Former Kentucky grad assistant and assistant director of basketball operations Preston Spradlin was named Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year this afternoon.
Spradlin’s Morehead State Eagles returned just 13 points of scoring average from last season’s team, and still managed to win the OVC regular season title.
Morehead State’s Mark Freeman was named the OVC Player of the Year and teammate Alex Gross was named OVC Defensive Player of the Year.
Here are full details from the OVC:
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Morehead State senior guard Mark Freeman was named the 2022-23 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year while his coach Preston Spradlin earned OVC Coach of the Year honors and graduate big man Alex Gross was named OVC Defensive Player of the Year in voting by league head coaches and communications directors. Additionally, Eastern Illinois guard Cameron Haffner was voted the OVC Freshman of the Year.
Freeman joined the Morehead State program this season after two years at Tennessee State and one season at Illinois State. He led the Eagles to a 14-4 Conference record and regular season championship, its first since the 2003 season. In 27 games he averaged 14.8 points, 3.8 assists and 2.9 rebounds/game while hitting 42.5 percent from the field and 86.5 percent from the free throw line. He was even better in 16 league games, averaging 17.3 points/game and hitting 46.7 percent from the floor and 40.7 percent from 3-point range. In Conference games he ranked fifth in the OVC in scoring, second in free throw percentage (88.1%), sixth in assists (3.8/game) and 10th in 3-pointers made/game (2.1). Freeman scored a season-best 30 points in the OVC opener against Tennessee State on December 29. Freeman is the first MSU player since Kenneth Faried in 2010-11 to be named OVC Player of the Year, and the sixth overall Eagle to earn the honor.
Gross transferred to Morehead State from NAIA school Olivet Nazarene and made an immediate impact with the Eagles down low. The graduate student led the OVC in blocked shots (2.1/game) and was fourth in rebounding (7.5/game). His 64 total blocks were 20 more than any other player in the OVC, and ranked him 18th nationally. The final game of the regular season he had a career-high 17 rebounds (the sixth-most by an OVC player this season) and blocked seven shots (the most by an OVC player this season and 14th-most nationally) in a win over UT Martin. Gross is the third different MSU player to by named Defensive Player of the Year, joining Kenneth Faried (2009, 2010 and 2011) and Johni Broome (2022).
Now in his seventh season on the MSU bench, Spradlin earned the OVC Coach of the Year award for the second time in three years after leading Morehead State to its first OVC Regular Season Championship since 2003 and its first outright crown since 1984. MSU finished the year 14-4 in OVC play in claiming its 10th overall OVC crown, despite losing four starters from last year’s team. The Eagles enter the postseason with 21 victories, marking the third-straight season the team has won 20-plus games; it is only the second time in school history the team has achieved that feat. The team has also reeled off 11 wins in its last 12 games overall. MSU leads the OVC in scoring defense (66.5 points/game) and ranks second in scoring margin (+4.2/game), 3-point defense (32.1%), rebounding margin (+4.4/game) and blocked shots (3.9/game). Spradlin is one of five total Morehead State coaches to win this award.
Haffner ranks third in the OVC in 3-point percentage (42.7%) while his 7.5 points/game scoring average led all eligible OVC freshmen. He improved his scoring in OVC play, averaging 9.2 points/game in 17 Conference matchups. After earning just one start in the first 21 games of the season, Haffner started the final 10 games of the season for the Panthers, ranking second on the team with a 11.1 points/game average while also adding 3.4 rebounds/game and ranking third on the team with 17 assists. Haffner connected on 25 3-pointers over those final 10 games of the regular season. Haffner is the fifth Eastern Illinois player to be named OVC Freshman of the Year and first since Cornell Johnston in 2014-15.
ALL-OVC TEAMS
This year’s first and second-team All-OVC squads included 15 players from nine different OVC schools. UT Martin led the way with three total selections, with Little Rock, Morehead State and Southern Indiana had two picks apiece. The first and second-teams included four graduate students, six seniors, one junior and four sophomores.
Freeman, the OVC Player of the Year, was the top vote getter and earned the second All-OVC honor of his career (he was a second-team selection in 2020-21 at TSU). He was joined by teammate Gross, the OVC Defensive Player of the Year, on the first team. They were joined by Tennessee State graduate guard Jr. Clay, who became the first player in OVC history to earn All-OVC honors five times (due to the extra year of eligibility due to COVID). Clay was a second-team All-OVC pick in each 2018-19, 2019-20, 20200-21 and 2021-22 before earning first-team honors this season. This year he averaged 18.8 points, 5.6 assists and 4.8 rebounds/game.
Other players who earned All-OVC honors previously included Southeast Missouri sophomore guard Phillip Russell (18.2 points, 5.1 assists/game) who was a second-team pick last year, UT Martin graduate guard Parker Stewart (16.7 points, 4.7 rebounds/game and 83 3-pointers made) who was a first-team pick in 2019-20 and SIUE sophomore guard Ray’Sean Taylor (15.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists/game), who was an All-Newcomer pick last year.
The All-OVC first-team also included Tennessee Tech graduate forward Jaylen Sebree (15.1 points, 7.1 rebounds/game), Southern Indiana senior forward Jacob Polakovich (who ranks third nationally in rebounding at 12.8/game), USI sophomore guard Isaiah Swope (15.6 points/game, 69 made 3-pointers) and UT Martin sophomore guard Jordan Sears (14.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists/game).
The All-OVC second-team included Little Rock senior guard Myron Gardner (13.2 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists/game) and senior guard DeAntoni Gordon (13.7 points, 5.7 rebounds/game, 53.5 FG%), Southeast Missouri senior guard Chris Harris (14.7 points, 4.4 rebounds/game), UT Martin senior guard KJ Simon (14.8 points, 4.8 rebounds/game) and Lindenwood junior forward Keenon Cole (13.4 points, 5.7 rebounds/game).
The All-Newcomer included three individuals who earned first or second-team honors in Gross, Cole and Sears. The other selections included SIUE sophomore guard Damarco Minor (13.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists/game) and Eastern Illinois junior guard Kinyon Hodges (14.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists/game).
2022-23 All-OVC Men’s Basketball Teams and Award Winners
OVC Player of the Year: Mark Freeman, Morehead State
OVC Defensive Player of the Year: Alex Gross, Morehead State
OVC Freshman of the Year: Cameron Haffner, Eastern Illinois
OVC Coach of the Year: Preston Spradlin, Morehead State
ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM
Mark Freeman, Morehead State
Jr. Clay, Tennessee State
Phillip Russell, Southeast Missouri
Jaylen Sebree, Tennessee Tech
Jacob Polakovich, Southern Indiana
Ray’Sean Taylor, SIUE
Parker Stewart, UT Martin
Jordan Sears, UT Martin
Isaiah Swope, Southern Indiana
Alex Gross, Morehead State
ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
Myron Gardner, Little Rock
Keenon Cole, Lindenwood
KJ Simon, UT Martin
Chris Harris, Southeast Missouri
DeAntoni Gordon, Little Rock
ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
Jordan Sears, UT Martin
Keenon Cole, Lindenwood
Alex Gross, Morehead State
Damarco Minor, SIUE
Kinyon Hodges, Eastern Illinois
