With the monster in the middle — NBA first-round draft pick Kenneth Faried — having moved on, how in the world will Morehead State try to defend its Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title?
Coach Donnie Tyndall plans to look outside.
"We return two pretty good guards in Terrance Hill and Ty Proffitt, guys that are seniors," Tyndall said. "They're battle tested. They're both double-figure type scorers. In fact, Terrance had 23 in our (NCAA Tournament) win over Louisville, so those guys have played in big games."
Hill, 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, is a sports management major from Columbus, Ga. He figures to be at the "two" spot.
Proffitt, 6-4 and 190, came out of South Laurel High in London and spent one year at Notre Dame before making his way to Morehead. A finance major who on Tuesday was named one of six individuals to receive the OVC's Scholar-Athlete Award for 2010-11, Profitt could play at the one or three spots.
"I can score 20 points or I can score two points," Proffitt said. "I really don't care as long as we win."
Both guards started all 35 games last season.
Proffitt averaged 7.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists, shooting 37.5 percent from three-point range and 85.5 percent on free throws.
Hill averaged 10.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists, shooting 36.4 percent on threes and 79.6 percent at the charity stripe.
Tyndall calls Hill "an all-league-type talent," but Hill did not receive that pre-season recognition.
"No hard feelings about how the picks came out," Hill said. "But, basically, it motivates me."
Hill says he trained diligently during the off-season. Tyndall likes what he sees.
"He's not only a very good shooter, he's gotten better with the ball, where he's making his teammates better this year," Tyndall said.
With Morehead looking to the perimeter more, Hill figures to get more shots. He doesn't dwell on that, though.
"I'm not worried about shots," he said. "Basically I feel, like most teams, that everything will go inside-out."
Proffitt also thinks the Eagles will still attack inside.
"Drew Kelly's going to be by far one of the most improved players in the OVC," Proffitt said.
"We've got a lot of bigs," Proffitt said, ticking off the names of 6-6 Milton Chavis, 6-7 Kahlil Owens, 6-7 Dionte Ferguson, 6-7 Jordan Percell and 6-8 Jeff Drew.
In that latter group, though, all except Ferguson (67 minutes last season) are new to the program.
Which is why Tyndall is counting so much on Hill and Proffitt.
"They're going to be depended on to be the base of our team," Tyndall said. "And their leadership is going to be valuable every single minute."
