Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

The Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an annual award given to the Ohio Valley Conference's (OVC) most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1962–63 season.

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
History
First award	1963
Most recent	Ray'Sean Taylor, SIU Edwardsville

Fifteen players in OVC history have claimed more than one player of the year award, the most recent of whom was Terry Taylor in 2020 and 2021. 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.

Both of the schools with the most awards left the OVC in 2022. Murray State, which has dominated the award's selection, with its players having received the award 21 times (which at the Racers' departure was equal to the total of the next three programs on the list), joined the Missouri Valley Conference. Second-place Austin Peay, with eight awards, joined the Atlantic Sun Conference. Among schools remaining in the OVC after 2022, Morehead State has the most awards with eight. Five current OVC members have yet to produce a winner, but three (Lindenwood, Little Rock, Southern Indiana) played their first OVC seasons in 2022–23 and Western Illinois played its first OVC season in 2023–24. Among former members, the only one that was a member during the award's existence that did not have a winner is East Tennessee State.^[a]

Three ties have occurred for player of the year: 1976, 1983 and 2013. No OVC 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

Harold Sergent, Morehead State, 1963

Clem Haskins, Western Kentucky, 1965 through 1967

Wayne Chapman, Western Kentucky, 1968

Jim McDaniels, Western Kentucky, 1970 and 1971

Fly Williams, Austin Peay, 1974

Otis Howard, Austin Peay, 1977 and 1978

Marcus Brown, Murray State, 1995 and 1996

De'Teri Mayes, Murray State, 1998

Trenton Hassell, Austin Peay, 2001

Henry Domercant, Eastern Illinois, 2002

Lester Hudson, UT Martin, 2008 and 2009

Kenneth Faried, Morehead State, 2010 and 2011

Isaiah Canaan, Murray State, 2012 and 2013

Ian Clark, Belmont, 2013

J. J. Mann, Belmont, 2014

Cameron Payne, Murray State, 2015

Ja Morant, Murray State, 2019

Terry Taylor, Austin Peay, 2020 and 2021

Season	Player	School	Position	Class	Reference
1962–63	Harold Sergent	Morehead State	PG	Sophomore	[1]
1963–64	Jim Jennings	Murray State	F	Senior	[2]
1964–65	Clem Haskins	Western Kentucky	SG	Sophomore	[3]
1965–66	Clem Haskins (2)	Western Kentucky	SG	Junior	[3]
1966–67	Clem Haskins (3)	Western Kentucky	SG	Senior	[3]
1967–68	Wayne Chapman	Western Kentucky	SG / SF	Senior	[4]
1968–69	Claude Virden	Murray State	SF	Junior	[5]
1969–70	Jim McDaniels	Western Kentucky	C	Junior	[6]
1970–71	Jim McDaniels (2)	Western Kentucky	C	Senior	[6]
1971–72	Les Taylor	Murray State	SF	Junior	[7]
1972–73	Les Taylor (2)	Murray State	SF	Senior	[7]
1973–74	Fly Williams	Austin Peay	PG	Sophomore	[8]
1974–75	George Sorrell	Middle Tennessee	PF	Senior	[9]
1975–76†	Johnny Britt	Western Kentucky	PG	Senior	[10]
	Tim Sisneros	Middle Tennessee	C	Senior	[10]
1976–77	Otis Howard	Austin Peay	SF	Junior	[11]
1977–78	Otis Howard (2)	Austin Peay	SF	Senior	[11]
1978–79	James Tillman	Eastern Kentucky	F	Junior	[12]
1979–80	Gary Hooker	Murray State	PF	Senior	[13]
1980–81	Jerry Beck	Middle Tennessee	PF	Junior	[14]
1981–82	Jerry Beck (2)	Middle Tennessee	PF	Senior	[14]
1982–83†	Glen Green	Murray State	SF	Senior	[15]
	Joe Jakubick	Akron	SG	Junior	[15]
1983–84	Joe Jakubick (2)	Akron	SG	Senior	[16]
1984–85	Stephen Kite	Tennessee Tech	F	Junior	[17]
1985–86	Marcel Boyce	Akron	SF	Junior	[18]
1986–87	Bob McCann	Morehead State	PF	Senior	[19]
1987–88	Jeff Martin	Murray State	SG	Junior	[20]
1988–89	Jeff Martin (2)	Murray State	SG	Senior	[20]
1989–90	Popeye Jones	Murray State	PF	Sophomore	[21]
1990–91	Popeye Jones (2)	Murray State	PF	Junior	[22]
1991–92	Brett Roberts	Morehead State	SF	Senior	[23]
1992–93	Carlos Rogers	Tennessee State	C	Junior	[24]
1993–94	Carlos Rogers (2)	Tennessee State	C	Senior	[25]
1994–95	Marcus Brown	Murray State	SG	Junior	[26]
1995–96	Marcus Brown (2)	Murray State	SG	Senior	[26]
1996–97	Bubba Wells	Austin Peay	SF	Senior	[27]
1997–98	De'Teri Mayes	Murray State	PG / SG	Senior	[28]
1998–99	Bud Eley	Southeast Missouri State	C	Senior	[29]
1999–00	Aubrey Reese	Murray State	PG	Senior	[30]
2000–01	Trenton Hassell	Austin Peay	SF / SG	Junior	[31]
2001–02	Henry Domercant	Eastern Illinois	SG	Junior	[32]
2002–03	Ricky Minard	Morehead State	PG / SG	Junior	[33]
2003–04	Cuthbert Victor	Murray State	SF	Senior	[34]
2004–05	Willie Jenkins	Tennessee Tech	C / PF	Senior	[35]
2005–06	J. Robert Merritt	Samford	PF	Senior	[36]
2006–07	Drake Reed	Austin Peay	SF	Sophomore	[37]
2007–08	Lester Hudson	UT Martin	PG	Junior	[38]
2008–09	Lester Hudson (2)	UT Martin	PG	Senior	[39]
2009–10	Kenneth Faried	Morehead State	PF / C	Junior	[40]
2010–11	Kenneth Faried (2)	Morehead State	PF / C	Senior	[40]
2011–12	Isaiah Canaan	Murray State	PG / SG	Junior	[41]
2012–13†	Isaiah Canaan (2)	Murray State	PG / SG	Senior	[42]
	Ian Clark	Belmont	SG	Senior	[42]
2013–14	J. J. Mann	Belmont	SF	Senior	[43]
2014–15	Cameron Payne	Murray State	PG	Sophomore	[44]
2015–16	Evan Bradds	Belmont	PF	Junior	[45]
2016–17	Evan Bradds (2)	Belmont	PF	Senior	[46]
2017–18	Jonathan Stark	Murray State	PG	Senior	[47]
2018–19	Ja Morant	Murray State	PG	Sophomore	[48]
2019–20	Terry Taylor	Austin Peay	PF	Junior	[49]
2020–21	Terry Taylor (2)	Austin Peay	PF	Senior	[49]
2021–22	KJ Williams	Murray State	PF	Senior	[50]
2022–23	Mark Freeman	Morehead State	PG	Senior	[51]
2023–24	Riley Minix	Morehead State	SF	Graduate	[52]
2024–25	Ray'Sean Taylor	SIU Edwardsville	SG	Graduate	[53]

Winners by school

School (year joined)	Winners	Years
Murray State (1948)[b]	21	1964, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1980, 1983†, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2012, 2013†, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2022
Austin Peay (1962)[b]	8	1974, 1977, 1978, 1997, 2001, 2007, 2020, 2021
Morehead State (1948)	8	1963, 1987, 1992, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2023, 2024
Western Kentucky (1948)[c]	7	1965, 1966, 1967, 1968†, 1970, 1971, 1976†
Belmont (2012)[b]	4	2013†, 2014, 2016, 2017
Middle Tennessee (1952)[d]	4	1975, 1976†, 1981, 1982
Akron (1980)[e]	3	1983†, 1984, 1986
Tennessee State (1986)	2	1993, 1994
Tennessee Tech (1949)	2	1985, 2005
UT Martin (1992)	2	2008, 2009
Eastern Illinois (1996)	1	2002
Eastern Kentucky (1948)[f]	1	1979
Samford (2003)[g]	1	2006
SIU Edwardsville (2008)	1	2025
Southeast Missouri State (1991)	1	1999
East Tennessee State (1958)[h]	0	—
Jacksonville State (2003)[f]	0	—
Lindenwood (2022)	0	—
Little Rock (2022)	0	—
Southern Indiana (2022)	0	—
Western Illinois (2023)	0	—

Footnotes

1. Three charter OVC members left before the award was established: Louisville after the league's first season in 1949, and Evansville and Marshall in 1952.
2. Austin Peay State University, Belmont University, and Murray State University left the OVC in 2022. Peay joined the Atlantic Sun Conference (then branded as the ASUN Conference), and Belmont and Murray State joined the Missouri Valley Conference.
3. Western Kentucky University left in 1982 to join the Sun Belt Conference, and is now in Conference USA (CUSA).
4. Middle Tennessee State University left in 2000 to join the Sun Belt Conference, and is now in CUSA.
5. The University of Akron left in 1987 to become an Independent. The Zips are now in the Mid-American Conference.
6. Eastern Kentucky University and Jacksonville State University left in 2021 to join the Atlantic Sun Conference (then branded as the ASUN Conference). JSU moved to CUSA in 2023.
7. Samford University left in 2008 to join the SoCon.
8. 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.