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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Morehead State
- Tennessee State
- UT Martin
- SEMO
- SIUE
- Little Rock
- Southern Indiana
- Tennessee Tech
- Eastern Illinois
- Lindenwood
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-OVC TEAM:
-Mark Freeman – SR, G – Morehead State
-Chris Harris – SR, G – SEMO
-Phillip Russell – SO, G – SEMO
-Ray’Sean Taylor – SO, G – SIUE
-DeeJuan Pruitt – SO, F – SIUE
-Jelani Simmons – SR, G – Southern Indiana
-Jr. Clay – SR, G – Tennessee State
-Marcus Fitzgerald – SO, G – Tennessee State
-Zion Griffin – SR, F – Tennessee State
-Dedric Boyd – SR, G – Tennessee State
-Ty Perry – SR, G – Tennessee Tech
-KJ Simon – SR, G – UT Martin
-Parker Stewart – SR, G – UT Martin
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
So one of the stories of the OVC this year is the number of teams that are no longer in the league. Both Murray State and Belmont have left to join the Missouri Valley Conference in a move that probably makes sense for those programs, but it is a major setback for the overall strength of the OVC. For the last four or five years the OVC had a team that was either inside the bubble or close to it, and managed to win three NCAA Tournament games. Now it is arguably one of the five weakest conferences in all of D1.
-Morehead State has won 20+ games for the past two seasons and Head Coach Preston Spradlin has done a great job building the program up. The problem is that they lost so much from last year’s team and have just one starter back, but they are still the preseason favorites to win the league. They did hit the transfer portal and appear to be adding some guys who were contributing role players at their previous programs so there is reason to be optimistic.
-Tennessee State is getting quite a bit of preseason love, but they had a rather unspectacular season last year where they won just 14 total games and they lost most of their key players. Similar to Morehead State, they do have several players who appeared to be key players and have D1 experience, so we will see how they come together.
-UT Martin is picked to finish 3rd. This team has failed to win more than 10 total games for the past three seasons, so the idea that they’re picked to finish 3rd just shows you that the league has dropped off somewhat. Four starters are back and that experience should help them some, but they won just two of their last twelve to finish the season last year.
-I am a little surprised that SEMO is not picked to finish higher. Their leading scorer is back in Phillip Russell who is just a sophomore, so for him to produce the way that he did as a freshman could make him one of the key players in the conference. They also add some good looking freshmen and transfers, and I think they have a chance to win the league, which is why I am a little surprised they were picked 4th.
-SIUE finally finished in the KenPom top-300 last season! They checked in at…298th. So, they have not exactly been setting the world on fire recently. But, there are some reasons to be optimistic this year. The overall strength of the league is weaker so they should be more competitive. Three starters are back and they were playing better at the end of the year than they were at the beginning.
-Little Rock joins the conference this year after previously being a member of the Sun Belt. They have had some good teams in the past but last year was not one of them. They won just 9 total games, and just two of those came after February 1st. Four starters are back so that experience should help them some, and while last year’s Sun Belt wasn’t a great league it was still stronger than what this year’s OVC appears to be, so they should be able to be more competitive.
-Southern Indiana is new to D1. They were a top level program at the D2 level, and I think they will be competitive in D1 (especially in this conference) rather quickly. As for their first year this year, even though the league is somewhat weaker they are likely to struggle.
-I thought Tennessee Tech hit a home run when they hired John Pelphrey as head coach, but after three seasons it just has not come together for them yet. Having said that, I am a little surprised to see them picked this low. I do not think they will win the league but I am expecting them to at least be in the top half of it. Granted, just three players return, but two of them were starters and they appear to added some nice players via the transfer portal.
-Eastern Illinois was one of the worst teams in all of D1 last year. I think they will be better this year…but only because it would be almost impossible to be worse.
-Lindenwood, along with Southern Indiana, begins their four-year transition into D1 this year.