As you've likely heard, we don't have any live-action contests to cover at LetsGoPeay.com right now. What we do have is free time; oodles and oodles of free time. Enough free time to swap oodles of emails with various people who would know to create a snapshot of the 10 best players in Austin Peay men's basketball history. At no. 8, we hop in the time machine to go back to the program's only two-time Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year.

Twice, Otis Howard averaged a double-double for an entire season. The list of people in Austin Peay history who can say that is fairly short: Howard, Chris Horton, Tom Morgan and Howard Jackson.

Twice, Otis Howard was named OVC Player of the Year. He is the only name on that list among Governor greats and one of only 14 in league history, including some pretty heavy hitters, names you'll recognize—Belmont's Evan Bradds, Morehead State's Kenneth Faried, UT Martin's Lester Hudson and Murray State's Isaiah Canaan, to name the four most recent.

The teams of that era didn't just win games—they annihilated people. Two of the five best seasons by scoring margin happened during Howard's heyday. In the 76 wins Howard was involved in as a Gov, Austin Peay was victorious by an average of almost 12 points. To be crushed by a Howard-led Austin Peay squad was the rule, not the exception.

Howard always brought it in the OVC Tournament; his teams never finished outside the semifinals and were runner-up three times. Howard was an all-tournament choice three times, a feat equaled only by Bubba Wells in the annals of Austin Peay. That he never won a title is truly the only "Oh what might've been," on Howard's resume'; an NCAA appearance would only have grown his legacy.

In any case, Howard remains one of four players in the program's top-10 in scoring and rebounding, joining Morgan, Horton and Drake Reed. He was 27 rebounds short of being the third player to 1,000 career boards in an Austin Peay uniform and if they'd been keeping track of blocked shots back then, chances are pretty decent the 6-7 high-flyer would've had his share of those too.

After being a fourth-round pick by Milwaukee in the 1978-79 NBA Draft, Howard spent a year in the NBA before embarking on a lengthy career in Europe, where he established himself as one of the continent's top players.