2024-25 American Conference Basketball Preview
After writing an in-depth review of the ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, MWC, and SEC, it's time to evaluate my favorite non-power five leagues: the AAC! Rankings and analysis per team are below.
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Introduction
As a fun way to prepare for this upcoming college basketball season, I’ll review the nation’s top conferences before doing deep dives on the less-heralded conferences as we move closer to the start of the season!
All of my college basketball-related content can be found here. Let the rankings begin!
Rankings
1. Memphis
This will be a career-changing season for Coach Hardaway. After replacing everyone except Nick Jourdain, the Tigers built a competing roster to earn a ticket for the Big Dance in March.
The addition of three solid guards in Tyrese Hunter (Texas), PJ Haggerty (Tulsa), and Colby Rogers (Wichita State) gives them much-needed guard quality. With two experienced fives in Moussa Cisse (Ole Miss) and Dain Dainja (Illinois), Memphis has enough offensive firepower to outscore most opponents they’ll face. That leaves the importance of three-point efficiency from the earlier-mentioned Jordain, but also PJ Carter (UTSA).
However, their scoring prowess comes at the expense of their impact on the glass. I predict the Tigers will struggle to win the defensive rebounding battle. Partially due to the lack of true size on the roster. That makes Tyreek Smith (SMU) leaving the program a bummer for the Tigers.
Regardless, Coach Hardaway has the quality to outscore anyone on any given night. And we’ll see how legitimate Memphis is with their tough non-conference schedule, putting more pressure to play well immediately.
2. UAB
Coach Kennedy enters his fifth season and has won both the C-USA and AAC conference tournaments during his tenure in Birmingham. The key for this program is to scout the JUCO reigns to perfection. My personal AAC Player of the Year in Yaxel Lendeborg has played JUCO basketball, but also solid starters in Christian Coleman, Marquis Hargrove, and Alejandro Vazquez.
They add Jaborri McGhee to fill in the void Eric Gaines left, who went pro. Continuity is one of the most decisive factors in the portal era. And the Blazers are one of the best mid-major teams ensuring that. Players buy into what Coach Kennedy has in store for them. And that’s what will make UAB a contender this year. I expect them to go neck-on-neck with Memphis, improving on their 12-win season last year.
3. Wichita State
The Shockers have had a good offseason. Retaining both Harlond Beverly and Xavier Bell has been crucial. They’ve added more experience around them with seniors Justin Hill (Georgia) and Matej Bosnjak, who come from KK Cibona Zagreb (Croatia).
Experience matters nowadays, and with Ronnie DeGray III, Corey Washington, and Zane Meeks, they are eight deep, of which all seven are seniors.
I expect them to be one of the best rebounding teams in the conference, which will give Wichita State the edge in most games. Quincy Ballard stands out on that end. With their good guard play, experience, and depth in their frontcourt, Coach Mills will be in the run to keep his name in NCAA Tournament contention.
4. Florida Atlantic
The Owls lost Coach May to Michigan. To make things worse, both Johnell Davis (Arkansas) and Vladislav Goldin (Michigan) also left the program. Their historic Final Four run of two years ago is a sweet memory for the Florida Atlantic fanbase, raising the value of their brand permanently.
That led to them being a good destination for talent in the transfer portal. Baba Miller (Florida State), KyKy Tandy (Jacksonville State), and Ken Evans, Jr. (Jackson State) are fantastic pickups for them.
Miller was one of the best prospects coming from Europe, whose collegiate career was put in disarray after the NCAA banned him for the majority of his freshman season. He now has a chance to impact as this team’s number one option, with the support of Tandy and Evans, Jr. who were lethal scoring weapons at the mid-major level.
After spending over a decade on Baylor’s staff, Coach Jakus knows how to build a team. And despite the depth not being as good as the aforementioned teams, the Owls have the quality to challenge the top 3 this season.
5. Temple
Lynn Greer III. That’s the name. He’s been in the shadow of St. Joseph’s standout Erik Reynolds, where he has the chance to take over a team as the number one guy.
At 6-foot-2, Greer III is a fantastic interior scorer who will open up the creative concepts Coach Fisher will draw up. He has a solid supporting cast of Steve Settle III, Shane Dezonie, and Matteo Picarrelli who all return to the Owls.
Jamal Mashburn, Jr. (New Mexico) and Mohamed Keita (Tulsa) add depth to their shooting and big-man rotation. This team is eight-deep with Zion Stanford as the only underclassman, and I expect them to win more than ten games this season.
6. South Florida
When teams overachieve, they likely fall apart. It also happened in South Florida. Losing Chris Youngblood to Alabama hurts. Especially since he’s one of the rare college guards who can be ultra-productive without demanding lots of ball touches.
Skilled face-up scorer Kasean Pryor leaves for Louisville, where the productive Selton Miguel (Maryland) also takes a large chunk of last season’s minutes played and production away from the Bulls.
It’s time to rebuild for Coach Abdur-Rahim. He has proven it at Kennesaw State. He will also build up something good again at South Florida. By adding talented JUCO guard Jimmie Williams, while solid starters Jayden Reid and Kobe Knox are ready to take more usage, the Bulls have the right personnel.
But the biggest leap will come from Corey Walker, Jr. who’s entering his fourth year with the program. I expect the Bulls to finish with a .500 record at worst.
7. Charlotte
Igor Milicic Jr. has been one of the best big men in the AAC this past season. He gets rewarded with the big SEC move to Tennessee, where he will be a starter. Lu'Cye Patterson (Minnesota) also left the program. With Dishon Jackson (Iowa State) completing the trio of outgoing transfers that go to a power-five conference. It’s a testimony to how good of a first-year Coach Fearne had at the program.
Jeremiah Oden is a decent big-man addition, while Nika Metskhvarishvili will complete the gap that Jackson and Milicic, Jr. leave. Nik Graves and Robert Braswell IV will take on more usage to grow into better roles. Kylan Blackmon and Isaiah Folkes are two other returners who will see more ball touches.
Charlotte has a decent roster, but not enough to seriously make a push for the top 4.
8. North Texas
CJ Noland (New Mexico), Aaron Scott (St. John’s), Jason Edwards (Vanderbilt), John Buggs III (East Tennessee State) and Rubin Jones (Michigan). The Mean Green lost their five best producers and, arguably, players. That’s a losing recipe after they impressively noted ten conference wins this past season.
As a result, Coach Hodge will struggle in year 2. Bringing in experience has been a must for him to keep the risk of falling back as small as possible. He’s done a decent job with Atin Wright (Drake), Jasper Floyd (Fairfield), and Grant Newell (California) are good additions. On top of that, he brings in two talented freshmen Tyran Mason and Baron Smith, who both will be contributors right out of the gates.
I expect the Mean Green to finish with less than a .500 record.
9. Tulsa
The Golden Hurricane lost two starters to conference rivals. PJ Haggerty was lured to Memphis by Coach Hardaway, while Mohamed Keita moved to Temple. Dwon Odom (Georgia State) and Braeden Carrington (Minnesota) are two solid additions in return, where the true leap-takers will be returning players: Tyshawn Archie and Jared Garcia.
Both are talented college pieces Coach Konkol will help develop in his second year of the program. With seven conference wins, Tulsa has had a bad season to look back to. While losing good starters, the retention value will be good for them, as the ascending Archie will decide this team’s season for a large part.
10. East Carolina
The Pirates lose two power-five level starters in Ezra Ausar (Utah), and Brandon Johnson (Miami). It got worse with Bobby Pettiford (High Point) also leaving the program. RJ Felton is back, which makes things less bad for Coach Schwartz.
Things will get better at this point. Tybo Bailey is a solid incoming freshman, staying interstate. I expect him to play a good role in his first year. Cam Hayes and Jordan Riley will complete their guard rotation. Cyr Malongo and Callum Richards give them a young rotation of big men, where graduate senior CJ Walker will bring in power-five experience to fill the void Ausar and Johnson leave.
I don’t see a season where East Carolina will start their AAC debut season being a competitive one. However, Schwartz and his staff did well by preparing a group of talented young pieces filled with experience. It will be a good transition year for them, where I expect them to win about six or seven games.
11. Tulane
Kevin Cross went pro, while Sion James got the big-time transfer to Duke. Kolby King (Butler) is the third key piece leaving the program. That forces Coach Hunter to rebuild from basically scratch. Considering the five-win season they had, it’s a good decision to make.
Kaleb Banks (Indiana), Rowan Brumbaugh (Georgetown), and Tyler Ringgold (Texas A&M) are good transfers to start with. It gets better with Kyle Greene, Kameron Williams, and Stefan Cicic, where Tulane has a good group of talent that will immediately contribute. A significant detail to mention is that this team has no seniors. That says a lot about the path Tulane takes in the next two seasons.
12. UTSA
With the Final Four in San Antonio, we will very likely not see UTSA play there as the host. They lost a legitimate NBA prospect in Jordan Ivy-Curry (UCF) and a solid duo of starters in Carlton Linguard, Jr. (San Francisco) and Christian Tucker (California). However, Coach Claunch can look forward to a complete rebuild, as the entire roster left the program.
They replaced them with two experienced power-five pieces in Primo Spears (Florida State) and Damari Monsanto (Wake Forest). On top of that, they had a good JUCO recruit in David Hermés, coming from Indian Hills CC. Those are the three names I will look forward to the most. Regardless, it will be a challenge for them to exceed their five-win season from last year.
13. Rice
First-year coach Lanier lost three key pieces in Mekhi Mason (Washington), while Travis Evee and Max Fiedler ran out of eligibility. The former SMU coach brought in three of his players, where Jalen Smith will have the biggest role. Roster-wise, Rice looks worse than last year, which is the biggest reason they are dead last in the rankings. And honestly, I don’t see them win more than three games this season.
Finalizing Summary
To summarize the piece, here’s the list for my 2024-25 American Conference Basketball Preview:
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