2018–19 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season

The 2018–19 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018 followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. The conference held its media day in October 2018. Conference play began in December 2018 and concluded in March 2019.

Head coaches

Coaching changes UConn hired former Rhode Island and Wagner coach Dan Hurley after firing Kevin Ollie following his sixth season as head coach. Memphis fired Tubby Smith after 2 seasons and replaced him with alum Penny Hardaway. East Carolina head coach Jeff Lebo resigned 6 games into the 2017–18 season and was succeeded on an interim basis by assistant coach Michael Perry. After the season, the school hired former Florida Gulf Coast head coach Joe Dooley, who previously served as head coach of the team from 1995-99.

Coaches

Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record AAC record AAC titles NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsCincinnati Mick CroninMurray State 13 292–144 85–20 2 8 0 0ConnecticutDan HurleyRhode Island 1 14–16 5–12 0 0 0 0East CarolinaJoe DooleyFlorida Gulf Coast 6 68–71 3–14 0 0 0 0HoustonKelvin SampsonHouston Rockets(asst.) 5 111–50 57–34 1 1 0 0MemphisPenny HardawayEast HS 1 18–12 11–7 0 0 0 0SMUTim Jankovich SMU(asst.) 4 69–37 28–25 1 1 0 0South FloridaBrian GregoryMichigan State(advisor) 2 29–33 11–24 0 0 0 0TempleFran DunphyPenn 13 269–160 58–49 1 7 0 0TulaneMike DunleavyLos Angeles Clippers 3 24–67 8–45 0 0 0 0TulsaFrank HaithMissouri 5 95–64 54–35 0 1 0 0UCFJohnny Dawkins Stanford 3 66–31 33–20 0 0 0 0Wichita StateGregg Marshall Winthrop 11 290–101 23–12 0 7 1 0 Notes: Overall and AAC records are from time at current school and are through the end of 2018–19 season. NCAA records include time at current school only. AAC records only, prior conference records not included.

Preseason

Preseason Coaches Poll The American Coaches poll was released on October 15, 2018, with UCF predicted to finish first in the AAC.

Coaches poll 1 UCF 114 (6) 2 Cincinnati 107 (3) 3 Houston 103 (2) 4 Memphis 85 (1) 5 Connecticut 75 6 Temple 74 7 SMU 63 8 Wichita State 60 9 Tulsa 48 10 Tulane 23 11 East Carolina 22 12 USF 18

Preseason All-AAC Teams Honor Recipient Preseason Player of the YearB. J. Taylor, UCF Preseason All-AAC First Team Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati Jalen Adams, Connecticut Jeremiah Martin, Memphis Quinton Rose, Temple B. J. Taylor, UCF Preseason All-AAC Second Team Corey Davis, Houston Jarrey Foster, SMU Markis McDuffie, Wichita State Tacko Fall, UCF Jahmal McMurray, SMU Sterling Taplin, Tulsa Preseason Rookie of the Year Nate Hinton, Houston

Regular season

Rankings + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team will play 18 conference games: one game vs. four opponents and two games against seven opponents.   CincinnatiConnecticutEast CarolinaHoustonMemphisSMUSouth FloridaTempleTulaneTulsaUCFWichita Statevs. Cincinnati – 0–21–02–00–20–20–10–10–10–21–10–2vs. Connecticut2–0 – 0–21–01–01–11–12–00–11–02–01–1vs. East Carolina0–12–0 – 2–02–01–02–01–00–22–01–02–0vs. Houston0–20–10–2 – 0–10–20–21–10–10–21–10–1vs. Memphis2–00–10–21–0 – 0–11–01–10–21–11–10–2vs. SMU2–01–10–12–01–0 – 1–11–00–20–12–02–0vs. South Florida1–01–10–22–00–11–1 – 2–00–21–02–00–1vs. Temple1–00–20–11–11–10–10–2 – 0–21–11–10–1vs. Tulane1–01–02–01–02–01–02–02–0 – 2–01–02–0vs. Tulsa2–00–10–22–01–12–00–11–10–2 – 1–02–0vs. UCF1–10–20–11–11–10–20–21–10–10–1 – 1–0vs. Wichita State2–01–10–21–02–00–21–01–00–20–20–1 –Total 14–4 6–12 3–15 16–2 11–7 6–12 8–10 13–5 0–18 8–10 13–5 10–8

Player of the week Throughout the regular season, the American Athletic Conference named a player and rookie of the week.

Week Player(s) of the week Rookie of the weekNovember 12, 2018Shizz Alston, Temple Markis McDuffie, Wichita StateJayden Gardner, ECUNovember 19, 2018Aubrey Dawkins, UCFTyler Harris, MemphisNovember 26, 2018Jarron Cumberland, CincinnatiCedrik Alley Jr.December 3, 2018Armoni Brooks, HoustonJayden Gardner (2), ECUDecember 10, 2018DaQuan Jeffries, TulsaTyler Harris (2), MemphisDecember 17, 2018Shizz Alston Jr. (2), Temple Galen Robinson Jr., HoustonAlexis Yetna, USFDecember 24, 2018Jarron Cumberland (2), CincinnatiAlexis Yetna (2), USFJanuary 7, 2019Aubrey Dawkins (2), UCFNate Hinton, HoustonJanuary 14, 2019Nate Pierre-Louis, TempleJayden Gardner (3), ECU Alexis Yetna (3), USFJanuary 21, 2019Jarron Cumberland (3), CincinnatiJayden Gardner (4), ECUJanuary 28, 2019Jarron Cumberland (4), CincinnatiAlexis Yetna (4), USFFebruary 4, 2019Markis McDuffie (2), Wichita StateJamarius Burton, Wichita StateFebruary 11, 2018Corey Davis Jr., HoustonCedrick Alley Jr., HoustonFebruary 18, 2019Shizz Alston Jr. (3), TempleJayden Gardner (5), ECUFebruary 25, 2019Jeremiah Martin, MemphisDexter Dennis, Wichita StateMarch 4, 2019Tacko Fall, UCFJamarius Burton (2), Wichita StateMarch 11, 2019Corey Davis Jr. (2), HoustonNate Hinton (2), Houston

Honors and awards

All-AAC Awards and Teams Honor Recipient Player of the Year Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati Coach of the Year Kelvin Sampson, Houston Rookie of the Year Alexis Yetna, USF Defensive Player of the Year Laquincy Rideau, USF Most Improved Player Josh Carlton, UConn Nate Pierre-Louis, Temple Sixth Man of the Year DeJon Jarreau, Houston Sportsmanship Award Galen Robinson, Jr., Houston All-AAC First Team Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati* Corey Davis Jr., Houston* Jeremiah Martin, Memphis* B. J. Taylor, UCF Shizz Alston, Jr., Temple All-AAC Second Team Armoni Brooks, Houston Aubrey Dawkins, UCF Markis McDuffie, Wichita State Quinton Rose, Temple Jahmal McMurray, SMU All-AAC Third Team Jalen Adams, UConn David Collins, UCF Tacko Fall, UCF DaQuan Jeffries, Tulsa Laquincy Rideau, USF All-Rookie Team Jayden Gardner, ECU* Nate Hinton, Houston* Alexis Yetna, USF* Tyler Harris, Memphis Dexter Dennis, Wichita State* Unanimous Selection

Postseason

American Athletic Conference tournament

NCAA Tournament

The winner of the AAC tournament, Cincinnati, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Seed Region School First Four First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship 3 West HoustonN/Adefeated (14) Georgia State, 84–55defeated (11) Ohio State, 74–59eliminated by (2) Kentucky, 58–627SouthCincinnatiN/Aeliminated by (10) Iowa, 72–79 9 East UCFN/Adefeated (8) VCU, 73–58eliminated by (1) Duke, 76–77 11 East Templeeliminated by (11) Belmont 70–81W–L (%): Total:

NIT

Memphis and Wichita State received at-large bids to the NIT. Seed Bracket School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals3 TCU Memphis defeated (6) San Diego, 74–60 eliminated by (2) Creighton, 67-79 6 Indiana Wichita State defeated (3) Furman, 76–70 defeated (2) Clemson, 63–55 defeated (1) Indiana, 73–63 eliminated by (5) Lipscomb, 64–71 W–L (%):2–0 ()1–1 ()1–0 ()0–1 ()0–0 () Total: 4–2 ()

CBI

South Florida received an at-large bid to the CBI. School First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals (Best-of-three) South Florida defeated Stony Brook, 82–79OT defeated Utah Valley, 66–57 defeated Loyola Marymount, 56–47 defeated DePaul, 63–61, 96-100OT, 77-65W–L (%):1–0 ()1–0 ()1–0 ()2–1 () Total: 6–1 ()

NBA draft No AAC players were drafted in the 2019 NBA draft.

References