By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Following a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men's basketball coaches and communication directors, the League officially released its Preseason All-OVC Team and preseason poll Tuesday morning as part of its annual Media Day session. This year, OVC Media Day made its return to Evansville, Ind. for the first time since the 2018-19 season due to the global pandemic.
As part of Tuesday's media day session, it was announced that Tennessee Tech graduate guard Ty Perry was named to the Preseason All-OVC Team. Perry was present in Evansville with fourth-year head coach John Pelphrey to represent the Golden Eagle program, one celebrating its 100th Anniversary in the 2022-23 season.
Perry comes to Cookeville after spending the past four seasons at Lafayette, racking up 778 career points as a three-year starter. The Apopka, Fla. native made his name as an all-defensive team caliber player, often tasked with guarding and shutting down the other team's top scorers.
As a senior in 2021-22, Perry averaged a career-high 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game while playing 33.6 minutes per contest. He knocked down a team-high 60 triples while shooting 36.8 percent from distance.
The career 35.6 percent 3-point shooter ended his Lafayette career ranked 16th all-time in program history with 144 makes from downtown. He earned his bachelor's degree in anthropology and sociology in May and is currently pursuing a master's degree from Tech in exercise science and physical wellness with a concentration in sports management.
Perry represents one of 11 newcomers to the Tech squad this season, looking to build off the team's successful step forward last season. Pelphrey guided the Golden Eagles back to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for the first time since 2017-18 during the 2021-22 season, banking in a first-round blowout over Austin Peay for the final time as league foes.
Tech's 78-51 win carried the team to a quarterfinal match-up with Morehead State. The purple and gold won five of the last seven regular-season contests to clinch its spot in the postseason tournament.
This season, the Golden Eagles were selected to make a return trip to Evansville in March, selected eighth overall in the 2021-22 preseason predicted order of finish, just six points back of Southern Indiana.
"From my standpoint, our fans are going to see a few different things," Pelphrey explained. "I think we were able to address physical toughness in terms of our defense, especially at the guard spot. We've increased our basketball IQ, which I tell everyone is important because we play basketball. You'll notice a huge difference in the way we shoot the basketball from the perimeter as well. I'm very energized and excited to keep working with this group of guys and am eager to see how it comes together for the start of the season.
The Tech roster will add several new faces to the mix for this season, but also welcome back five returners from the 2021-22 squad. Back for the purple and gold are junior guard Diante Wood, junior forward Daniel Ramsey, sophomore forward Jalen Stayton, sophomore guard Bailey Gilliam, and redshirt freshman forward Isaiah Nelson-Ododa.
Two freshmen and nine transfers make up the rest of the roster this season, with a slew of experience mixed among the group. Local guard Grant Strong (Clay County HS) will join forward Jerome Beya (Sunrise Christian Academy [KS]) as the lone rookies on the squad.
Guard Ty Perry (Lafayette) and forward Jaylen Sebree (Florida Atlantic/Morehead State) make up a duo of graduate transfers set to make an impact both on the court and from a leadership standpoint. Center Nolan Causwell (Laramie County CC) and guard Brett Thompson (Mineral Area CC) represent a pair of junior college transfers with valuable minutes to add to the depth of the team.
Guards Jayvis Harvey (James Madison/Georgia Highlands College) and Erik Oliver (Laramie County CC/South Dakota) boast experience at two levels of the game and are expected to play big roles this season for the Golden Eagles. Sparta native Grant Slatten returns to the Upper Cumberland after spending his freshman year at Ole Miss, providing another weapon for Pelphrey to utilize.
Bogdan Zimonjic comes to Tech after a year at Florida Atlantic and a summer playing for his native Serbia. Marcus Lee Jr. represents the team's second manager in as many years to earn a walk-on roster spot after transferring to Tech last year from UT Southern.
"I couldn't be more excited about this group," Pelphrey added. "I think we have a basketball team that's experienced some tough sledding since we took the program over with all the newness of college basketball and the newness in society in dealing with the pandemic the past few years. It's provided a lot of challenges in terms of player development and growth. Now things have sort of gotten back to normal, in terms of adapting to the way college basketball is and how to deal with different things. This is especially true in recruiting, where you can now go out and see people in their home environments. They can come to Cookeville and campus and see us and what we're all about. Just being able to have that personal connection and interaction is very beneficial just in terms of getting to know the student-athlete."
Fans can get a first glimpse of the 2022-23 Golden Eagles Thursday, Oct. 27 when they host Cumberland in an exhibition contest in the Hooper Eblen Center as part of Purple Palooza. Following its season opener at Tennessee Tech returns to Cookeville for its home opener on Thursday, Nov. 10 against Tennessee Wesleyan.
Season tickets for Tennessee Tech men's basketball are now on sale. To order, call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or visit TTUSports.com.
2021-22 Preseason All-OVC Men's Basketball Team
G - Mark Freeman, Morehead State
G - Chris Harris, Southeast Missouri
G - Phillip Russell, Southeast Missouri
G - Ray'Sean Taylor, SIUE
F - DeeJuan Pruitt, SIUE
G - Jelani Simmons, Southern Indiana
G - Jr. Clay, Tennessee State
G - Marcus Fitzgerald, Tennessee State
F - Zion Griffin, Tennessee State
G - Dedric Boy, Tennessee State
G - Ty Perry, Tennessee Tech
G - KJ Simon, UT Martin
G - Parker Stewart, UT Martin
Preseason Player of the Year: KJ Simon, UT Martin
2021-22 OVC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
1. Morehead State (7 first-place votes) – 138 points
2. Tennessee State (2) – 130
3. UT Martin (7) – 120
4. Southeast Missouri – 115
5. SIUE (2) – 111
6. Little Rock – 102
7. Southern Indiana – 68
8. Tennessee Tech – 62
9. Eastern Illinois – 31
10. Lindenwood - 23
Photo by Thomas Corhern
