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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Murray State
- Austin Peay
- Belmont
- Eastern Kentucky
- Eastern Illinois
- Tennessee State
- Jacksonville State
- Morehead State
- Tennessee Tech
- UT Martin
- SIUE
- Southeast Missouri
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE TEAM:
-Jordyn Adams – SO, G – Austin Peay
-Tevin Brown – JR, G – Murray State
-Jomaru Brown – JR, G – Eastern Kentucky
-Jr. Clay – JR, G – Tennessee Tech
-Tre King – JR, F – Eastern Kentucky
-Carlos Marshall – JR, G – Tennessee State
-Grayson Murphy – JR, G – Belmont
-Nick Muszynski – JR, C – Belmont
-Mack Smith – SR, G – Eastern Illinois
-Parker Stewart – JR, G – UT Martin
-Terry Taylor – SR, F – Austin Peay (Preseason Play of the Year)
-Josiah Wallace – SR, G – Eastern Illinois
-KJ Williams – JR, F – Murray State
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-Murray State is consistently at or near the top of this league, and in all likelihood that will be the case again this year. Tevin Brown is back, who is one of the best players in the conference, and they return a lot of other experience as well from a 23-win team that tied for first place and advanced to the conference championship game. Not only could this be one of the better teams in the league, but I think they could really be dangerous in the NCAA Tournament.
-Austin Peay is getting a lot of preseason love, which makes sense. They won 21 games a year ago, have a lot of pieces back including Terry Taylor who is one of the best players in the conference, and Coach Matt Figger continues to build up this program. They also appear to be adding some talented newcomers, so they may be able to challenge Murray State this year.
-Belmont, like Murray State has been a regular standout team that has been at or near the top of the league. They tied for first last year and ended up winning the conference tournament, but were denied the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year due to COVID. Three starters are back, and while they did lose a key player to transfer they still have a solid, experienced, and balanced lineup. They play excellent half-court offense, rebound well, and are a decent outside shooting team.
-After the top three there is a bit of a drop-off, but Eastern Kentucky is still a team to watch. Head coach A.W. Hamilton has made improvements every year he has been there, and with four starters back that should continue into this year. I still do not think they are to a point of being as good as the top-three teams, but they are certainly heading in the right direction.
-Eastern Illinois was a .500-ish team last year that looks to be a .500-ish team again this year. They do look to have a fairly decent backcourt and have been improving in recent years.
-Tennessee State is a team to keep an eye on. Coach Penny Collins finished with 18 wins last year, which was double what they had the year before, and three starters are back so we could see that improvement continue into this year.
-Jacksonville State is a program that has relied heavily on transfers since Coach Ray Harper arrived, and that appears to be the case again this year. Last year was a disappointment where they finished with just 13 wins. Once again the roster has gone through an overhaul so we will see if this year’s group can do better.
-Morehead State has had four straight losing seasons and with just two starters back it is looking more likely than not that the number will go up to five after this year.
-Tennessee Tech, UT Martin, SIUE, and SEMO will all have to fight just to get into the conference tournament.