The media polls for the American Conference basketball season were released today. In what should not come as a surprise to many, the Bearcats were picked third in the league. The defending champion SMU Mustangs were picked as the league favorites. The Connecticut Huskies barely edged out the Bearcats for the second place spot by 3 points. Each of the three programs received first place votes, 8 for SMU, 2 for Connecticut and 1 for Cincinnati. The team that finished second in the league last year, Tulsa, was picked to finish fourth.
SMU returns 7 players, 3 starters, from a team that won the regular season and conference tournament. They bring back two of the best players in the league, which we’ll get to in a moment. The Mustangs are not eligible for postseason tournament play, so the regular season is all this team has to make their impact. I suspect their motivations for repeating will be very high.
Connecticut brings back some key pieces and also bring in a top recruiting class and on top of that, they have the transfer of Sterling Gibbs from Seton Hall. Losing Ryan Boatright is going to be incredibly tough, but Kevin Ollie is pretty good at that coaching thing. He’s got a title and all.
We all know what the Bearcats bring back, the bulk of their team which should be improved. For what it’s worth, Ken Pom has the Bearcats 14th, SMU 23rd, Connecticut 32 and Tulsa 45. Memphis, 71, and Temple, 76, round out the league in the top 100. Cincinnati and SMU are both projected to go 13-5.
The all league team saw two unanimous selections, both from SMU. There were two holdovers from the first team selections to close last season.
Returning player of the year, and preseason player of the year, Nic Moore stars on the first team alongside teammate Markus Kennedy. The second holdover was Tulsa’s James Woodard. Cincinnati’s Octavius Ellis and Connecticut’s Daniel Hamilton round out the first team.
The Bearcats are represented on the second team with the presence of Troy Caupain. Caupain was an all-league honorable mention last year. Caupain is joined by a couple of Huskies and a couple of Shaq’s. Connecticut’s Amida Brimah and Sterling Gibbs land on the second team, as well as Memphis’ Shaq Goodwin and Tulsa’s Shaquille Harrison.
The preseason rookie of the year is UConn’s Jalen Adams. The Connecticut guard was the highest rated, according to most services, recruit to enter the league. UConn had the award winner in this category last season with Daniel Hamilton.
Here’s a full breakdown of both, courtesy of the AAC.
Preseason Player of the Year
Nic Moore, R-Sr., G, SMU
Preseason Rookie of the Year
Jalen Adams, Fr., G, UConn
Preseason All-Conference First Team
Octavius Ellis, Sr., F, Cincinnati
Daniel Hamilton, So., G/F, UConn
*Markus Kennedy, R-Sr., F, SMU
*Nic Moore, R-Sr., G, SMU
James Woodard, Sr., G, Tulsa
Preseason All-Conference Second Team
Troy Caupain, Jr., G, Cincinnati
Amida Brimah, Jr., C, UConn
Sterling Gibbs, GS, G, UConn
Shaq Goodwin, Sr., F, Memphis
Shaquille Harrison, Sr., G, Tulsa
[*] denotes unanimous selection
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