TSU Picked To Finish Second In OVC, Four Players Named Preseason All-Conference

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TSU Men’s Basketball Head Coach Brian “Penny” Collins. Photo: Courtesy of TSU Athletics

Tennessee State University (TSU) men’s basketball was picked to finish second in the Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll, its highest under head coach Brian “Penny” Collins.

The Tigers received 130 points with two first place votes ahead of the new season. The OVC, based in Brentwood, Tennessee, has had some major shakeups the past two years with the exits of Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, Belmont and Murray State, while also welcoming Little Rock, Southern Indiana and Lindenwood.

TSU led the way with four Preseason All-OVC selections this season, which includes guards Jr. Clay, Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. and Dedric Boyd, as well as forward Zion Griffin. Clay came to the program for fellow league school Tennessee Tech where he earned four career All-OVC honors and, thanks to an extra year of eligibility, could become the first player in league history to earn a fifth honor. Last year he averaged 12.9 ppg, 3.7 apg and 1.7 steals per game.

Fitzgerald was second on the TSU team last season, tallying 11.5 ppg and hitting an impressive 84.0 percent at the free throw line. Boyd hit 59 three-pointers in his debut season with the Tigers a year ago, while Griffin, a transfer from UIC, averaged 11.1 ppg and hit over 50 percent from the field for the Flames.

This year marks the fifth with the program for head coach Collins.

Preseason Predicted Order of Finish:
1. Morehead State (7 first-place votes) – 138 points
2. Tennessee State (2) – 130
3. UT Martin (7) – 120
4. Southeast Missouri (2) – 115
5. SIUE (2) – 111
6. Little Rock – 102
7. Southern Indiana – 68
8. Tennessee Tech – 62
9. Eastern Illinois – 31
10. Lindenwood – 23

Steven Boero
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