By TTU Sports Information/OVC Media Relations
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the sixth year in a row, the Ohio Valley Conference will recognize men's and women's basketball legends from each of its member institutions during the OVC Basketball Tournament. Honored as this year's OVC Legend for Tennessee Tech University is a man synonymous with Golden Eagle basketball, Earl Wise.
The program's all-time leading scorer, and one of just two Tech hoopers to score more than 2,000 points in his career, Wise proudly donned the purple and gold from 1986-1990. On his way to compiling 2,196 points in four seasons, he set numerous school records, many of which still stand to this day.
Wise required no adjustment period from his high school days on the hardwood, averaging a whopping 18.6 points per game as a freshman during the 1986-87 campaign, a class record that no Golden Eagle rookie has threatened since. By the end of his career, he was the first Tech player to ever average at least 17 points per game in four straight seasons.
After just one year, Wise was named a Basketball News Freshman All-America honoree, foreshadowing a plethora of recognition to come. Following his sophomore campaign, Wise became just the third different Golden Eagle to earn AP All-America honors. Throughout his career, he also earned an All-OVC First Team nod, two All-OVC Second Team honors, OVC All-Freshman Team accolades, two NABC All-Region awards and an NABC All-District recognition. In four years, Wise earned eight OVC Freshman of the Week honors and two OVC Player of the Week nods.
In addition to sitting atop the program's all-time scoring list, Wise's name can still be found at the top of the charts for career minutes played (dating back to 1981-82 when the stat was first recorded by Tech), career 20-point games (since 1970-71), career field goals made and career field goals attempted. His nearly 850 career rebounds rank him fourth all-time.
Since the OVC started the tradition of honoring the top players from its member institutions, Tennessee Tech has been represented by Diane Seng (2015), Stephen Kite (2016), Cheryl Taylor (2017), John Best (2018) and Jerilynn Harper (2019).
This year's legends will be recognized through signage, P.A. announcements and a game program feature story during the event.
With roots dating back to 1948, the OVC and its member institutions have produced many outstanding student-athletes who have earned numerous accolades and led their respective schools to success on the hardwood.
A year ago each OVC member institution identified both a male and female legend to be honored through signage and announcements at the 2019 and 2020 Championships. Last year the league selected six male student-athletes and six female student-athletes and this year the next group of 12 total legends will be honored.
Below is a listing of this year's honorees. For more information on each click on the link at the top of this page.
Austin Peay: Ashley Haynes
Belmont: Ian Clark
Eastern Illinois: Nancy Kassebaum
Eastern Kentucky: Demarkus Doss
Jacksonville State: Bill Jones
Morehead State: Kandi (Brown) Parker
Murray State: Sheila Smith
Southeast Missouri: Derek Winans
SIUE: LeAnn (Bryan) Harris
Tennessee State: Chelsea Hudson
Tennessee Tech: Earl Wise
UT Martin: Mike Meschede
