Many forget that our school is in fact a Division I school. We may be a lower enrolled DI school; however people should not sleep on some of our athletes.

The question is: do Eastern athletes receive enough credit, even though they are in the Ohio Valley Conference and are not a top tier DI school?

They absolutely do.  Regardless of enrollment, Eastern has produced talented and well-recognized athletes. For example, in our recent and decades past, we have had professional quarterbacks and coaches like Tony Romo, Jimmy Garoppolo, Mike Shanahan and Sean Payton.

Currently, Eastern has athletes who are playing at high levels. On the basketball court, 5 feet, 7 inch junior Cornell Johnston has been nothing short of great since his freshman year.

Anyone outside of Eastern probably has no idea who Johnston is, even though he was the 2015 Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year winner. Johnston is a quintessential point guard for Eastern with his high assist total and ability to score if need be.

Some may argue that since Johnston is in the OVC and not bigger conferences like the SEC, ACC, or Big Ten, he does not deserve recognition. When you look at his numbers though, Johnston should definitely deserve credit as he is already named to the preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference team.

Eastern has not produced in prior years on the baseball diamond. However, junior outfielder Joseph Duncan also has put up an impressive resume as he enters the spring season. In his freshman year, Duncan was named to the OVC All-Freshman Team with a .303 batting average.

Last year, Duncan hit lead off and led the team with a .332 batting average, placing 20th in the OVC. He also led the team with 18 stolen bases. Keep in mind, Duncan still has two more years that will see improvement.

Duncan, like Johnston, deserves recognition even if he is playing for a smaller DI school.

Aside from major sports like basketball, football, and baseball, track and field is big in college. At Eastern, senior field athlete Bryn Buckwalter has been flying under the radar in her pursuit of records.

As she enters her senior year, Buckwalter has already accomplished incredible feats. To start, she won shot put for two years straight at the OVC Indoor Championships and was named First-Team All OVC.

If it was not for Eastern being a smaller school, Buckwalter could perform with the best athletes in other large DI schools. For example, Buckwalter’s best outdoor shot put distance was 47 feet 3 inches, which places her just outside the top 20 in women’s shot put for DI schools. A majority of those higher are seniors, meaning Buckwalter has this year to improve.

For women’s volleyball, Eastern has a hidden gem in sophomore outside hitter/setter Taylor Smith. Smith has specialized in triple doubles in volleyball, meaning a player who has 10 or more kills, assists and digs in a game.

Last year, Smith went off. She led the OVC with seven triple doubles, which is an Eastern women’s record in a season. This year, Smith for a while continued to lead the nation in triple doubles.

Smith plays against talent that matches her, which would be the same as the best team in the nations going at each other. Her statistics should not be looked over because the best players have the same situation. Their talent is relative to the competition they play.

The same goes for all of the athletes mentioned prior to Smith. Sure Eastern is not at the same level of competition as bigger universities like Alabama or Michigan, but our Eastern athletes still perform with the best athletes in the OVC.

Adam Shay can be reached at 581-2812 or acshay@eiu.edu