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AMERICAN MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- UAB
- Memphis
- South Florida
- Wichita State
- Florida Atlantic
- Temple
- North Texas
- Charlotte
- East Carolina
- Tulsa
- UTSA (tied 11th)
- Tulane (tied 11th)
- Rice
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-AAC 1st TEAM:
-Yaxel Lendeborg – SR, F – UAB
-RJ Felton – SR, G – East Carolina
-PJ Haggerty, SO, G – Memphis
-Tyrese Hunter – SR, G -Memphis
-Jamal Mashburn Jr. – SR, G – Temple
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-AAC 2ND TEAM:
-Efrem “Butta” Johnson – JR, G – UAB
-Alejandro Vasquez – SR, G – UAB
-Kyky Tandy – SR, G – Florida Atlantic
-Colby Rogers – SR, G – Memphis
-Jayden Reid – SO, G – South Florida
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COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-UAB won 23 games a year ago, then won the conference tournament to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament before losing to San Diego State in the Round of 64. While the team was good overall, they went through stretches where they underperformed. Still, the potential was noticeable and with four starters back including Yaxel Lendeborg (who averaged a double-double last season), the Blazers could be in for a very big year. I think they can finish in 1st place in the conference and land inside the bubble come March.
-Memphis is super-talented. It seems like they always are…but they also seem to consistently fall short of expectations. Last year the Tigers did win 22 games, but they missed the NCAA Tournament and NIT altogether and finished just 5th in the conference. Just one starter is back from that team so it is basically an entirely new roster for the Tigers. PJ Haggerty was a standout player at Tulsa, Tyrese Hunter averaged double-figures at Texas a year ago, PJ Carter was pretty good at UTSA, and Colby Rogers was a standout player at Wichita State. All were good players in the AAC last year, so Memphis has the pieces (again). The question is whether or not they will play up to the sum of those parts.
-South Florida had a breakout season last year under first-year Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, but their OOC schedule was not quite strong enough to land them in the NCAA Tournament despite 25 total wins. Just two starters are back from last year’s team, and they do appear to be in a bit of a rebuild mode, but Abdur-Rahim has shown an ability to get guys to play at a high level. There are several transfers coming in with notable D-1 experience, so do not be surprised if they surprise us again.
-For the last three years, Wichita State has been nothing more than an also-ran in the AAC. They were just 14-19 last year, and while three starters are back, and while that experience should help them, there is not much here to make me think they will be contending for a top spot in the conference. AJ McGinnis is transferring in from Lipscomb, and he is a very good outside shooter and should be a huge asset to the Shockers, but I do not see them keeping pace with the top three teams.
-Florida Atlantic had a hell of a run over the last two years. With no previous basketball history or tradition they landed inside the bubble two years ago and advanced all the way to the Final Four in 2023. Last year they returned to the NCAA Tournament before losing in the Round of 64. This year…pretty much all of that is gone. Dusty May departed for Michigan and there are no returning starters, so it is a complete reset mode for the Owls. Leland Walker was a very good PG for Eastern Kentucky last year and should be a huge asset this year, but I do not think we will see them back in the range of the bubble like we have the last two years.
-Temple had a ten-game losing streak right as conference play was getting underway, but they did turn things around and looked much better down the stretch. They actually made it to the AAC Championship game before losing to UAB. Just two starters are back from that team, but Jamal Mashburn Jr. transfers in and will be another key player for the Owls this year. I am probably valuing their run to the championship game a little too much, but I can see Temple being a bit of a darkhorse in the AAC this year.
-North Texas is looking to rebuild after a modest 19-15 season last year. They lost almost all of their scoring, but are adding two solid transfers in Johnathan Massie from Longwood and Latrell Jossell from Stephen F. Austin. They will need those guys to step up if they are going to be competitive this year.
-Charlotte had a decent 19-12 season last year, and were actually looking fairly strong before a 3-game losing streak late in conference play. Just two starters are back from last year, and while they do add a solid grad gransfer in Nika Metskhvarishvili, the expectations are not all that high for the 49ers this year.
-East Carolina is one of those programs that I have always felt should be more consistently better at basketball, but for whatever reason is not. And this year it is not looking like that is going to change. Three starters are back, but seeing as how they Pirates lost 6 of their last 7 to end last year it is not as if they ended things with a lot of momentum built up. RJ Felton is one of the better players in the conference, but he will need some help from his supporting cast if ECU is going to finish closer to the top than to the bottom.
After just five wins in 2023, Tulsa showed a fair amount of improvement last year with a 16-15 overall season. Having said that, they still have a long way to go. But, I do think we will see them do better than where they have been picked in the preseason poll and perhaps continue their upward trajectory.
-UTSA won just 11 games a year ago and with no starters back they are kind of starting over from scratch. They have gone into the transfer portal to try and rebuild their roster, but chances are it will be another long season for the Roadrunners.
-I love Ron Hunter as a coach, and I keep waiting for Tulane to start to break through. Having said that, I think we will be waiting a little longer. All five starters are gone from a year ago. Michael Eley is a solid transfer from Siena, but other than that it just does not look like they have the pieces this year.
-Rice won just 11 games a year ago, and with just one starter back it looks like they will be close to the bottom of the league again this year.