In a conference that has taken some time to rebuild in the past few years with the recent departures of Murray State and Belmont, the Ohio Valley Conference is starting to see some real success again with road wins against some high-quality opponents to begin the season.
In Jeremy Shulman we trust…
The UT Martin Skyhawks are 3-0 with road wins at UNLV and Bradley, two high mid-major conference teams behind a philosophy that many would not really understand for a town as small as Martin, Tenn. The Skyhawks’ starting lineup consists exclusively of players from other countries, and the approach garnering national success following the two big wins.
Led by the scoring of Andrija Bukumirovic and Dragos Lungu, the Skyhawks have won with their switchability on defense and their utter size combined with athleticism. Not a single rotational player on this team stands below 6-foot-5, and that has shown. Shulman’s squad is top-30 nationally in both 3-point percentage and perimeter defense.
Little Rock might be at it again…
The Trojans, who were once again picked as the preseason favorite in the conference with a massive class of returning players, have started off 2-2 with only one win over a Division-I opponent up to this point. Additionally, head coach Darrell Walker finds himself in the exact same predicament as last season: who plays point guard without KK Robinson?
Robinson, who suffered a second season-ending injury in two years before this season, sits the bench as his team searches for someone to lead an offense that has looked shaky and discombobulated. Walker has tried 6-foot-7 Johnathan Lawson, who has worked at times. With the addition of Braxton Bayless this season, the Trojans have tried to rely on him as well, but with him being more of an off-guard and Lawson looking to score for the team most of the time, Little Rock continues to miss the 2024-25 OVC preseason player of the year.
Who’s Next?
The rest of the crowd in the OVC other than the obvious UT Martin has been promising. SIU-Edwardsville has wins over UTSA and Drake, making them a big favorite in that No. 2 spot. We also can’t forget about SEMO and Tennessee State. They that have challenged themselves so far in the non-conference and come up just short against some high-caliber teams. Little Rock has yet to come alive due to the aforementioned point guard woes, but you can’t count out Walker. Eastern Illinois is also a team that has flown under the radar, but it is the only other OVC team to have a DI win this season (ouch, that hurts).
