Where Does the OVC Stack Up?

(St. Louis, MO) – What does a .700 winning percentage in post season play and a College Insider.com championship say about your league? You are a conference on the rise and your name is Ohio Valley Conference.

The OVC has made a national impression the past couple of years sending players to the National Basketball Association and knocking off power conference teams. With all that success, how is it that their RPI is 23 and they’re an after thought for most college basketball fans.

It’s time for that to change. Five former OVC players are in the NBA led by Morehead State all-american Kenneth Faried. The ‘Manimal’ has continued his hard driving, glass crashing ways for the Denver Nuggets.

The Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz both have two league alumni on their teams. Isaiah Canaan (Murray State) and Robert Covington (Tennessee State) play with the Rockets and Ian Clark (Belmont) and Kevin Murphy (Tennessee Tech) belong to the Jazz. Five players from five different programs speaks to the diverse depth in the OVC.

And what about last season’s teams? Murray State won the CIT post season tournament and the league went 7-3 in post season play. Belmont who defeated North Carolina at Dean Smith Center also went to the quarter finals of the CIT.

Does the OVC have good coaches? Austin Peay HC Dave Loos has collected 465 wins. Belmont’s Rick Byrd has almost 600 wins at Belmont and almost 700 overall. Murray State’s Steve Prohm has won 75 games in his three seasons with the Racers and there are other bright young coaches ready to make their mark.

Last week in Nashville, I spoke with several of those head coaches and to a man, they believe the league is on the rise and doesn’t receive the respect it deserves.

Loos, Eastern Illinois’ Jay Spoonhour and Prohm believe league members are still trying to prove themselves, but they believe the OVC is on the cusp of something special.

There are outstanding players in this year’s OVC. Pre-season Player of the Year Cameron Payne was Freshman of the Year last season averaging almost 17 points and 5.4 assists a night for Murray State and is a legit star. Murray teammate Jarvis Williams was second in the OVC in rebounding and tenth in scoring. Southeast Missouri’s Jarekious Bradley was third in the league at 19 ppg and leads a highly athletic Redhawk squad.

Readers know we pay close attention to both the OVC and the Missouri Valley Conference. These two Valley Leagues play each other 15 times this season and those games are a great opportunity for the OVC to show they belong on the national scene.

Murray State plays four MVC teams and will also tangle with heavy weights in Houston, Xavier and Western Kentucky.

Valley Hoops Insider will attend several of those MVC/OVC clashes and we’ll report on what we see.

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