/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48976199/image001.0.0.jpg)
Selections are in for the Ohio Valley Conference's awards and there aren't too many surprises. Let's not waste any time and get down to business.
Player of the Year - Evan Bradds
Bradds wins POTY award after a teammate was chosen to win it in the season by the same group of coaches and sports information directors. Bradds put up a stat line of 17.3 ppg and 9.6 rpg and 2.1 apg to garner the award in his junior season. He did all this while leading the nation in field goal percentage at upward of 70 percent.
Coach of the Year - Dana Ford
Ford (who is still the youngest coach in D-1 at 31 years old) led his Tennessee State squad from a five-win season to a 20-win season and a four-seed in the OVC tourney.
Tahjere McCall - Defensive Player of the Year
According to Tennessee State athletics, McCall was top 10 in the nation in total steals and steals per game. The guard did so while averaging 5.1 ppg.
Freshman of the Year - Nick Mayo
Mayo is going to leave basketball fans shaking their heads for years to come. He was undoubtedly the best freshmen talent the OVC had to offer in the 2015-2016 season despite Eastern Kentucky's poor showing in conference play.
All-OVC First Team
Forward: Evan Bradds | Junior, Belmont |
Guard: Torrance Rowe | Junior, TTU |
Forward: Chris Horton | Junior, AP |
Guard: Craig Bradshaw | Senior, Belmont |
Forward: Twymond Howard | Senior, UTM |
Guard: Tahjere McCall | Junior, TSU |
Guard: Keron Deshields | Senior, TSU |
Forward: Jeffery Moss | Senior, MSU |
Forward: Nick Mayo | Frosh, EKU |
Guard/Forward: Trae Anderson | Senior, EIU |
All-OVC Second Team
Guard: Jarelle Reischel | Senior, EKU |
Forward: Ryan Martin | Junior, TTU |
Guard: Josh Robinson | Sophomore, AP |
Guard: JaVontae Hawkins | Junior, EKU |
Guard: Corban Collins | Junior, MSU |
Deshields, McCall, Reischel, Martin and Mayo made up the Newcomer Team. So basically we have a lot of transfers who came in and made immediate impacts. This was particularly the case with Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State. But they're not done yet. Those two are the five and four seeds respectively. They could still make noise in the tourney and make it all the way to the madness. It's not absurd to guess that might happen.
To the rest, we have a junior-laden bunch. That means a lot of these guys will be back for a conference that could have as much parity as ever. Belmont may be the consensus best team, but that doesn't mean any of the next four or five teams couldn't usurp it in the OVC tourney.