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The American is in an interesting spot this season.
On the one hand, there may not have been a more hyped or visible program this offseason than Memphis. On the other hand, it feels like every good team in the league is in something of a rebuilding year while this will be the last season that UConn is a member of the conference.
The basketball gods don’t give with both hands, I guess.
Here is your American Athletic Conference season preview.
FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. PENNY HAS THAT THING ROLLING IN MEMPHIS
For my money, Memphis is the most interesting story in college basketball this season.
Penny Hardaway, who would have gone down as one of the sport’s all-time greats had he stayed healthy, returns home to the city he grew up in and the school he played for to bring in the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class and turn the Tigers into a recruiting destination on par with Duke, Kentucky and Kansas. Now, with a potential No. 1 pick in James Wiseman starting at center, he will be coaching a team that is the southern version of the Fab Five. He’s reinvigorated a maniacal fanbase that was left dormant thanks to the stewardship of Josh Pastner and Tubby Smith and, in the process, proclaimed that Memphis will win a national title while picking fights with in-state rival Rick Barnes.
The Tigers are a circus is the best kind of way, and I cannot wait to see the fireworks that come this season.
In terms of the actual product on the court, I’m a little bit more worried than most.
Starting five freshmen is never easy, and while the Tigers do have the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, it’s different than the typical No. 1 recruiting class. Memphis landed Wiseman and fellow five-star Precious Achiuwa, but the other five guys in the class project more as two or three year players in college. This isn’t like they are bringing in four top 15 prospects, like Duke has done each of the last two years. And while Memphis does have three players returning from last season, one of those three plays essentially the same position as Wiseman and the other two are 5-foot-9 point guards that are going to be fighting for the minutes that Damian Baugh and Boogie Ellis don’t play.
Put another way, the talent and potential is there for Memphis to be a top five team that makes a deep run in March.
But as we have seen with teams that are as young as this Memphis team, trusting 18 and 19-year olds in their first season of college hoops is never a sure thing.
2. CINCINNATI ENTERS A NEW ERA UNDER JOHN BRANNEN
There are six teams in college basketball that have been to the last six NCAA tournaments – Duke, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan State …
And Cincinnati.
That’s what John Brannen is walking into. That’s what Mick Cronin built at Cincinnati, and remember, when he took over, it wasn’t a smooth transition from Bobby Huggins. He got the job after Huggins had his falling out, and when Cronin took the job, there was one player there. He had to recruit football players just to field a team.
I have respect for what Brannen has been able to do as a coach. He went to two NCAA tournaments in four years with a program that has been Division I for seven seasons. That’s amazing. But replacing Cronin at Cincinnati is not going to be easy, especially when Cronin had built a culture within the program that Brannen may or may not be able to replicate. Cincinnati ran itself, in a sense, under Cronin, and with just five players coming back after a series of transfers in the offseason, it’s not going to be easy.
The good news is that a (hopefully healthy) Jarron Cumberland returns to lead the way, and he is the best player in the conference. Throw in his cousin, Jaevin, and guys like Keith Williams and Tre Scott, and there are pieces for Brannen to work with.
It’s a new era, but it should once again be a successful era for Bearcat basketball.
3. WICHITA STATE AND HOUSTON HAVE NOT ENTERED NEW ERAS, AND THAT IS A GOOD THING
At this point, I’ll bet on Wichita State and Houston because Gregg Marshall and Kelvin Sampson have never given me a reason to do anything else.
We thought the Shockers were going to be dreadful last season. After a slow start with a young team, they won nine of their last 11 and 14 of their last 18 games, including road trips to Furman, Clemson and Indiana in the NIT. Houston lost Rob Gray and then went out and fielded a top 12 team in college basketball. Both lose some incredibly important pieces this offseason, but what matters more than anything is that they kept the guys in charge. Marshall still hasn’t gotten a job offer he’s willing to leave for, and Sampson was given a massive deal by the Cougars to keep him from heading to Arkansas.
Yes, there are players I think are in line for big seasons at both schools. Dexter Dennis, Erik Stevenson and Jaime Echenique are going to make a lot of noise, while DeJon Jarreau is going to be this year’s breakout star in the league.
But none of that would be relevant if the guys calling the plays had left.
4. USF IS GOING TO BE REALLY GOOD, AND THAT IS NOT A JOKE
I am in on the Bulls this season.
After winning 24 games last season, they return eight of their top nine players. There’s an argument to be made that USF has the best backcourt in the conference with LaQuincy Rideau and David Collins. There’s an argument to be made that Alexis Yetna will have a breakout sophomore season. Hell, I can make a pretty strong argument that USF can will the AAC this season.
I don’t think they are going to be quite that good, but I do think they have a very real chance to finish top four, especially if Cincinnati can’t get healthy.
5. THIS IS UCONN’S SWAN SONG IN THE AMERICAN
The Huskies are headed back to the Big East.
Starting with the 2020-21 season, UConn will be back in the conference that it helped launch. That is a good thing for the UConn program – playing Villanova, Georgetown and Providence every year is certainly going to be more appealing to the Husky fan base than playing Tulsa, Tulane and East Carolina – but it is not necessarily a good thing for the AAC.
Say what you will about what UConn has become since Jim Calhoun retired, but this is still a basketball program that has national appeal, a coach that has proven he can have success coaching in the Northeast and two national titles to their name in the last eight seasons. That’s a big loss for a league that seems to constantly be fighting for relevance in the national landscape of the sport.
PRESEASON AAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR: JARRON CUMBERLAND, Cincinnati
This pick had something of a wrench thrown in it when Cincinnati head coach John Brannen came out last week and told reporters that Cumberland has yet to practice this season as he is dealing with a foot injury. He gave no timetable for a return and did not provide any specifics as to what the injury is.
If Cumberland is healthy, he will be the best player in the conference. His ability to score and create on a roster that is going to have a number of new faces this season is going to be incredibly valuable. He will be the rock that Brannen uses to anchor everything that he wants to run offensively.
If he’s healthy.
Here’s to hoping that he’ll be back on the court sooner rather than later.
THE REST OF THE ALL-AAC FIRST TEAM
The American is in an interesting spot this season.
On the one hand, there may not have been a more hyped or visible program this offseason than Memphis. On the other hand, it feels like every good team in the league is in something of a rebuilding year while this will be the last season that UConn is a member of the conference.
The basketball gods don’t give with both hands, I guess.
Here is your American Athletic Conference season preview.
FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. PENNY HAS THAT THING ROLLING IN MEMPHIS
For my money, Memphis is the most interesting story in college basketball this season.
Penny Hardaway, who would have gone down as one of the sport’s all-time greats had he stayed healthy, returns home to the city he grew up in and the school he played for to bring in the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class and turn the Tigers into a recruiting destination on par with Duke, Kentucky and Kansas. Now, with a potential No. 1 pick in James Wiseman starting at center, he will be coaching a team that is the southern version of the Fab Five. He’s reinvigorated a maniacal fanbase that was left dormant thanks to the stewardship of Josh Pastner and Tubby Smith and, in the process, proclaimed that Memphis will win a national title while picking fights with in-state rival Rick Barnes.
The Tigers are a circus is the best kind of way, and I cannot wait to see the fireworks that come this season.
In terms of the actual product on the court, I’m a little bit more worried than most.
Starting five freshmen is never easy, and while the Tigers do have the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, it’s different than the typical No. 1 recruiting class. Memphis landed Wiseman and fellow five-star Precious Achiuwa, but the other five guys in the class project more as two or three year players in college. This isn’t like they are bringing in four top 15 prospects, like Duke has done each of the last two years. And while Memphis does have three players returning from last season, one of those three plays essentially the same position as Wiseman and the other two are 5-foot-9 point guards that are going to be fighting for the minutes that Damian Baugh and Boogie Ellis don’t play.
Put another way, the talent and potential is there for Memphis to be a top five team that makes a deep run in March.
But as we have seen with teams that are as young as this Memphis team, trusting 18 and 19-year olds in their first season of college hoops is never a sure thing.
2. CINCINNATI ENTERS A NEW ERA UNDER JOHN BRANNEN
There are six teams in college basketball that have been to the last six NCAA tournaments – Duke, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan State …
And Cincinnati.
That’s what John Brannen is walking into. That’s what Mick Cronin built at Cincinnati, and remember, when he took over, it wasn’t a smooth transition from Bobby Huggins. He got the job after Huggins had his falling out, and when Cronin took the job, there was one player there. He had to recruit football players just to field a team.
I have respect for what Brannen has been able to do as a coach. He went to two NCAA tournaments in four years with a program that has been Division I for seven seasons. That’s amazing. But replacing Cronin at Cincinnati is not going to be easy, especially when Cronin had built a culture within the program that Brannen may or may not be able to replicate. Cincinnati ran itself, in a sense, under Cronin, and with just five players coming back after a series of transfers in the offseason, it’s not going to be easy.
The good news is that a (hopefully healthy) Jarron Cumberland returns to lead the way, and he is the best player in the conference. Throw in his cousin, Jaevin, and guys like Keith Williams and Tre Scott, and there are pieces for Brannen to work with.
It’s a new era, but it should once again be a successful era for Bearcat basketball.
3. WICHITA STATE AND HOUSTON HAVE NOT ENTERED NEW ERAS, AND THAT IS A GOOD THING
At this point, I’ll bet on Wichita State and Houston because Gregg Marshall and Kelvin Sampson have never given me a reason to do anything else.
We thought the Shockers were going to be dreadful last season. After a slow start with a young team, they won nine of their last 11 and 14 of their last 18 games, including road trips to Furman, Clemson and Indiana in the NIT. Houston lost Rob Gray and then went out and fielded a top 12 team in college basketball. Both lose some incredibly important pieces this offseason, but what matters more than anything is that they kept the guys in charge. Marshall still hasn’t gotten a job offer he’s willing to leave for, and Sampson was given a massive deal by the Cougars to keep him from heading to Arkansas.
Yes, there are players I think are in line for big seasons at both schools. Dexter Dennis, Erik Stevenson and Jaime Echenique are going to make a lot of noise, while DeJon Jarreau is going to be this year’s breakout star in the league.
But none of that would be relevant if the guys calling the plays had left.
4. USF IS GOING TO BE REALLY GOOD, AND THAT IS NOT A JOKE
I am in on the Bulls this season.
After winning 24 games last season, they return eight of their top nine players. There’s an argument to be made that USF has the best backcourt in the conference with LaQuincy Rideau and David Collins. There’s an argument to be made that Alexis Yetna will have a breakout sophomore season. Hell, I can make a pretty strong argument that USF can will the AAC this season.
I don’t think they are going to be quite that good, but I do think they have a very real chance to finish top four, especially if Cincinnati can’t get healthy.
5. THIS IS UCONN’S SWAN SONG IN THE AMERICAN
The Huskies are headed back to the Big East.
Starting with the 2020-21 season, UConn will be back in the conference that it helped launch. That is a good thing for the UConn program – playing Villanova, Georgetown and Providence every year is certainly going to be more appealing to the Husky fan base than playing Tulsa, Tulane and East Carolina – but it is not necessarily a good thing for the AAC.
Say what you will about what UConn has become since Jim Calhoun retired, but this is still a basketball program that has national appeal, a coach that has proven he can have success coaching in the Northeast and two national titles to their name in the last eight seasons. That’s a big loss for a league that seems to constantly be fighting for relevance in the national landscape of the sport.
PRESEASON AAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR: JARRON CUMBERLAND, Cincinnati
This pick had something of a wrench thrown in it when Cincinnati head coach John Brannen came out last week and told reporters that Cumberland has yet to practice this season as he is dealing with a foot injury. He gave no timetable for a return and did not provide any specifics as to what the injury is.
If Cumberland is healthy, he will be the best player in the conference. His ability to score and create on a roster that is going to have a number of new faces this season is going to be incredibly valuable. He will be the rock that Brannen uses to anchor everything that he wants to run offensively.
If he’s healthy.
Here’s to hoping that he’ll be back on the court sooner rather than later.
THE REST OF THE ALL-AAC FIRST TEAM
- LAQUINCY RIDEAU, USF: Rideau was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year a season ago, and he’ll be back as the anchor of a Bulls team that is a sneaky bet to finish the year in the top 25.
- QUINTON ROSE, Temple: With Shizz Alston gone, Rose is going to step into a much larger role for the Owls in their first season under new head coach Aaron McKie.
- DEJON JARREAU, Houston: Jarreau is going to be this year’s breakout star in the AAC. More on him in a minute.
- JAMES WISEMAN, Memphis: Wiseman is the No. 1 recruit in the country and the kind of talent that should thrive while playing in Penny Hardaway’s uptempo offense.
- ALTERIQUE GILBERT, UConn
- DAVID COLLINS, USF
- NATE PIERRE-LOUIS, Temple
- PRECIOUS ACHIUWA, Memphis
- JAIME ECHENIQUE, Wichita State
