Tennessee State basketball picked to finish second in the OVC in 2022-23

Expectations are high for the Tennessee State men's basketball team, which was predicted to finish second in the Ohio Valley Conference by the league's coaches and sports information directors on Tuesday.

TSU received two first place votes. Morehead State was picked first and received seven first place votes, while UT Martin was picked third and Tennessee Tech was eighth.

Second would be the highest TSU has finished in the OVC since the league dropped the East and West division format in 2016-17. The best the Tigers have finished since then was tied for fifth in 2017-18, 2019-20 and 2021-22.

"It's definitely something to be proud of because this is the highest we've been picked since I've been a TSU," said Coach Brian "Penny" Collins, who is headed into his fifth year. "But it's like all coaches always say, there is nothing more unimportant than the preseason conference rankings. I'm going to make sure the guys stay focused because at the end of the day you've got to go out and play the game."

The Tigers were 14-18 overall and 8-10 in the OVC last season. They earned a berth in the conference tournament where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Southeast Missouri 79-55.

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The conference landscape is much different this year with traditional powers Belmont and Murray State having moved on to the Missouri Valley Conference and Austin Peay now in the Atlantic Sun. Newcomers to the league include Little Rock, which was picked sixth, Southern Indiana (7th) and Lindenwood (10th).

"It's going to be just as competitive as any year we've been here, even though some of the teams like Belmont and Murray that have been at the top are gone," Collins said. "It's going to give the opportunity for some new teams to emerge and I think it's going to be way more competitive than people think it's going to be."

TSU placed four players on the 10-member preseason All-OVC team including former Pearl-Cohn star Marcus Fitzgerald, Tennessee Tech transfer Jr. Clay, Zion Griffin and Dedric Boyd.

TSU had more players make the team than any other school, which surprised Collins.

"I didn't see that coming, but when you've got guys coming back that are a little older and have had some experience in college basketball and with it also being a league where a lot of people don't know who's who yet, I guess you can see it," Collins said. "You've got to kind of look at the veterans. For the four guys they picked from our team that's just a testament to the years they have put in."

Fitzgerald is TSU leading's returning scorer (11.5 points), who also averaged 2.5 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game. He began the the 2021-22 season by making at least one 3-pointer in the first 14 games.

Clay made the All-OVC second team each of the four seasons he played at Tech. He played in 116 games for the Golden Eagles, started in 84 and scored 1,661 career points.

Griffin is a 6-foot-7 graduate transfer from Illinois Chicago and Iowa State. He made 19 starts for UIC last season and averaged 11.1 points and 4.0 rebounds.

Boyd was TSU's sixth man last season who averaged 9.8 points and scored in double-figures in 15 games.

Tech's Ty Perry, a graduate transfer from Lafayette, also made the preseason team.

UT Martin's KJ Simon was the preseason player of the year.

Tennessee Tech women picked first

Tennessee Tech was picked first in the women's poll after receiving 11 first place votes and TSU was picked fifth with one first place vote.

Tech finished second behind Belmont in the final standings in 2021-22 and TSU was eighth.

The Golden Eagles lost to Belmont in the conference tournament championship then beat SMU in the first round of the WNIT (73-62) before losing to Houston (63-55) in the second round.

Tech welcomes back Jordan Brock, who has scored 1,305 career points and made the preseason All-OVC team along with Jada Guinn, who averaged 8.9 points last season and Anna Walker, who averaged 8.5 points and 4.0 rebounds.

TSU sophomore Gia Adams, who made the OVC All-Newcomer team last season, also made the team.

EIU's Lariah Washington was the preseason player of the year.

Men's predicted order of finish

1. Morehead State

2. Tennessee State

3. UT Martin

4. Southeastern Missouri

5. SIUE

6. Little Rock

7. Southern Indiana

8. Tennessee Tech

9. Eastern Illinois

10. Lindenwood

Preseason All-OVC men's team

Mark Freeman, Morehead StateChris Harris, SEMOPhillip Russell SEMORay Sean Taylor, SIUEDeeJuan Pruitt, SIUEJelani Simmons, S. IndianaJr. Clay, TSUMarcus Fitzgerald, TSUZion Griffin, TSUDedric Boyd, TSUTy Perry, UT MartinKJ Simon, UT MartinParker Stewart, UT MartinPreseason player of the year: KJ Simon, UT Martin

Women's predicted order of finish

1. Tennessee Tech

2. UT Martin

3. Little Rock

4. EIU

5. TSU

6. SIUE

7. Southern Indiana

8. SEMO

9. (tie) Lindenwood, Morehead St.

Preseason All-OVC women's team

Lariah Washington, EIUPaige Pipkins, UT MartinGia Adams, TSUShae Litttleford, UT MartinMikayla Kinnard, SIUEJade Guinn, Tennessee TechJordan Brock, Tennessee TechAnna Walker, Tennessee TechSeygan Robins, UT MartinHannah Haithcock, S. IndianaKennedi Watkins, SEMOMorgan Litwiller, EIUPreseason player of the year: Lariah Washington, EIU

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee State basketball picked to finish second in OVC in 2022-23