OVC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2023-24 season

5. Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles – Head Coach John Pelfrey

2022-23 record: 16-17 overall, 11-7 in the OVC

It will take strength by numbers for Tennessee Tech to continue its conference success. Ten newcomers will be looking to fill the void of departing talent. Finishing a distant second to Morehead State was a great feat, but the graduation loss of Jaylen Sebree (15.4 ppg & 7.3 rebounds) is a big hole to fill. Second leading scorer Brett Thompson is also gone.

Coach John Pelphrey has five significant contributors returning. Senior guard Jayvis Harvey (12 ppg) was electric from deep and he, Deainte Wood, Eric Oliver, Grant Slatten and Grant Strong were all significant contributors to the Golden Eagles breakthrough season.

None are taller than 6’6 and that’s where they’ll truly miss Sebree, but Pelphrey isn’t going small. The former Arkansas head coach signed 7’2 Mercer transfer David Craig. The South Africa native is sophomore with a chance to make his mark at TTU.

Intriguing West Virginia transfer Josiah Davis could be an X-factor. The Canadian native prepped in West Virginia where he was rated as the state’s second best 2022 recruit. He played just six games last season, but could become a big OVC contributor.

Little Rock transfer Daniel Egbuniwe is another possible ‘surprise’ player. The 6’7 forward played in just 12 Trojan games, but was a star in the highly talented and competitive Memphis area coming out of high school.

Southern transfer DeSean Woods is the son of former Pelphrey Kentucky teammate and OVC coach Sean Woods. The younger Woods averaged 2.4 points per game at Southern.

Incoming freshmen Kyle Layton and Rylee Samons have a good chance to play significant minutes. Samons was a prolific high school scorer and Layton enjoyed an outstanding junior season before missing virtually all of his senior campaign.

Top 100 junior college recruit Rodney Johnson is a 6’5 physical wing that should contribute.