PHILADELPHIA – Wichita State was the topic of the day but, in a bit of a surprise, Cincinnati emerged as the favorite to win the 2017-18 American Athletic Conference men’s basketball regular-season title in a vote of the AAC head coaches released Monday at conference media day.
It was the second consecutive year that Cincinnati polled at the top spot. The Bearcats edged AAC newcomer Wichita State by a single point. The Shockers, who have departed the Missouri Valley Conference to join the AAC, are listed in the top 5 or top 10 nationally in several preseason publications and are considered a potential Final Four team.
“Someone told me we have no first-team all-league players,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. “I must be a hell of a coach.”
Forward Gary Clark, swingman Jacob Evans and forward Kyle Washington all represented Cincinnati on the all-conference second team. The only Wichita State player on the first team was guard Landry Shamet. SMU guard Shake Milton was named Preseason Rookie of the Year. UConn guard Jalen Adams, Houston guard Rob Gray and UCF guard B.J. Taylor complete the first team.
UConn guard Alterique Gilbert, a redshirt freshman who had his season ended by injury early last season was picked as the Preseason Rookie of the Year.
AAC all-conference selections gather for a team photo at media day (Ken Davis photo)
One thing all the coaches could agree on is the fact that Wichita State’s moved to the AAC this season is good for the conference.
“It’s a win-win for both sides,” Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said.
Just over a year ago, the AAC was in chaos with many of the member schools expressing an interest in joining the Big 12 or another conference from the Power Five with a focus on football.
The AAC hopes the addition of Wichita State improves the conference’s reputation to the point that more teams received at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. The addition of a school such as Wichita State, with a strong position in basketball, was a reversal in the trend toward emphasis in football.
“Coming from the old Big East, the better your league is, the more it’s going to help you in the long run,” Cronin said. “The more respect your league gets, the more it helps recruiting.
“For me io see we actually did something for basketball. Someone actually did something for a sport that’s not football.”
American anchor Hali Oughton interviews Houston coach Kelvin Sampson (Ken Davis photo)
The UConn men were picked fifth in the preseason poll, behind Cincinnati, Wichita State, UCF and SMU. That put UConn in the range to benefit from Wichita State’s influence on the league and more NCAA bids. In addition to Adams’ first team selection, red-shirt freshman guard Alterique Gilbert was named Preseason Rookie of the Year.
UConn’s women received 11 of 12 of first-place votes and had 11 more points than second-place USF as the favorites to finish first. Junior forward Napheese Collier was named Preseason Player of the Year and was joined by Katie Lou Samuelson and Gabby Williams on the first team. Kia Nurse was chosen to the second team.
Broadcast veteran Andy Katz led a roundtable for successful coaches Geno Auriemma (UConn women) Gregg Marshall (Wichita State), Kevin Ollie (UConn men), Tubby Smith (Memphis) Kelvin Sampson (Houston). Ken Davis photo
2017 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
MEN’S PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL
Rank
Team (First-Place Votes)
Total point
1.
Cincinnati (7)
116
2.
Wichita State (5)
115
3.
UCF
93
4.
SMU
91
5.
UConn
79
6.
Houston
72
7.
Temple
68
8.
Tulsa
52
9.
Memphis
36
10.
Tulane
30
11.
ECU
24
12.
USF
16
2017-18 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
PRESEASON INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Preseason Player of the Year
Shake Milton, G, Jr., SMU
Preseason Rookie of the Year
Alterique Gilbert, G, r-Fr., UConn
Preseason All-Conference Teams
First Team
Shake Milton, G, SMU
Jalen Adams, G, UConn
Rob Gray, G, Houston
Landry Shamet, G, Wichita State
B.J. Taylor, G, UCF
Second Team
Gary Clark, F, Cincinnati
Junior Etou, F, Tulsa
Jacob Evans, G/F, Cincinnati
Tacko Fall, C, UCF
Kyle Washington, F, Cincinnati
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