2016-17 Preseason OVC Men’s Basketball Predicted Order of Finish

East Division

West Division

2016-17 All-OVC Preseason Men’s Basketball Team

2016-17 Preseason All-OVC Men’s Basketball Team

- In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men’s basketball coaches and sports information directorshas been picked the preseason favorite for the 2016-17 season. It marks the second-straight year the Bruins have been tabbed preseason favorites.Belmont, who has won three of the past four OVC regular season championships, picked up 16 of 24 first-place votes in being picked the preseason favorites as overall regular season champions. The Bruins were also tabbed the East Division favorites, picking up 16 of 24 first-place votes in that category, whilewas picked the West Division favorites.In the overall champion voting, in addition to Belmont picking up 16 first-place votes, other teams with first-place votes included(6),(1) and(1). All the teams who received an overall first-place vote came from the East Division.Since Belmont was picked as the overall champion, they were also an overwhelming favorite to take first place in its own division; the Bruins have finished first in the East in each of the first four years of divisional play. Belmont received 126 total points to top the East and were followed by Tennessee State (6 first-place votes and 106 points), Morehead State (1 first-place vote, 98 points),(62 points), Eastern Kentucky (1 first-place vote, 60 points) and(40).picked up 21 of 24 first-place votes and 131 points to be picked the West Division favorites. The Racers have finished at the top of the West Division in each of the first four years of divisional play.was picked second (95 points) and followed by defending tournament champion(2 first-place votes, 88 points),(1 first-place vote, 82 points),(54) and(42).Belmont has compiled a 51-13 record in OVC play since joining the OVC prior to the 2012-13 season including winning three OVC regular season championships. Last year the Bruins were 12-4 in Conference action but were upset in overtime in the OVC Tournament semifinals and went on represent the OVC in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Belmont lost just one contributor and returns 12 players from a season ago including reigning OVC Player of the Yearwho was named OVC Preseason Player of the Year this season. The senior has led Division I in field goal percentage each of the past two seasons including hitting 71.4 percent (210-of-294) from the field a season ago while averaging 17.6 points and 9.2 rebounds/game. Also returning is senior guard, who was also tabbed a Preseason All-OVC pick this year, who connected on 74 3-pointers a season ago. Also back is junior forward(9.0 points, 3.4 rebounds/game) and junior guard(15th nationally in assists last year at 6.3/game). Head coachbegins his 31st season as Belmont’s head coach and is one of just six active Division I coaches to have to be with the same program for 25 or more years; his 731 career victories rank him sixth among active DI head coaches.Entering last season Tennessee State was picked to finish last in the OVC after winning just five games the prior season. But head coachexceeded all expectations in tying the program’s all-time Division I record with 20 victories; the 15-win improvement was second among all Division I schools during 2015-16. Now entering his third year on the TSU bench, Ford (last year’s OVC Coach of the Year) has nine players back from that team including last year’s OVC Defensive Player of the Year. McCall ranked ninth nationally in steals at 2.32/game while adding 14.6 points (12th in the OVC) and 3.0 assists/game (13th in the OVC). McCall was named to the Preseason All-OVC team along with senior forwardwho ranked third in the OVC with 10 double-doubles a season ago. Martin started 18 of 30 games and averaged 11.1 points and 9.1 rebounds/game (third in the OVC). The Tigers also welcome seven newcomers including Georgia Tech transferand Binghamton transferMorehead State became just the second team in OVC history to play a game in the month of April a season ago when they advanced to the Best-of-Three Championship Series of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). The Eagles topped Nevada at home in the first game of the series before dropping the final two games on the Wolfpack’s home court. MSU won 23 overall games a season ago including finishing with an 11-5 Conference mark, just one game out of first place. The Eagles were successful with a balanced attack that saw eight players average between 11.0 and 5.4 points/game. This season 10 players return for head coachincluding two starters (and) while the program welcomes five newcomers. Moon, a senior guard, was tabbed a Preseason All-OVC selection after averaging 10.2 points/game (third on the team) and connecting on 47.5 percent of his field goal attempts and 41.2 percent of his 3-point attempts. Marrero, a senior forward, led the team with 7.2 rebounds/game while also netting 40 steals and blocking 24 shots.Last season Tennessee Tech finished just one game behind Belmont for the best record in the OVC, going 11-5 in Conference play. The Golden Eagles won 19 overall games and competed in the inaugural Vegas 16 Invitational. This season head coachreturns seven players while infusing a talented group of newcomers and transfers including fifth-year seniorwho transferred from Tulane. Among the returning players is junior guard, a Preseason All-OVC selection. Jugovic averaged 12.1 points and 2.9 assists/game a season ago and knocked down 71 trifectas in 31 games. Also returning is senior guardwho averaged 9.9 points/game and canned 59 3-pointers coming off the bench.Eastern Kentucky came up one game short of making the OVC Tournament field infirst season as head coach. McHale installed an up-tempo style for the program, seeing the Colonels rank 18th nationally in scoring (80.5 points/game) including hitting the century mark three times during the campaign. EKU was also efficient in shooting and was the only OVC team to rank in the top three in the Conference in 3-point percentage (39.5%, 1st), field goal percentage (49.1%, 2nd) and free throw percentage (73.0%, 3rd). This season the Colonels return six players and welcome 10 newcomers to the roster. The top returnee is sophomore forwardwho earned OVC Freshman of the Year and first-team All-OVC honors after a fantastic debut season. Mayo ranked 18th nationally in field goal percentage (60.7%) and was the top freshman scorer in the league (14.5 points/game); he also ranked sixth in the OVC in blocked shots (1.1/game) and seventh in free throw percentage (80.2%).begins his first season as head coach at Jacksonville State after compiling 431 victories in 17 years as a collegiate head coach, most recently at Western Kentucky. Harper has also won four national championships during his career, two at the Division II level and two in the NAIA. Harper inherits a team that returns three starters including junior guard. Drumwright led the Gamecocks in scoring (14.0 points/game, 15th in the OVC) while dishing out 92 assists (sixth in the OVC) and knocking down 31 3-pointers. The junior was also seventh in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6) and scored 30 points in a game against Jacksonville University in December.A season ago Murray State finished tied with UT Martin atop the West Division, but after tiebreakers earned the No. 6 seed for the OVC Tournament, the first time in six years of the current format the Racers did not receive either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed and double bye to the semifinals. MSU topped Eastern Illinois in the first round before falling to Morehead State. Overall Murray State recorded its 29th-straight winning season, a streak that is tied for fourth longest in Division I behind only Syracuse, Kansas and Arizona. This season second-year head coachreturns four players, including three who were starters last year. Among the returning players is Preseason All-OVC selectionwho ranked 22nd nationally in free throw percentage (87.1%) in his debut season with the Racers. The point guard was fifth in the OVC in assists (4.2/game) while also adding 12.7 points/game in 31 contests. Also back is senior guard(9.6 points, 4.5 rebounds/game) and senior guard(9.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists/game).Eastern Illinois made its fourth-straight OVC Tournament appearance under head coachlast year and is one of just four OVC teams to appear in the event in each of those years. The Panthers were 9-7 in OVC play for the second-straight season, marking its first back-to-back Conference winning seasons since 1999-00 and 2000-01. This season EIU has four starters returning including Preseason All-OVC selection. The 5’7 junior guard ranked 11th nationally in minutes played (37:42/game), 22nd in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.95) and 28th in assists (5.7/game) in directing the team’s offensive attack. In two seasons with the program Johnston had dished out 327 total assists (already third in EIU history) while knocking down 119 trifectas (9th in EIU history). Also back is senior guardwho was second on the team in scoring at 12.1 points/game in 2015-16.Austin Peay made history a season ago when they became the first No. 8 seed to win the OVC Tournament, knocking off four teams in four days to win its fifth OVC Tournament Championship and first since 2008. The team did graduate OVC Tournament MVP Chris Horton (he averaged 22.5 points and 14.0 rebounds during the team’s tournament run) but returners 10 players and three starters this season. Among the returning players is junior guardwho ranked sixth in the OVC in scoring at 16.9 points/game while also adding 3.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.0 steals/game and hitting 83.4 percent from the free throw stripe. He will be joined in the backcourt by sophomorewho averaged 16.8 points/game and knocked down a record 19 3-pointers in four OVC Tournament games (after hitting just 33 3-pointers in 31 regular season contests). Head coacha five-time OVC Coach of the Year selection and winningest coach in OVC history, returns for his 27th season with the Govs; he is one of six active Division I coaches to be with his program for 25 or more years.UT Martin advanced to the OVC Tournament Championship game for the first time last season after finishing tied for first in the OVC West Division with a 10-6 mark. This season the Skyhawks are under the direction of first-year head coachwho spent the previous two seasons as the program’s associate head coach (a span that saw the team win 41 total games, the most wins in the school’s history over a two-year period). The team lost its top three scorers from last season but does return senior guardwho averaged 10.8 points/game and knocked down 65 3-pointers mainly coming off the bench, as well as senior forwardwho averaged 8.2 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds/game.In its first season under head coach, SIUE won its highest number of road games since 2011-12 in addition to topping sister school Southern Illinois for the first time ever. This season Harris has eight players returning including the backcourt of seniorand sophomore, each of who started all 28 team games a season ago. Eslik led the Cougars in scoring at 14.0 points/game including scoring an OVC single-game high of 40 points against Morehead State in January. Anderson chipped in with 10.3 points and 4.7 rebounds/game.Southeast Missouri State returns four starters from last season which wasfirst with the program. Among the returning players is senior guardwho has started 76 games over the past three seasons. A year ago he ranked fifth in the OVC in steals (1.6/game), ninth in rebounding (6.6/game) and 10th in scoring (15.2 points/game). Cleveland also added 61 assists and 15 blocked shots while hitting 43.7 percent from the field. Also returning is senior forwardwho averaged 10.5 points and 5.9 rebounds/game while hitting 50 percent from the field.The 2016-17 season kicks off with an exhibition contest on October 28 while the first regular season games will be played on Friday, November 11. The 2017 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament will be held March 1-4 at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.Belmont (16 first-place votes)Other Teams Receiving Overall First-Place Votes: Tennessee State (6), Eastern Kentucky (1), Morehead State (1)1. Belmont (16 first-place votes) – 126 points2. Tennessee State (6) - 1063. Morehead State (1) - 984. Tennessee Tech - 625. Eastern Kentucky (1) - 606. Jacksonville State - 401. Murray State (21 first-place votes) – 131 points2. Eastern Illinois - 953. Austin Peay (2) - 884. UT Martin (1) - 825. SIUE - 546. Southeast Missouri – 42The 2016-17 OVC Preseason Men’s Basketball Team is headlined by Belmont seniorwho was named the OVC Preseason Player of the Year.Bradds, the 2015-16 OVC Player of the Year, is the second-straight Belmont player tabbed Preseason Player of the Year (following Craig Bradshaw a year ago).Overall nine different schools were represented on the team with Belmont and Tennessee State having two selections apiece and Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State, Murray State, Southeast Missouri and Tennessee Tech having one pick apiece. The squad features four players who were either first or second-team selections last season. The team is comprised of seven seniors, three juniors and a sophomore.Bradds led Belmont to a 12-4 Conference mark a season ago while leading Division I with a 71.4 percent field goal percentage (210-of-294). He also averaged 17.6 points (fourth in the OVC) and 9.2 rebounds (second in the OVC) and dished out 70 assists.The other returning All-OVC selections from a year ago include OVC Defensive Player of the Year(9th nationally with 2.32 steals/game plus 14.6 points/game) from Tennessee State, OVC Freshman of the Year(14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds/game, 60.7 FG%) from Eastern Kentucky and Austin Peay junior guard(16.9 points, 2.6 assists/game, 83.4 FT%).The Preseason All-OVC Team is rounded out by Belmont senior guard(10.6 points/game, 74 made 3-pointers), Southeast Missouri senior guard(15.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.6 steals/game), Eastern Illinois junior guard(11.0 points, 5.7 assists/game), Murray State senior guard(12.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists/game), Tennessee Tech junior guard(12.1 points, 2.9 assists/game, 71 made 3-pointers), Tennessee State senior forward(11.1 points, 9.1 rebounds/game) and Morehead State senior guard(10.2 points, 2.6 rebounds/game).Taylor Barnette, BelmontEvan Bradds, BelmontAntonius Cleveland, Southeast MissouriCornell Johnston, Eastern IllinoisBryce Jones, Murray StateAleksa Jugovic, Tennessee TechWayne Martin, Tennessee StateNick Mayo, Eastern KentuckyTahjere McCall, Tennessee StateXavier Moon, Morehead StateJosh Robinson, Austin PeayEvan Bradds, Belmont