By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball program received multiple honors as the Ohio Valley Conference unveiled its predicted order of finish and individual preseason accolades this morning as part of its Media Day festivities.
Skyhawk senior guard KJ Simon was spotlighted as the Preseason OVC Player of the Year, becoming just the second UT Martin representative to receive that honor (joining Lester Hudson in 2008-09). The 6-3, 195-pound lefty was also named to the 13-man Preseason All-OVC team.
Joining Simon on the Preseason All-OVC team is Skyhawk guard Parker Stewart. This marks the second time that the Union City, Tenn. native has earned a spot on that squad – also receiving preseason honors before the 2020-21 campaign.
As a team, UT Martin was picked third in the OVC predicted order of finish, which is selected by the league’s head coaches and communication directors. The Skyhawks tied for the most first-place votes (seven) in the conference and received 120 overall points, trailing only Morehead State (138, seven first-place votes) and Tennessee State (130, two first-place votes). Southeast Missouri (115, two first-place votes) and SIUE (111, two first-place votes) completed the top-five and was followed by Little Rock (102), Southern Indiana (68), Tennessee Tech (62), Eastern Illinois (31) and Lindenwood (23).
Today’s announcement marks the third time in school history that UT Martin has been tabbed to finish in the top-three (2015-16 and 2008-09). The preseason poll additionally included the program’s second-highest amount of first-place votes (trailing only nine in 2015-16 when the OVC unveiled two divisional predictions).
Simon put together a dominant campaign last year in his debut season as a Skyhawk, compiling All-OVC first team, OVC All-Newcomer and National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 18 second team honors. He excelled in all areas as he was the only NCAA Division I men’s basketball player to average at least 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per contest in 2021-22.
The Orlando, Fla. native ranked second in the OVC in scoring at 16.9 points per game, trailing only OVC Player of the Year KJ Williams from Murray State. Simon collected at least 20 points on a dozen occasions, including a career-best 30 points (on 13-of-22 shooting) in the home win over UNC Asheville on Dec. 14. He also came away with a pair of double-doubles (19 points and a career-high 12 rebounds at Western Illinois on Dec. 4, 17 points and 11 rebounds at Belmont on Jan. 29). For his efforts, he tied Hudson (2007-08) and Stewart (2019-20) for the most OVC Newcomer of the Week awards in a single season with five.
Simon enters the 2022-23 season with 753 career points, also including a pair of seasons at Troy University (2018-20). He also spent the 2020-21 season at Bethune-Cookman University under current UT Martin head coach Ryan Ridder but did not play because of NCAA transfer rules.
A 6-5, 205-pound graduate student, Stewart rejoins the Skyhawk program where he played under his late father and head coach Anthony Stewart in 2019-20. That year, he snagged All-OVC second team and All-Newcomer accolades as well as a spot on the NABC All-District 18 second team. He was the only NCAA Division I men’s basketball player to average at least 19.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 three-point field goals made per game.
Stewart topped the OVC with 2.8 three-point field goals made per game in 2019-20 while also ranking third in scoring at 19.2 points per contest. He went off for four games of 30-plus points, which are the third-most in a single season in UT Martin’s Division I history (since 1992). He dialed up 12 games of at least 20 points and had one double-double (32 points, career-high 11 rebounds at Western Illinois on Nov. 13).
Playing last season at Indiana University, Stewart logged 31 starts and averaged 6.2 points per game, leading the Hoosiers in three-point field goals made (53) and three-point field goal percentage (.393). In a collegiate career that also includes his freshman campaign at Pitt, he has generated 982 career points.
The Skyhawks held their first preseason practice on Sept. 26 and officially begin the 2022-23 season on Nov. 7 at Pitt.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information