Mark Freeman is Out For the Season!

Reigning POY Could Return Next Season

(St. Louis, MO) – Ohio Valley Conference reigning ‘Player of the Year’ Mark Freeman is out for the season. Head coach Preston Spradlin tells us Freeman has been battling a wrist injury throughout the summer. At times it seemed like he would be fine to compete. Late last week, Morehead medical staff determined he would need a procedure that would keep him from playing this season.

Morehead is the defending regular season champion and has topped the 20-win plateau for three straight seasons. The OVC’s pre-season poll named Morehead as the favorite to repeat and voted Freeman as the the pre-season ‘player of the year’.

While losing Freeman is a big blow to the Eagles’ hopes for the season, Spradlin believes his team should still be the favorite to win the OVC title. Prior to the injury, Spradlin says the fifth-year senior was having a great offseason and was poised for a big year. Spradlin is looking forward to seeing how Freeman turns this set back into a positive experience.

 

 

Morehead has topped the 20-win mark for three straight seasons by playing solid, fundamental basketball. Last season the Eagles led the OVC in scoring defense and have consistently ranked among the nation’s most efficient offensive teams. Those fundamentals will aid Morehead in overcoming the loss of its best player.

 

 

The Returners

While Spradlin is aggressive in the transfer portal, fourth year junior Drew Thelwell is Morehead’s most important player. The 6’3 guard led the Eagles in minutes played and averaged 11.1 points and 4.3 rebounds. Spradlin calls Thelwell ‘a winner’ and the player that makes his teammates better. Thelwell instantly becomes Morehead’s most reliable player.

 

 

Returner Kalil Thomas led the Eagles in three-point baskets and Spradlin says the 6’5 guard is expanding his game by working on his mid-range game. Jordan Lathon could be the OVC’s best ‘under-the-radar’ player. The Milwaukee transfer was expected to make big impact last season, but missed the entire campaign with a shoulder injury. Now healthy, Lathon will likely jump right into the starting lineup. During his 74 Division 1 starts Lathon has scored 671 career points.

Newcomers Ease the Pain

High level transfers will bolster the Morehead roster. Last season’s defensive player of the year, Alex Gross was an NAIA star and following that same path to Morehead is 6’7 guard Riley Minix. The Southeastern Florida transfer averaged 25 points and nearly 14 rebounds per game last year and Spradlin says he might be the strongest player he’s ever coached.

Xavier transfer Dieonte Miles is a 7-foot grad student and is looking forward to getting more playing time. Spradlin says those two will present big problems for the opposition.

 

 

George Marshall is a 6’3, high-scoring guard coming from the junior college world and 6’7 freshman Eddie Ricks III will be important contributors. During the 2022 prep season Marshall was ranked as Mississippi’s fourth best player and last season Ricks was listed as a top ten player in Mississippi.

Spradlin believes those two will instantly join the Eagle rotation. He calls Ricks the team’s best athlete and that landing the Clarksville native was a Morehead steal.

 

 

 

Jalen Windham comes over from Ball State and Zach Iyeyemi from Houston Christian.

Visit Valley Hoops Insider Podcasts four my entire conversation with Morehead State coach Preston Spradlin.

No Morehead State fan wants to hear that Mark Freeman is out, but if any OVC team could sustain that kind of loss it is this year’s Morehead State Eagles.

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