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Ohio Valley Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2022-23 season

By Harry Schroeder

CINCINNATI, OHIO - DECEMBER 15: Jake Wolfe #24 of the Morehead State Eagles the ball by Paul Scruggs #1 of the Xavier Musketeers during a college basketball game at the Cintas Center on December 15, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OHIO - DECEMBER 15: Jake Wolfe #24 of the Morehead State Eagles the ball by Paul Scruggs #1 of the Xavier Musketeers during a college basketball game at the Cintas Center on December 15, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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Clay #4 then of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Clay #4 then of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

3. Tennessee State Tigers – Head coach Brian ‘Penny’ Collins
 
2021-22 record: 14-18 overall, 8-10 in the OVC

Tennessee State coach Brian ‘Penny’ Collins is determined to prove he is more than just a great recruiter. He wants to prove he is a great coach. OVC coaches and SIDs believe he’s recruited a good enough team to be near the top. Picked third by that group, there are four Tigers named to the preseason all-conference team.

Two holdovers and two newcomers are on that list. Returners Marcus Fitzgerald and Dedric Boyd were highly productive last season. Fitzgerald is an effective scorer (11.8 ppg) and has speed to burn. Collins says Fitzgerald is the type of player that makes his teammates better.

Boyd came off the bench last season to average nearly ten points per game and is the team’s leading returning three-point shooter. If the OVC had a sixth-man award, Collins insists Boyd would have won it last year.

Tennessee Tech Transfer Jr Clay is a four-time, second-team All-OVC player. The 6’ guard has tallied over 400 points during every one of his collegiate seasons. He moved to TSU for his covid year for a shot at a title. Grad transfer Zion Griffin was a double-digit scorer, making over half of his field goal attempts and grabbing four rebounds per game for Illinois Chicago.

6’6 forward Christian Brown joined TSU last season and started well (8.6 ppg) while starting five of the ten games he played. Brown sustained a broken foot and returns healthy this year.

Purdue transfer Emmanuel Dowuona comes to Nashville after averaging 3.8 points for the Boilermakers. The 6’10 junior appeared in 26 games and started 13 for Matt Painter.

Two Northern Illinois grad transfers could play big roles. Adong Makuoi is a 6’9 post who can fill the lane and Zool Kueth is a 6’7 forward who can score inside and out.

Collins is high on junior college newcomer Justin Williams, calling him a ‘team guy’ and great floor communicator.

There are just two freshmen on this year’s team. The speedy Learic Davis (#8 recruit in Wisconsin) and 6’4 guard Knute Wood.

This is a team built to win now. There are four graduate students and one redshirt senior. Collins has assembled a group of players galvanized on the idea of winning a championship rather than chasing personal accolades.

That mixture of ‘team first’ talented players could catapult the Tigers to the top.