The Ohio Valley Conference nearly forgot Eastern was playing men’s basketball this season as the eighth-oldest conference received its lowest preseason ranking in a while.

Coming off a season in which the Panthers finished fifth in the conference, Eastern was predicted to finish ninth in the league by the head coaches and sports information directors of the OVC.

The Panthers return only one starter with senior power forward Jesse Mackinson and will attempt to mesh together all the talent by way of junior college transfers or freshman recruits.

Eastern will be without the nation’s top five leading scorer Henry Domercant due to graduation and will look to replace his 28 points per game this season.

“There’s no question we’re going to miss Henry,” Eastern head coach Rick Samuels said. “I’ve never had any kind of kid with his work ethic.”

The Panthers’ leading contributor on offense is expected to be sophomore Josh Gomes who became the Eastern’s sixth man as a true freshman last season.

“I like the blend that we have. I like the fact that we’ve got some kids that understand our system,” Samuels said. ” I don’t even know who we’re going to have shoot the ball.”

Eastern also is without a player on the preseason first and second teams which is a change of pace after the individual dominance of Domercant and Kyle Hill.

“We are bit of an unknown,” Samuels said. “When you lose someone who scores 2,600 points over his career, you have to wonder where points are going to come from.”

The OVC preseason rankings have the defending conference champion Austin Peay as the favorite the win the crown this season.

The Governors return all five starters from a squad that recorded the program’s second-highest win total with a 23-8 record. Austin Peay received 18 of the 22 first place votes and 198 points to take the preseason title.

“We do return a number of key players – we’ve got our top eight guys back.” Governors head coach Dave Loos said.

“But I have been in this league a long time and I have been picked to finish first and didn’t. I have also been where my team has been picked fifth and won.”

The Governors will essentially be representing the OVC in the ESPN Bracket Buster series this season where they will be scheduled with another prowerhouse mid-major schools.

Morehead State chosen second, earning three first-place votes and 172 points, while perennial OVC contender Murray State claimed the remaining first-place vote to finish third with 168 points. Rounding out the preseason picks were Southeast Missouri, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee-Martin, new OVC member Samford, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Illinois, new OVC member Jacksonville State and Tennessee State.

Preseason conference player of the year honors were given to Morehead State guard Ricky Minard.

The 6-foot-4 Minard led the Eagles in scoring for the third consecutive year, ranking second in the league and 12th nationally a year ago with a 22.5 scoring average. A two-time unanimous 1st team All-OVC honoree, he reached double figures in 28 of 29 contests, topping the 30-point mark six times and twice exceeding 40 points. Minard came back to the OVC this summer after pulling himself out of the 2003 NBA Draft.

“It was a great opportunity for him to go and play against some of the best players in the country,” Eagles head coach Kyle Macy. “We kind of knew going in that he was going to come back.”