Murray State University Athletics
Racers Earn All-OVC Honors - Kennedy Coach Of The Year
3/5/2010 12:15:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers tied a school record when five different players were named to the list of honorees for All-Ohio Valley Conference in voting by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
Racers head coach Billy Kennedy got the nod as OVC Coach of the Year, the 13th in program history.
MSU's Isaiah Canaan was named OVC Freshman of the Year, marking back-to-back seasons in which a Racer has earned the honor after Ivan Aska won it in 2009.
Isacc Miles and B.J. Jenkins were named to the All-OVC First Team, while Danero Thomas and Tony Easley earned All-OVC Second Team honors.
Jenkins and Canaan also were members of the OVC Newcomer Team.
Five players earning OVC status marks only the third time a MSU team has accomplished this honor as the teams from 1996-97 and 1997-98 also had five league picks.
Welcome To The Club Coach
In his fourth season with the Racer program, Billy Kennedy joins an impressive group of Murray State coaches who have been named OVC Coach of the Year. Kennedy led MSU to its record 21st OVC Championship (and first since 2005-06), compiling a 17-1 Conference record and 28-4 overall regular season mark; the 28 victories is just one shy of the program's all-time single-season record (set by the 1997-98 team). Overall it marked the 23rd 20-plus win season for the Racer program. Along the way Murray State won 17-straight games at one point of the season, which was tied for the longest winning streak nationally until a loss in late February. Dating back to the end of the 2008-09 season, Kennedy led Murray State to 23-straight OVC wins, which was the second-longest streak in Conference history (trailing only a 25-win stretch by Western Kentucky). Overall Kennedy is 81-43 in four years with the team, including a 56-20 mark in Conference games.
Overall Kennedy is the ninth different Murray State head coach to win the OVC honor, and first since Mick Cronin took home the honor in 2005-06.
The Best Freshman
Where would the Racers be without the play of OVC Freshman of the year Isaiah Canaan? His play off the bench this season helped him follow Aska who won the OVC freshman honor a year ago. Canaan came off the bench in all 32 Racer games and averaged 10.3 points and ranked 10th in field goal percentage (.495) and second in 3-point percentage (.454). He was named OVC Freshman of the Week three times scored a season-best 22 points against Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 27). His biggest highlight of the season came on Feb. 16 when he hit a basket from his knees at midcourt, beating an expiring shot clock in a win over Southeast Missouri; the play was SportsCenter's No. 1 Play of the Day and has received more than two million views on YouTube.com.
The Foundation
Isacc Miles has started every game of his MSU career, which is 63 and counting and he has been the foundation of the Racers' rise to the OVC title. This is season his scoring average of 9.5 doesn't begin to show how important he is to the team. When needed, Miles can score in bunches as he did with 24 points against Jacksonville State (feb. 14) and 18 against Morehead State (Feb. 25). Miles is a floor general and leads the Racers in assists and tied his career-high with 11 dishes against Tennessee State (Mar. 2). Miles also hit a buzzer-beater against Austin Peay (Feb. 6) for a big OVC win.
In The Blink Of An Eye
B.J. Jenkins is the leader in steals in the OVC with 3.4 per game and has given the Racers another three-point threat hitting 40 percent in league games and has a team-best 61. Jenkins has been named OVC Newcomer of the Week five times. In the EKU game (Feb. 27), he hit 5-of-5 from three-point range and finished with 22 points. His season-high was a 23-point effort against Tennessee Tech (Feb. 11). He also hit the shot with 2.6 seconds remaining that won the game for MSU (Dec. 3) against EKU.
1,000 Points and Beyond
Danero Thomas became the 35th member of the Racer 1000-Point Club this season and will end his career among the top-25 scorers in MSU history with more than 1,200 points. He has scored in double-figures 18 times this season with a best of 21 points against Tennessee State (Mar. 3). Among the leaders in steals in the OVC, Thomas has six games of three steals or more including six against UT Martin (Jan. 4) and he ranks sixth all-time at MSU.
Swat Party
Tony Easley has turned in an amazing senior season. He has already set the MSU single-season blocked shots mark. He notched six blocks against Tennessee State (Mar. 2) and has 152 for his MSU career with a chance to catch MSU's all-time leader Cuthbert Victor (2000-04) at 160. Easley has 88 swats this season after entering it season with 64 in his career.
Here are all of the awards handed out this season in the OVC.
OVC Player of the Year: Kenneth Faried, Morehead State
OVC Defensive Player of the Year: Kenneth Faried, Morehead State
OVC Freshmen of the Year: Isaiah Canaan, Murray State
OVC Coach of the Year: Billy Kennedy, Murray State
ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM
Kenneth Faried, Morehead State
Wesley Channels, Austin Peay
Isacc Miles, Murray State
Tyler Laser, Eastern Illinois
B.J. Jenkins, Murray State
ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
Anthony Campbell, Austin Peay
Maze Stallworth, Morehead State
Danero Thomas, Murray State
Tony Easley, Murray State
Josh Taylor, Eastern Kentucky
ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
B.J. Jenkins, Murray State
Isaiah Canaan, Murray State
Robert Covington, Tennessee State
James Hollowell, Eastern Illinois
Jacquan Nobles, Tennessee State
