BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The 2023-24 All-Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball postseason awards were announced this afternoon as three University of Tennessee at Martin standouts accounted for four separate accolades.
The league’s head coaches and communication directors voted the Skyhawk junior duo of Jordan Sears and Jacob Crews to the All-OVC first team and senior Issa Muhammad to the All-OVC second team. Crews also picked up a mention on the five-man OVC All-Newcomer squad to complete UT Martin’s award winners.
Sears becomes just the second player in school history (joining Lester Hudson in 2007-09) to make the All-OVC first team twice in a career while Crews joins Sears (2022-23), KJ Simon (2021-22) and Hudson as the only Skyhawks to ever notch All-OVC first team and OVC All-Newcomer status in the same season. Muhammad becomes just the ninth UT Martin frontcourt player to be crowned as All-OVC second team.
A 5-11, 185-pound guard, Sears ended the regular season as the OVC’s scoring leader at 21.2 points per outing – becoming the first player since Hudson in 2008-09 to accomplish that feat. He also ranks second in the league in assists (4.5 per game), third in free throw percentage (.843), fifth in minutes played (33.5 per contest), sixth in field goal percentage (.431), sixth in three-point field goals made (2.4 per outing), seventh in steals (1.3 per contest) and eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4).
Sears enters the week as the only NCAA Division I men’s basketball player to average at least 20 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists while shooting at least 40 percent from three-point range. The Daytona Beach, Fla. native scored at least 20 points in 17 different games this season – including five outings of 30-plus point performances. That includes a near triple-double at Lindenwood where he registered career-highs of 37 points, nine rebounds and nine assists on Feb. 22. He became just the fifth player in school history – a list that also includes Crews – to win OVC Player of the Week honors at least three times in a single season (Nov. 27, Feb. 5, March 4).
Sears’ 156 makes from the free throw line shattered the school’s 40-year old record for a single season while his 658 points (fourth) and 214 field goals made (sixth) also rank amongst the best statistical seasons in school history. In two seasons, he ranks seventh in Skyhawk history in free throws made (288) and 10th in scoring (1,147 points).
Crews concluded the regular season as the league leader in three-point field goal percentage (.419) while additionally ranking in the top-10 in the OVC in three-point field goals made (2.8 per game, second), scoring (19.3 points per contest, third), field goal percentage (.493, fourth), rebounding (8.2 per outing, sixth), free throw percentage (.815, seventh) and minutes played (33.2 per game, 10th).
Hailing from Hilliard, Fla., Crews is the lone NCAA Division I men’s basketball player to average at least 19 points and eight rebounds per game while connecting on 85 three-pointers or more. The 6-8, 210-pound wing produced 16 games of at least 20 points while all four of his 30-plus point outings came in OVC play (including 35 points against co-champion Little Rock on Jan. 13). Against league competition, he upped his scoring production to 20.7 points per game while shooting 43.7 percent from three-point land and 84.9 percent at the charity stripe.
Crews hauled in nine double-doubles in his debut season in a UT Martin uniform, a majority of which led to three OVC Player of the Week mentions (Nov. 20, Feb. 19, Feb. 26) and five OVC Newcomer of the Week awards – tying the all-time school record for most in the latter category. In the March 2 regular season finale against Tennessee State, he became just the fourth player in Skyhawk history – second alongside Hudson in the school’s NCAA Division I Era – to snag at least 500 points and 250 rebounds in a single season. His 598 points rank seventh on the individual season scoring list.
A transfer from New Mexico State, Muhammad has been a beast in the paint on both ends of the floor in 2023-24. He nearly averages a double-double (11.3 points, 9.3 rebounds per game) while shooting 51 percent (127-of-249) from the floor to go along with a team-high 22 blocked shots. The Atlanta, Ga. native also ranks second on the team in assists (48) and is fourth on the squad with 23 steals despite missing the final four games of the nonconference schedule with an injury.
Muhammad has pulled down nine double-doubles this season, which is tied with Crews for the fourth-most in the OVC. Seven of his double-doubles came against league opposition, including monster performances of a career-high 23 points with 10 rebounds at Tennessee State on Dec. 28, 14 points and 17 rebounds with a career-best five blocks on Jan. 27 at Lindenwood and 14 points plus a career-high 20 rebounds (one shy of the school’s NCAA Division I record) against Southern Indiana on Feb. 15. His 9.3 rebounds per game average ranks third in the OVC and is the best by any UT Martin player since the 1997-98 campaign while his 251 total rebounds rank just outside the top-10 in school history for a single season.
The 6-9, 245-pound forward was part of OVC history on Jan. 29 as he became only the fourth Skyhawk (including Crews) to sweep both of the league’s Player and Newcomer of the Week awards on the same date.
These three helped guide UT Martin to just its second OVC regular season championship in school history and first since the 2008-09 campaign. The Skyhawks equaled the program record with 14 OVC victories and will play their first game in the 2024 OVC Championship as the No. 2 seed in the tournament semifinals on Friday, March 8.
