• Among the 8 Division I men's basketball programs in Kentucky, Morehead State ranks first in wins in the last two seasons - 46. Among all 27 college programs in the Bluegrass State, only one - Thomas More - had more wins (48) than the Eagles in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
• Morehead State was selected No. 1 in the preseason Ohio Valley Conference vote of coaches and media relations personnel. Senior guard
Mark Freeman was selected to the Preseason All-OVC Team.
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Mark Freeman has two years prior experience in the OVC, having played at Tennessee State in 2019-20 and 2020-21. He was at Illinois State last season. Prior led the OVC in free throw percentage as a sophomore in 2020-21, hitting 82 percent. In face, he is a career 80 percent free throw shooter, leading ISU at 87 percent last winter.
• Graduate transfer
Alex Gross is from Hope, Ind. - just 50 miles from Bloomington. Gross comes to MSU with lofty career totals from his four years at Olivet Nazarene (Ill.). He was a three-time NAIA All-American and finished there with 2,021 points, 1,226 rebounds, 426 assists and 363 blocked shots. He earned the NAIA men's basketball CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year award in 2021-22. The Eagles also have another Indiana native in freshman
Julian Norris, from Evansville.
• Returning forward
LJ Bryan enters the seasons with a 60-percent career field goal accuracy. Last season, Bryan nailed 64 percent from the floor and would have led the OVC if he had enough attempts to qualify. Fellow returner
Jake Wolfe hit 51 percent last season and would have been in the top 10 as well if enough attempts.
• MSU has ranked No. 1 or 2 in the OVC in rebound margin for the past two seasons. During their past 65 games, the Eagles were the top team in the league with a +5.0 rebound margin (36.9-31.9). In that span of 2020-21 and 2021-22, MSU was 38-9 when out-rebounding an opponent.
• Head coach
Preston Spradlin needs eight wins to become the sixth head coach in program history to lead his teams to 100+ wins. Spradlin is just the second head coach in program history to lead his teams to back-to-back 20-win seasons.
• Assistant Coach
Scott Combs is from Lebanon, Ind., and was a runner-up for Indiana Mr. Basketball in 1994 at Paoli High School. He is the dean of OVC assistant coaches and may very well own the league record for being involved in OVC Tournament victories. Combined with his time at MSU and 12 seasons at a successful Austin Peay program, Combs has coached in 29 tournament victories now and has helped teams win four OVC Tournament Championship games.
