Tech opens season Friday at Miami (Fla.)

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — CBSSports.com, which picked Tennessee Tech to win the Ohio Valley Conference earlier this fall, has named senior guard Kevin Murphy one of the top 30 “under-the-radar” players in the nation.

The list was released recently as part of the web site’s extensive college basketball season preview. To be eligible for the list, a student-athlete must play outside the six BCS-affiliated conferences and not be ranked among the top 100 players in the nation.

“The best stories come NCAA tournament time are the mid-major and small-conference players who carry their team to an upset victory (or two) and go down in Big Dance lore as Cinderella heroes,” Jeff Borzello wrote. “It’s our job to pinpoint who these under-the-radar players are and figure out which ones you need to follow this season.”

A 6-foot-7 guard from Fairburn, Ga., Murphy led the Golden Eagles in scoring a season ago and ranked third in the OVC, averaging 17 points per game. He was an All-OVC first-team selection in 2010-11 and has been named the league’s Preseason Player of the Year this season.

He turned in a performance to remember in the 2011 OVC Tournament, averaging 24.3 points per contest over Tech’s three-game run to the championship game.

Tech opens its season Friday, Nov. 11 at Miami (Fla.) with a 6 p.m. CST tip-off. The Golden Eagles play their first home game Tuesday, Nov. 15 against Reinhardt College at 7 p.m.

Season tickets for the 2011-12 Golden Eagle home schedule are currently on sale at the Athletics Ticket Office in Eblen Center, or by calling (931) 372-3940.