SEMO Redhawk guards Eric Reed, Jr. and Phillip Russell were named to the 2021-22 All-Ohio Valley Conference basketball teams ahead of the league's postseason tournament.
Reed, Jr. earned First-Team accolades, while Russell claimed Second-Team and All-Newcomer accolades. SEMO put a player on both the OVC first and second teams in a season for the first time since 2016-17 (Antonius Cleveland, First-Team; Denzel Mahoney, Second-Team).
A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Reed, Jr. is SEMO's top scorer with 16 points per game. Reed, Jr. entered the postseason ranked sixth in the OVC in scoring, third in free throw percentage, 12th in 3-point field goal percentage (.358), third in 3-point field goals made and third in minutes played (32.2 mpg). He has scored double figures a total of 21 times with 10 of those performances eclipsing 20 or points and two surpassing 30.
Right behind Reed, Jr. is St. Louis native Russell with 14.1 points per contest. A redshirt-freshman, Russell became only the second Division I freshman in the last 25 years to get 35+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ steals in a game. In addition, he won a league-high five OVC Freshman of the Week awards during his first year as a Redhawk.
The fourth-seeded Redhawks received a first-round bye in the OVC Tournament and defeated fifth-seeded Tennessee State in the quarterfinals, advancing to the semifinals of the OVC Tournament for the first time since 2005 before being eliminated by nationally-ranked Murray State.
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