By Aidan Joly
College hoops fans who have gotten used to the American Athletic Conference are in for quite an awakening this season.
The league is almost unrecognizable from this past year, thanks to three schools leaving for the Big 12, including last year’s regular season conference champion in Houston and a perennial March contender in Cincinnati. UCF is gone too.
Some reinforcements are here though. Six schools joined from Conference USA, including one that just came off a Final Four run (Florida Atlantic), both the NIT winner and runner-up (North Texas and UAB), and for good measure, the CBI champion in Charlotte.
Since nearly half of the league is new, it will be fascinating to see how adjustments are made. Let’s get into all of the teams.
Florida Atlantic Owls
2022-23: 35-4 (18-2 C-USA), lost in national semifinals
2023 represented the second NCAA tournament appearance in program history and it ended in the Final Four for Dusty May’s Owls.
Now joining the AAC, they are the team to beat. That’s what happens when you make the Final Four and return nearly all of the roster from the year before.
Michael Forrest’s graduation hurts, but everyone else is back. Johnell Davis was dominant in the NCAA tournament and should immediately become one of the best players in the country. Of course, there is also Vladislav Goldin, a great rebounder who was an all-conference player as a sophomore. And you can’t forget about Alijah Martin, who averaged 13.1 points per game as a sophomore and should continue to score regularly in the AAC.
The only real concern for this squad is staying the course and not getting complacent. It’s a higher level of competition this year. You can compare it to North Carolina of 2022 and 2023 – made the Final Four as a middle of the pack seed, returned much of its roster and then didn’t make the tournament at all in 2023. FAU needs to avoid that.
North Texas Mean Green
2022-23: 31-7 (16-4 C-USA), won NIT
North Texas had a great season in 2022-23. The banners hang, but it will be a much different look this year.
Coach Grant McCasland is gone after he took the job at Texas Tech. The team’s star player, Tylor Perry, moved on to Kansas State. The new coach is Ross Hodge, who has been the associate coach since 2017 so if there’s anyone who can keep the momentum going it is him, but it’ll be a step back first.
One notable returner is Aaron Scott, who has the ability to play multiple positions and averaged 7.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last year. UTSA transfer John Buggs III averaged 10.9 PPG last year for the Roadrunners. Other than that, it seems unsung players will need to step up. They have some high major transfers in Rondel Walker (TCU), Robert Allen (Ole Miss) and C.J. Noland (Oklahoma). None of them put up great stats, but they have high major experience.
Memphis Tigers
2022-23: 26-9 (13-5 AAC), lost in round of 64
Memphis won the AAC tournament last year, and although a certain newcomer poses a challenge at least for now, but this is a golden opportunity for the Tigers to become top dog in this league.
It’s partly ironic, because they lost to that newcomer in the NCAA tournament last March.
Anyway, this year’s Memphis team did lose a lot, including Kendric Davis, DeAndre Williams and Alex Lomax. However, Penny Hardaway made splashes in the portal, securing Jahvon Quinerly (Alabama), Caleb Mills (Florida State) and Jordan Brown (Louisiana), who put up 19.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game last year.
One of the better recruiting classes comes in, too. It features wing Javonte Taylor, guard Carl Cherenfant and Ashton Hardaway, Penny’s four-star son. The jewel of the group was supposed to be Mikey Williams, but he is facing trial in California on gun charges and it’s unclear if he will ever suit up for Memphis. Until that is resolved in either way, it will be an unwelcome distraction hanging over the program’s head.
As for on the court, the talent is there, we will have to see how it blends.
UAB Blazers
2022-23: 29-10 (14-6 C-USA), lost in NIT final
Andy Kennedy’s UAB program is one of those that has been on the rise for a while, and it got to the NIT final last season.
A lot of that success hinged on Jelly Walker and Trey Jamison, but both of them are gone. Eric Gaines is the best retuning player, havng averaged 11.6 points per game last season and flirted with the NBA draft before returning.
It’s a lot of newcomers. Daniel Ortiz put up 14.8 points per game at North Alabama last season and will have a chance to be one of UAB’s better players. They also bring in a good amount of JUCO transfers. An older team, they will have the upper hand on a lot of teams in terms of experience.
Tulane Green Wave
2022-23: 20-11 (12-6 AAC), no postseason
Ron Hunter may be the best ‘bad job’ coach in the country. The year before he took over (2018-19) Tulane went 0-18. In his fourth season on the job, he narrowly missed the NCAA tournament, somewhere the progrm has not been since 1995. It was the first time the program won 20 games since 2012-13 and the program’s second 20-win season in this millennium.
The team brings back three of its top four scorers, including Jaylen Forbes (18.5 PPG), Kevin Cross (14.8 PPG) and Sion James (9.7 PPG). They did lose Jalen Cook to LSU, but some larger roles, especially for James, can make up for that.
As for a newcomer, Asher Woods averaged 14.2 points per game for VMI last season and should see something of a large role.
This is a program on the rise. He won’t be here this year, but the program also landed its best recruit ever in Kameron Williams recently. Ron Hunter and Tulane is a quietly dangerous combination that could find a way to sneak into the NCAA tournament.
Temple Owls
2022-23: 16-16 (10-8 AAC), no postseason
After four mediocre seasons at the helm, former head coach Aaron McKie moved over into a different role in Temple’s athletic department.
Replacing him is Adam Fisher, who was Penn State’s associate head coach. This is Fisher’s first head coaching job.
Gone are star guards Khalif Battle and Damian Dunn to the portal. Replacing them are incoming transfers in Matteo Picarelli, who averaged 10.1 PPG for UMBC last season, and Jordan Riley, who was a role player at Georgetown last season. In the frontcourt, Steve Settle III put up 11.1 PPG at Houston Christian last year.
Hysier Miller is back after he flirted with the portal. He put up 8.6 PPG last year and was a full-time starter.
There’s no way for the Owls to replace the production of Battle and Dunn, but they will sure will try. Expect it to be a down year in Philadelphia for Temple.
Wichita State Shockers
2022-23: 17-15 (9-9 AAC), no postseason
Wichita State has been without mojo for a few years now after Gregg Marshall was forced out ahead of the 2020-21 season. In his place was Isaac Brown, whose first season went very well but took steps back in each of the past two seasons and was fired at the end of 2022-23.
In his place is former Oral Roberts head coach Paul Mills. This year’s Shockers don’t have much left from last year, so the keys will be handed to Kenny Pohto, who averaged 8.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last year, as well as Colby Rogers, who did not play last year but averaged 14.1 PPG for Siena in 2021-22.
One intriguing incoming transfer is Jacob Germany, who averaged 12.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, despite only starting 18 of UTSA’s 30 games. Harlond Beverly (Miami) and Bijan Cortes (Oklahoma) both had bit roles at their previous schools.
It may be a bit of a rebuild job for Mills, but he got ORU to the tournament twice, one of those appearances culminating in the second weekend.
Charlotte 49ers
2022-23: 22-14 (9-11 C-USA), won CBI
Charlotte had a losing record in conference play last year, but won a national tournament for the first time in program history. And now they enter a new conference.
To make things weirder, the 49ers have a new coach in Aaron Fearne after Ron Sanchez – who had a losing record in five seasons in Charlotte – left to take an assistant job at Virginia.
Charlotte lost some key pieces, but does bring back Lu’Cye Patterson, who averaged 10.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game last year. Jackson Threadgill averaged 6.7 PPG last year too.
Some new players include Dishon Jackson, who averaged 6.0 PPG for Washington State while starting a handful of games, as well as Dean Reiber, who has had a bit role for Rutgers the past three years.
Rice Owls
2022-23: 19-16 (8-12 C-USA), lost in CBI quarterfinals
Rice’s first season in the AAC might be a tough one. They had a decent season last year, but this is a major step up.
The Owls do bring back two important players in Travis Evee, who averaged 15.6 PPG last year, and Max Fielder, a center who scored 11.1 points and grabbed 7.6 rebounds per game last season. A lot 0f the scoring expectations will likely fall on Evee, who was an all-conference honorable mention last season.
Coach Scott Pera brings in a couple players who have high major experience: Sam Alajiki from California and Noah Shelby from Vanderbilt. Both were role players. One solid addition is Anthony Selden, who averaged 11.5 PPG for Gardner-Webb last season.
Again, even coming off a season where it went above .500, won a conference game and won a CBI game, it might be a tough year for Rice as it adjusts to this new level.
South Florida Bulls
2022-23: 14-18 (7-11 AAC), no postseason
Brian Gregory’s sixth season in Tampa was one of his better ones, but it still wasn’t a good one, ending his tenure with a 33-72 record in the league.
In comes Amir Abdur-Rahim, who is coming off one of the best rebuild jobs in the sport: his Kennesaw State team went 1-28 in his first season in 2019-20, and then went 26-9 in year four and made the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history.
Abdur-Rahim brings three players with him: Chris Youngblood, Brandon Stroud and Kasen Jennings. Youngblood is the most important of the group after he averaged 14.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game last year for Kennesaw State. He also shot 41.5% from three. Stroud had 9.2 PPG and 6.5 RPG last year. One other good incoming transfer is Josh Placer, who averaged 14.0 PPG for North Florida last year.
Selton Miguel is the best returner here, he averaged 10.3 PPG and shot 33% from three.
There will be some growing pains here for sure. But if Abdur-Rahim’s tenure at South Florida is anything like Kennesaw, he could have the Bulls winning quickly.
East Carolina Pirates
2022-23: 16-17 (6-12 AAC), no postseason
Coach Michael Schwartz’s first season at the helm didn’t bring a ton of impressive wins but kept the program somewhat relevant throughout the year, which can’t be said about a lot of other East Carolina seasons.
Schwartz made some interesting moves in the transfer portal, picking up Bobby Pettiford Jr. from Kansas, who played sparingly last year but he was deep in the depth chart. He also picked up former LSU guard Cam Hayes, who averaged 8.1 PPG for the Tigers last season. They bring back guards RJ Felton (13.8 PPG) and Jaden Walker (7.6 PPG), which creates one of the better guard groups in the conference.
The frontcourt is a little thin – it’s seemingly Brandon Johnson, who averaged 12.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, and everyone else. Ezra Ausar is a candidate to step into a larger role after averaging 9.8 PPG as a freshman last year.
The Pirates are a bit of a sleeper team in the AAC – and if things go right, the team has a good shot at snapping the program’s 31-year NCAA tournament drought.
SMU Mustangs
2022-23: 10-22 (5-13 AAC), no postseason
There were definitely some growing pains in Rob Lanier’s first season at the helm, which ended up being SMU’s worst season since it joined the AAC in 2013. This is also SMU’s final season in the league before it jumps ship to the ACC next summer.
This year’s Mustangs did lose Zach Nutall to graduation, but do bring back Samuell Williamson, who averaged 9.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in an increased role last season. He will probably have an even larger role this season. They also bring back leading scorer Zhuric Phelps, who averaged 17.5 PPG last year and also had 2.3 steals per game, which led the league and was good for 16th in the country.
SMU does bring in some good transfers, including Chuck Harris, who averaged 10.4 PPG at Butler last season. Tyreek Smith was a role player for Oklahoma State last year, while Ja’Heim Hudson averaged 10.1 PPG for Georgia State last year.
All in all, the talent is certainly there for SMU to improve and get back to the NCAA tournament and make their AAC swan song a good one.
UTSA Roadrunners
2022-23: 10-21 (4-16 C-USA), no postseason
It’s going to be a rough year for UTSA in year one in the AAC. Steve Henson took over this program in 2016 and seemed to have the rebuild going in the right direction, but have bottomed out and have gone 7-31 in league play the last two seasons and finished last in Conference USA last season.
A whole new crop of players are in this year, 11 of them to be exact, and only five have Division I experience. One intriguing player is Jordan Ivy-Curry, who is making his return to the program after averaging 10.3 PPG at Pacific last year. He averaged 13.9 PPG for UTSA in 2021-22. He should jump in as the team’s leading scorer.
UTRGV transfer Adante’ Holiman came on strong at the end of the year last year, but was a bit inconsistent and averaged 7.5 PPG.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
2022-23: 5-25 (1-17 AAC), no postseason
Eric Konkol’s first season at the helm in Tulsa was about as bad as expected. Tulsa has been a bottom feeder in this league for some time now.
The entire roster was overhauled, which may not be the worst thing. Some of them have high major experience in Chauncey Gibson (Clemson), PJ Haggerty (TCU) and Isaiah Barnes (Michigan). Konkol also brought over two of his former Louisiana Tech recruits in Cobe Williams, who averaged 18.8 PPG last year, and Keaston Willis, who averaged 12.4 PPG last year. Williams was all-conference in defense for the C-USA last year, too.
In addition, St. John’s transfer Mohamed Keita was limited by injuries last year, but has played professionally in Africa in the past.
This season should be a little better, but Tulsa will likely still be in the bottom third of the league.
AJ Hoops 