 42.6 percent from 3-point range (fourth in the OVC). Windler was one of three players nationally to record a 30-point, 20-rebound game during the season (the first OVC player to achieve that feat since 2016), when he had 36 points and 20 rebounds in a win over Morehead State. Last year marked the first as a starter for McClain, who responded by averaging 12.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists/game while knocking down 57 3-pointers. The Bruins have won four of the past six OVC regular season crowns but in search of its first tournament title since 2015.

A year ago Murray State was 26-6 overall and 16-2 in OVC play as it captured its 25th OVC regular season and 16th OVC Tournament championships. The Racers earned a 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament where they came up short against West Virginia. This season fourth-year head coach Matt McMahon, who became the eighth-straight Murray State coach to reach the NCAA Tournament, welcomes back three starters from that team, including sophomore guard Ja Morant. Morant was one of the top freshmen in the nation a year ago, averaging 12.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists (15th nationally) per game. He recorded just the 17th triple-double in OVC history when he had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists in a victory over Eastern Illinois and was named to the OVC All-Tournament team after averaging 13 points, four rebounds and 6.5 assists/game during the Racers run. Morant was named a Preseason All-OVC selection along with senior guard Shaq Buchanan. In his debut season with MSU, Buchanan averaged 9.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals/game.

In two years under Ray Harper, Jacksonville State has reached the 20-win plateau twice, including a school Division I record 23 victories a season ago. After winning the OVC Tournament Championship in 2017, the Gamecocks advanced to the semifinals a year ago and later advanced to play in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), just the second Division I national postseason tournament for the program. This year the Gamecocks return a pair of Preseason All-OVC selections in senior forwards Christian Cunningham and Jason Burnell.  JSU also has Tennessee transfer Detrick Mostella on the roster; Mostella averaged 10.5 points/game for the Volunteers during the 2016-17 season.

In his debut season, Matt Figger was named OVC Coach of the Year after taking an Austin Peay team picked 11th out of 12 teams in the preseason poll to a 12-6 Conference record and third-place OVC finish (its top regular season finish since 2011). The team improved dramatically on defense, ranking 12th nationally in forced turnovers (16.15/game) and 50th in turnover margin (+2.1/game), and limiting opponents to just 71.9 points/game (after the team allowed 83.8 points/game the season prior). The Govs return Terry Taylor, last year’s OVC Freshman of the Year who averaged 15.6 points and 8.6 rebounds/game while hitting 54.1 percent from the field.

Tennessee Tech head coach Steve Payne, who enters his eighth year as head coach (and served as an assistant coach for nine seasons prior to that), has a group of 11 newcomers and just one returning starter this year.

First-year Eastern Kentucky head coach A.W. Hamilton is one of two new coaches in the OVC this season. Hamilton inherited a roster that has nine returning players, including three-time first-team All-OVC selection Nick Mayo. One of the most versatile players nationally, the 6’9” Mayo ranked second in the OVC in 3-point percentage (44.6%), third in scoring (18.0 points/game), fourth in blocked shots (1.5/game), fifth in free throw percentage (83.9%), eighth in field goal percentage (52.6%) and 10th in rebounding (6.7/game).

Eastern Illinois will welcome back fifth-year senior Terrell Lewis, who missed most of last season with an injury and received a medical redshirt. Prior to his injury, Lewis became just the ninth player in OVC history to join the 1,000-point, 500-assist club. Lewis enters his final season with 501 career assists, 198 away from the OVC all-time record. He will be joined in the backcourt by sophomore Mack Smith, who was named to the OVC All-Newcomer Team a year ago. Head coach Jay Spoonhour enters his seventh year with the Panthers in 2018-19.

Tennessee State coach Brian “Penny” Collins is the other new addition to the OVC coaching ranks this season. Collins spent last year as an assistant coach at Illinois State, and also had stints at East Tennessee, Cumberland and Columbia State. At Columbia State he led the program to back-to-back NJCAA National Tournament appearance. Collins, a Nashville native who played collegiately at Belmont, was on the Tennessee State staff as a graduate assistant for Cy Alexander in 2007-08 and as the program’s Director of Operations a year later.

Southeast Missouri fourth-year head coach Rick Ray has a roster that includes a pair of returning starters and four seniors that will look to get the Redhawks back into the OVC Tournament field this year. Sophomore Ledarrius Brewer was second on the Redhawks team in scoring last year, averaging 14.5 points (second among OVC freshmen) and 3.8 rebounds/game while knocking down a team-best 71 3-pointers.

Preston Spradlin began his rebuilding process at Morehead State a year ago, as the Eagles finished the year with a 4-14 OVC record, although they did win their last two games of the season. This season the Eagles have several key returning players, including senior forward Lamontray Harris who is a Preseason All-OVC selection. Harris has improved his averages each season, finishing last season totaling 11.0 points and 6.0 rebounds/game while hitting a team-best 86.6 percent at the free throw line.

Third-year UT Martin coach Anthony Stewart returns four letterwinners from last season’s squad, including leading returning scorer and rebounder Fatodd Lewis (12.4 points, 7.3 rebounds/game), who was named to the Preseason All-OVC Team.

SIUE earned a spot in the OVC Tournament field a year ago and this season returns four starters for fourth-year head coach Jon Harris. Among the returning players is senior Daniel Kinchen who averaged 11.4 points/game, knocked down a team-high 61 3-pointers and led the OVC and ranked 10th nationally in free throw percentage (90.4%).