It was a big week for Little Rock basketball as the Trojans rolled past Tennessee Tech last Saturday to claim the Ohio Valley Conference title and the No. 1 seed in this week’s tournament.

As the top seed, the Trojans (21-10) earned a double-bye into the semifinals and will be at 7 p.m. Friday night at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. in a game televised on ESPNU. The finals will be Saturday at 7 p.m.

The winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and Little Rock is two wins away from March Madness. The last appearance for the Trojans in the tournament was 2016 under then-head coach Chris Beard.

That very good news was followed by more as coach Darrell Walker earned OVC Coach of the Year honors while Jaylen Crocker-Johnson was named Freshman of the Year in awards voted on by league coaches and sports information directors.

Riley Minix of Morehead State was Player of the Year, while Drew Cisse of Western Illinois was Defensive Player of the Year.

Little Rock also had three players named first- or second-team all-conference in guards KK Robinson and Jamir Champlin both being first team, while forward  Makhel Mitchell was named to the second-team.

Chaplin is a graduate transfer from South Florida and averaged 14.8 points and 6.5 rebounds a game while Robinson and Mitchell are both former Razorbacks. Robinson averaged 15.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game and showed the flashes of game that made him a top prospect out of Bryant in his high school days.

Mitchell, whose twin brother still plays for the Razorbacks, averaged 9.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game this past season. 

Champlin and Robinson also made the OVC’s All-Newcomer team for freshmen and first-year transfers.

All-OVC honors

• OVC Player of the Year: Riley Minix, Morehead State

• OVC Defensive Player of the Year: Drew Cisse, Western Illinois

• OVC Freshman of the Year: Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, Little Rock

• OVC Coach of the Year: Darrell Walker, Little Rock

ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM

• Riley Minix, Morehead State

• Jordan Sears, UT Martin

• Jacob Crews, UT Martin

• KK Robinson, Little Rock

• Jamir Chaplin, Little Rock

• Jordan Lathon, Morehead State

• Damarco Minor, SIUE

• Tiger Booker, Eastern Illinois

• Jeremiah Hernandez, Southern Indiana

• Drew Cisse, Western Illinois

ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM: Keenon Cole, Lindenwood, Makhel Mitchell, Little Rock; Ryan Myers, Western Illinois; Issa Muhammad, UT Martin and Christian Brown, Tennessee State

ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM: Riley Minix, Morehead State; Jacob Crews, UT Martin; Jamir Chaplin, Little Rock; KK Robinson, Little Rock and Jordan Lathon, Morehead State