NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It might have been a change of conference, but the results were much the same last season for Belmont men’s basketball.
After dominating the Atlantic Sun for a decade, the Bruins moved to the Ohio Valley Conference, where they continued their ascent into becoming one of the top mid-major programs in the country by winning both the regular season and tournament championships.
That put Belmont alongside Kansas and Memphis as the only Division I men’s programs to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament six of the last eight years.
“It’s more fun when you win at anything,” said Belmont coach Rick Byrd, who has 663 career victories and, with his next win, will tie legendary UCLA coach John Wooden on the all-time wins list.
At OVC Basketball Media Day held in Nashville today, the Bruins were picked to finish second this season in the East Division behind Eastern Kentucky. OVC perennial power Murray State and Southeast Missouri landed in a tie as the pick to win the West.
Last season, the Bruins finished 26-7 and a program-best RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) rating of 24th nationally. They lost to Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“It was easy to say it was a great year for us,” Byrd said of the school’s move to the more geographically friendly OVC. “But it did all the things we were hopeful that it would. Our home attendance increased dramatically, particularly in the conference games. People in Nashville know these schools. Belmont fans are more excited about it. But just common basketball fans are, too.”
Certainly, Byrd has built quite the mid-major player at Belmont, which moved from being an annual NAIA national contender into NCAA Division I in 1996. Over the last three seasons, the Bruins have gone 83-20 for an .806 winning percentage, joining only Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Ohio State and Syracuse with at least an .800 success rate during that stretch.
While basketball aficionados around the country have viewed Belmont as a program on the rise, it was the move into the OVC, which is based here in Nashville and has league member Tennessee State across town, that captured an untapped local audience for the Bruins.
“We were having a good year by January,” Byrd said, “and we had TV stations, radio stations, newspaper people out there at least half our practices. It almost was like an SEC-type thing.
“That was entirely due to the local media covers the OVC better than they ever would the A-Sun. No reflection on either conference, it’s just here.”
Not here this season for the Bruins are graduated guards Ian Clark and Kerron Johnson, who combined to form one of the nation’s better backcourts. Clark was co-league MVP, and he parlayed being NBA Summer League most valuable player into signing with the Utah Jazz. Johnson, the OVC tournament MVP, is playing for one of the top pro teams in New Zealand.
“We’ll never have guys like that,” Byrd said of Clark and Johnson. “We’ll be different, but we’ll be closer to being as good than people would think.”
That’s because Byrd likes what he sees in junior point guard Reece Chamberlain, sophomore two guard Craig Bradshaw and senior swingman J.J. Mann, a preseason All-OVC pick after averaging 10.5 points and leading the team with 63 steals last season.
The Bruins open the season Nov. 8 at longtime local rival Lipscomb. The non-conference schedule features visits to North Carolina on Nov. 17 and Kentucky on Dec. 21.
“No matter how you slice it, and if you are going to be honest,” Byrd said of the inaugural OVC campaign, “if you are making a move to a new conference, it would be kind of special to win it the first time that you are in it.”
Tennessee State was picked to finish fifth in the East Division, but second-year Tigers coach Travis Williams figures his team is closer to the top of the league than that.
“I think we are very close,” said Williams, an assistant for two years on the staff of former Tennessee State coach John Cooper, who was hired at Miami (Ohio) before last season. “It’s shown in the past few years. We’re not only knocking on the door, but ready to walk through the door.”
The Tigers were hit hard by graduation after going 18-15 and making the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament, but they still feature one of the league’s better point guards in senior Patrick Miller, a preseason All-OVC pick after being named first-team all-league last season. He averaged 14.8 points and 5.8 assists per game and helped the Tigers advance to the OVC tourney semifinals, where they lost to Belmont in a tightly-contested game.
“He’s the leader of this team,” Williams said of Miller. “Your guard play is very important as you look at the league and how the all-conference balloting was last year. He’s our coach on the court.”
The Tigers open the season Nov. 8 against host Hawaii in the Rainbow Classic, where they will also play New Mexico State and Western Michigan the next two days.
“We have made some tremendous strides with this program,” Williams said. “The things we have been able to do the last four years to make this program relevant again, we’re getting there. We have recruited well to get the right type of player.”
UT-Martin, three-time defending women’s league tournament champion and NCAA tourney representative, was picked to win the West Division. Defending regular-season champion Tennessee Tech was picked to win the East.
Southeast Missouri forward Tyler Stone is the men’s preseason pick as player of the year, while UT-Martin guard Jasmine Newsome was tabbed to repeat as women’s player of the year.
Predicted Order of Finish (Men)
East
1. Eastern Kentucky
2. Belmont
3. Morehead State
4. Jacksonville State
5. Tennessee State
6. Tennessee Tech
West
1. Southeast Missouri (tie)
1. Murray State (tie)
3. Austin Peay
4. UT-Martin
5. Eastern Illinois
6. SIU-Edwardsville
All-OVC Men’s Preseason Team
Travis Betran, Austin Peay
Glenn Cosey, Eastern Kentucky
Nino Johnson, Southeast Missouri
J.J. Mann, Belmont
Patrick Miller, Tennessee State
Tyler Stone, Southeast Missouri
Myles Taylor, UT-Martin
Will Triggs, Austin Peay
Corey Walden, Eastern Kentucky
Brian Williams, Jacksonville State
Predicted Order of Finish (Women)
East
1. Tennessee Tech
2. Belmont
3. Eastern Kentucky
4. Morehead State
5. Tennessee State
6. Jacksonville State-
West
1. UT-Martin
2. SIU-Edwardsville
3. Eastern Illinois
4. Murray State
5. Southeast Missouri
6. Austin Peay
All-OVC Women’s Preseason Team
Tierny Austin, SIUE
Heather Butler, UT-Martin
Marie Carpenter, Eastern Kentucky
Molly Heady, Tennessee Tech
Diamond Henderson, Tennessee Tech
Almesha Jones, Morehead State
Jordyn Luffman, Belmont
Jasmine Newsom, UT-Martin
Terrice Robinson, Morehead State
Kara Wright, Southeast Missouri
