Mid-major Basketball: 5 biggest offseason storylines heading into 2020-21

3. Surprise Belmont transfer shakes up Ohio Valley race

In the usually top-heavy Ohio Valley Conference last season, there were three teams fighting for the top spot. Belmont and Murray are annual contenders for the regular-season crown, but Austin Peay also was a threat as well. In the end, the Bruins tied with the Racers for the 2019-20 regular-season title, before winning the conference tournament before the season shut down.

You can expect a near repeat of last season in the OVC, with the top three teams returning all of their key players from their respective 20+ win campaigns. That was until Belmont recently lost its leading scorer Adam Kunkel. The sophomore averaged 16.5 ppg for the Bruins and shot 39% from three-point range on 6.5 attempts. His late decision to leave the team left them with no way to replace his production and it’s a major hit towards their hopes to repeat as conference champions.

This puts a ton of pressure on rising juniors Nick Muszynski (15.3 ppg and 6.4 rpg), along with point guard and stat stuffer Grayson Murphy. But they’ll be competing with Murray State’s own dynamic junior duo of Tevin Brown and  K.J. Williams, along with Austin Peay and reigning Conference Player of the Year Terry Taylor and his 22 and 10 monster average numbers.

Even without Kunkel around, Belmont has both the coaching and depth to still make a run for another Ohio Valley Conference title. However, the margin of error is none and with the two biggest threats reloading, the Bruins could even be an underdog. This could very well come down to which of the star big men comes through the most of this trio of teams.