Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
| Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | the most outstanding basketball player in the Ohio Valley Conference |
| Country | United States |
| First awarded | 1963 |
| Currently held by | Evan Bradds, Belmont |
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.
Thirteen players in OVC history have claimed more than one player of the year award, the most recent of whom was Isaiah Canaan, sole winner in 2011–12 and co-winner in 2012–13. 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 18 winners (more than doubling what second-most Western Kentucky has 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, had a player win at least a share of the award in both of its first two seasons in the league (2012–13 and 2013–14).
Four ties have occurred for player of the year: 1968, 1976, 1983 and 2013. No Ohio Valley Conference 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) | 18 | 1964, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1980, 1983†, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2012, 2013†, 2015 |
| Western Kentucky (1948)[a] | 7 | 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968†, 1970, 1971, 1976† |
| Austin Peay (1962) | 6 | 1974, 1977, 1978, 1997, 2001, 2007 |
| Morehead State (1948) | 6 | 1963, 1987, 1992, 2003, 2010, 2011 |
| Middle Tennessee (1952)[b] | 4 | 1975, 1976†, 1981, 1982 |
| Akron (1980)[c] | 3 | 1983†, 1984, 1986 |
| Belmont (2012) | 3 | 2013†, 2014, 2016 |
| 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
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