By MSU Sports Information
Murray, KY – The Murray State men's basketball team saw three players and Head Coach Billy Kennedy earn honors from the Ohio Valley Conference after the 2010-11 season where MSU won their second straight regular season title and a league-best 22nd championship.
Sophomore guard Isaiah Canaan was named to the All-OVC First Team, while senior guards B.J. Jenkins and Isacc Miles were All-OVC Second Team selections. Billy Kennedy was named OVC Coach of the Year for a second straight season.
"I'm really proud of our guards making the All-OVC Team," Kennedy said. "Their ability to play together and put aside individual agendas led to a championship. We have one of the best guard combinations in the country."
Kennedy thanked his staff as he becomes the first Murray State coach to win back-to-back OVC Coach of the Year awards.
"I share this award with my staff," Kennedy said of assistant coaches Steve Prohm, Isaac Chew and Amir Abdur-Rahim. "Their ability to coach on and off the court helped us win our second straight OVC championship."
Isaiah Canaan
Canaan (Biloxi, Miss.) followed up his rookie campaign that saw him earn OVC Freshman of the Year honors, as well as being named MVP of the OVC Tournament, by leading a balanced Murray State attack. He averaged 12.0 points per game to go along with 2.4 assists. Canaan was tied for the team-lead with 55 three-pointers and connected from long range at a 40.7 percent clip. After the Racers did not have a 20-point scorer through the first 20 games of the season, Canaan broke through with 24 points in a home win over UT Martin (Jan. 29); he added 21 points two games later as Murray State won at arch rival Austin Peay, avenging a loss from earlier in the season.
B.J. Jenkins
Jenkins (Virginia Beach, Va.) had a career-high 25 points against Morehead State (Feb. 24) in a game that matched the first place teams at the time in the OVC race. Jenkins scored 11.2 points per game this season and tied for the team lead with 55 three-point baskets. Jenkins, although a guard, was still able to grab 3.6 rebounds per game and he has put his name among the best two-year players in MSU history. He ranks seventh in all-time scoring with 716 points, just behind Maurice Cannon (1991-93) at 727 and Greg Coble (1989-91) at 733 points.
Isacc Miles
Miles (Kansas City, Mo.) leads the team in assists with 114 and ranks sixth on the MSU career assist list with 365, just behind Chad Townsend (1996-98) and Aubrey Reese (1997-00), who each have 383. Miles scored 10.7 points per game this season and ranked fourth in the OVC with 3.8 assists per game. He is also two points shy of becoming the 32nd member of the MSU 1,000-Point Club. Miles also has the distinction of having the only known triple-double in MSU history when he had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against UT Martin on Feb. 23, 2009.
The MSU trio makes their second-straight appearance on the All-OVC Team. Miles and Jenkins were also named to the NABC All-District team last season.
Jenkins and Miles are MSU's senior bookend guards that have started the last 66 games for MSU, with Miles having a string of 98 straight starts.
Billy Kennedy
In his fifth season with the Racer program, Kennedy led Murray State to its record 22nd OVC Championship and second in as many seasons as the team compiled a 23-7 overall record and 14-4 mark in conference play. After winning an OVC-record 31 games last year and topping Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Kennedy's team finished strong going 19-3 over its final 22 games. Overall, it marked MSU's 24th 20-win season in program history. Kennedy is now 107-51 in five years at Murray State including an impressive 70-24 in OVC play. His team once again was successful with defense (the squad led the OVC in scoring defense at 60.9 points/game allowed) and had a balanced attack, as no player averaged more than 12.0 points/game and eight players averaged between 12.0 and 4.9 points/contest.
Kennedy is the ninth different Murray State head coach to win the OVC Coach of the Year honor (that group has a total of 14 awards).