Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
The Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given to the Ohio Valley Conference's (OVC) most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1962–63 season.
| Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year | |
|---|---|
| Given for | the most outstanding basketball player in the Ohio Valley Conference |
| Country | United States |
| History | |
| First award | 1963 |
| Most recent | Terry Taylor, Austin Peay |
Fourteen players in OVC history have claimed more than one player of the year award, the most recent of whom was Evan Bradds in 2015–16 and 2016–17. Among the repeat winners, only one—Clem Haskins of Western Kentucky—has been a three-time player of the year. Haskins achieved the feat from 1965 through 1967.
Murray State dominates the award's selection, as it has 20 winners (more than doubling what second-most Austin Peay and Western Kentucky have with seven). Of current OVC members, only Jacksonville State and SIU Edwardsville have had no winners. Both schools are relatively new to the conference, respectively joining in 2003 and 2008. However, the conference's newest member, Belmont (which joined in 2012), had a player win at least a share of the award in four of its first five seasons in the league.
Four ties have occurred for player of the year: 1968, 1976, 1983 and 2013. No OVC Men's Basketball Player of the Year has ever been selected as any national player of the year.
Key
| † | Co-Players of the Year |
| * | Awarded a national Player of the Year award: Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79) UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present) |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the OVC Player of the Year award at that point |
Winners
Winners by school
| School (year joined) | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Murray State (1948) | 20 | 1964, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1980, 1983†, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2012, 2013†, 2015, 2018, 2019 |
| Austin Peay (1962) | 7 | 1974, 1977, 1978, 1997, 2001, 2007, 2020 |
| Western Kentucky (1948)[a] | 7 | 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968†, 1970, 1971, 1976† |
| Morehead State (1948) | 6 | 1963, 1987, 1992, 2003, 2010, 2011 |
| Belmont (2012) | 4 | 2013†, 2014, 2016, 2017 |
| Middle Tennessee (1952)[b] | 4 | 1975, 1976†, 1981, 1982 |
| Akron (1980)[c] | 3 | 1983†, 1984, 1986 |
| Tennessee State (1986) | 2 | 1993, 1994 |
| Tennessee Tech (1949) | 2 | 1985, 2005 |
| Tennessee–Martin (1992) | 2 | 2008, 2009 |
| East Tennessee State (1958)[d] | 1 | 1968† |
| Eastern Illinois (1996) | 1 | 2002 |
| Eastern Kentucky (1948) | 1 | 1979 |
| Samford (2003)[e] | 1 | 2006 |
| Southeast Missouri State (1991) | 1 | 1999 |
| Jacksonville State (2003) | 0 | — |
| SIU Edwardsville (2008) | 0 | — |
Footnotes
- a Western Kentucky University left in 1982 to join the Sun Belt Conference, and is now in Conference USA.
- b Middle Tennessee State University left in 2000 to join the Sun Belt Conference, and is now in C-USA.
- c The University of Akron left in 1987 to become an Independent. The Zips are now in the Mid-American Conference.
- d East Tennessee State University left in 1978 to join the Southern Conference (SoCon). The Buccaneers returned to the SoCon in 2014 after nine seasons in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
- e Samford University left in 2008 to join the SoCon.
References
- "Murray State's Canaan, Prohm, Long and Tennessee–Martin's Taylor Earn Top 2012 OVC Men's Basketball Honors" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. February 28, 2012. Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
- "Murray State's Canaan, Belmont's Clark and Byrd Earn Top 2012-13 OVC Men's Basketball Honors" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. March 5, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
- "Belmont's Rick Byrd, J.J. Mann lead All-OVC basketball honors" (Press release). Tennessean.com. March 4, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
- "Belmont's Bradds, TSU's Ford and McCall, EKU's Mayo Earn Top 2015-16 OVC Men's Basketball Honors" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
- "Belmont's Bradds and Byrd, Tennessee State's McCall, Southeast Missouri's Mahoney Earn 2016-17 OVC Men's Basketball Top Honors" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. February 28, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
- "Men's Basketball Media Guide". Individual Honors (pg. 4). Ohio Valley Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 2, 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2010.