OVC's BEST: BUD; ELEY NAMED PLAYER OF YEAR

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's basketball teams had their best-ever Division I seasons this year.

And Friday night, those standout campaigns were recognized in a big way when Southeast captured three of the major honors at the Ohio Valley Conference's postseason awards reception.

On the men's side, Bud Eley was named Player of the Year. And Gary Garner shared Co-Coach of the Year honors with Murray State's Tevester Anderson.

On the women's side, Ed Arnzen received Coach of the Year honors.

Several other Southeast players also received special mention on the all-conference teams.

All the voting was done by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.

So all in all, it was a fitting way to send the Indians and Otahkians into today's semifinals of the OVC Tournament -- the first semifinal appearance for either squad.

Eley was chosen as the OVC Preseason Player of the Year. And he more than lived up to those high expectations.

The 6-foot-10 senior led the OVC and was among the top players nationally in rebounding (10.5 rpg), field-goal percentage (60.3 percent) and blocked shots (2.5 bpg). He ranked 10th in the conference in scoring (15.2 ppg).

Eley is Southeast's career leader in rebounds (928) and blocked shots (172) and he is the first player in school history to score over 1,500 points (1,576) and grab over 900 rebounds.

The native of Detroit, Mich., registered an amazing 17 double-doubles in 27 games this season and he had a triple-double against Morehead State on Jan. 4 with 24 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks.

"I'm so happy for Bud," said Garner. "He's definitely the top player in our league but you never know how the voting will go. But what player in our league would you want on your team?"

Just moments after being named as the league's top player, Eley spoke humbly as he has all season.

"I'm not really concerned about this award. I just want to win," he said. "But it's really a team honor. It says a lot about what the whole team has done this year."

Garner couldn't have said it any better because that's exactly the way he feels.

In only his second season as the Indians' head coach, he has led Southeast to a 19-8 record and the Indians went 15-3 in regular-season OVC play to finish a strong second, just one game behind Murray State.

The overall and league victories represent the best Southeast has done since the school moved up to the Division I level eight years ago.

"Any time you get an award like this that is voted on by your peers, you feel good," he said. "But there is no question this is a team award, especially as much as I feel about the family concept.

"There's an old saying that you're only as good as the people you surround yourself with. I have great people around me -- my assistant coaches and the players. They deserve this as much as I do."

Arnzen also echoed those sentiments. Like Garner, he led his team to its best success since joining Division I and the OVC eight years ago.

The Otahkians are also 19-8 and they finished 13-5 in OVC play for fourth place, just one game out of first place.

Southeast's women had a major turnaround season after finishing just 8-19 a year ago. The Otahkians went 13-40 in the last two seasons combined and they were picked to finish eighth in the OVC preseason poll.

"Basketball is a team game and this is a team award," said Arnzen. "I have to share it with my assistant coaches, who work extremely hard.

"But most of all, the players deserve the credit. Coaches look good when they have good players. I'm the same guy who won five games two years ago."

Somewhat surprisingly, the only other Indian who received any kind of special mention was junior forward Roderick Johnson, who was named to the All-Newcomer Team.

Johnson, a transfer from Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is averaging 12.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game to rank second on the team in both categories.

"Rod has really had a good season and he's played extremely well the last few weeks," Garner said.

On the women's side for Southeast, Paula Corder earned second-team all-OVC honors.

The junior forward leads the Otahkians in scoring (14.3 ppg). She is the nation's leading free-throw shooter at 94 percent and has set an OVC record for consecutive foul shots with 38, a string that is still going.

Earning honorable-mention honors for the Otahkians were senior guard Rusty Sowers and freshman center Pam Iversen, who also made the OVC's All-Freshmen Team.

Sowers is Southeast's second-leading scorer (13.2 ppg).

Iversen is the Otahkians' third-leading scorer (12 ppg) and leading rebounder (7.6 rpg). She is also the nation's third-leading free-throw shooter at 89.2 percent.

"I'm happy for all three players, but I thought maybe Rusty would get at least second team," Arnzen said.

Austin Peay's Trenton Hassell was named men's Newcomer of the Year while Morehead State's Erik Brown earned Freshman of the Year honors.

Joining them and Eley on the first team were Murray State's Isaac Spencer and Aubrey Reese.