2021–22 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season

The 2021–22 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2021, followed by the start of the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season on November 9, 2021. Conference play began December 15, 2021, and concluded with the 2022 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament, held March 10–13, 2022, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

Scheduling returned to the previous format: an 18-game schedule in which every team in The American played eight of its 10 conference opponents twice and the other two opponents once—one at home and one on the road.

Previous season Wichita State won the regular season championship. The 2021 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament was held at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, which was won by Houston. Houston and Wichita State received bids to the NCAA tournament. Wichita State lost in the First Four to Drake, while Houston advanced to the Final Four before losing to eventual National Champion Baylor. The conference finished 4–2 overall. Memphis and SMU received bids to the 2021 National Invitation Tournament. SMU lost to Boise State in the first round, while Memphis won the NIT defeating Mississippi State in the Championship game. The conference went 4–1 overall in the NIT.

Quentin Grimes from Houston and Tyson Etienne from Wichita State were named the co-AAC Players of the Year. Wichita State's Isaac Brown was named Coach of the Year.

Coaches

Coaching changes +CoachSchoolReasonReplacementJohn BrannenCincinnatiCincinnati fired Brannen after 2 seasons on April 9, 2021, following an internal review of unspecified allegations related to Brannen and the program. The investigation was triggered after six players entered the NCAA transfer portal within three days of the Bearcats' final game of the season.Wes Miller.

Head coaches Note: Stats are through the beginning of the season. All stats and records are from time at current school only. Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record AAC record AAC titles NCAA tournaments* NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsCincinnati Wes MillerUNC Greensboro 0 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0East CarolinaJoe DooleyFlorida Gulf Coast 7 94–106 10–35 0 0 0 0HoustonKelvin SampsonHouston Rockets(asst.) 7 167–64 85–40 2 3 1 0MemphisPenny HardawayEast HS 3 63–32 31–19 0 0 0 0SMUTim Jankovich SMU(asst.) 6 101–55 45–38 1 1 0 0South FloridaBrian GregoryMichigan State(advisor) 4 57–66 23–46 0 0 0 0TempleAaron McKieTemple(asst.) 2 19–28 10–22 0 0 0 0TulaneRon HunterGeorgia State 2 22–31 8–26 0 0 0 0TulsaFrank HaithMissouri 7 127–87 74–50 1 1 0 0UCFJohnny Dawkins Stanford 5 94–60 48–42 0 1 0 0Wichita State Isaac Brown Wichita State (asst.) 1 16–6 11–2 1 1 0 0 Notes: Overall and AAC records are from time at current school and are through the end of 2020–21 season. NCAA records include time at current school only. AAC records only, prior conference records not included. *In current job

Preseason

Recruiting classes +2021 Recruiting classes rankingsTeamESPNRivals247 SportsSigneesCincinnati--- -East Carolina-No. 46No. 1075Houston--No. 443Memphis--No. 16SMU-No. 33No. 364South Florida-No. 55No. 1011Temple-No. 46No. 772Tulane--- -Tulsa-No. 32No. 623UCF-No. 26No. 883Wichita State-No. 55No. 663

Preseason watchlists Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists. WoodenNaismithCousyWestErvingMaloneNABCAbdul-JabbarEmoni Bates, MemphisKendric Davis, SMUJalen Duren, MemphisTyson Etienne, Wichita StateMarcus Sasser, HoustonDeAndre Williams, Memphis

Preseason media poll On October 13, The American released the preseason Poll and other preseason awards.

Coaches Poll 1 Houston 98 (8) 2 Memphis 92 (3) 3 SMU 77 4 Wichita State 76 5 UCF 66 6 Cincinnati 52 7 Tulsa 43 8 Temple 37 T-9 South Florida 25 T-9 Tulane 25 11 East Carolina 14

Preseason All-AAC Preseason Player of the Year Tyson Etienne, Wichita State Preseason Rookie of the Year Jalen Duren, MemphisPreseason All-AAC First Team Marcus Sasser, Houston Jalen Duren, Memphis Landers Nolley II, Memphis Kendric Davis, SMU* Tyson Etienne, Wichita State* Preseason All-AAC Second Team Brandon Mahan, UCF Emoni Bates, Memphis DeAndre Williams, Memphis Jeremiah Davenport, Cincinnati Jaylen Forbes, Tulane*Unanimous selections

Regular season

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play, There were 3 games which were postponed that weren't made up, resulting in unbalanced conference schedules   CincinnatiEast CarolinaHoustonMemphisSMUSouth FloridaTempleTulaneTulsaUCFWichita Statevs. Cincinnati — 0–2 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–2vs. East Carolina 2–0 — 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–0vs. Houston 0–2 0–1 — 2–0 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–2 0–2vs. Memphis 0–2 1–1 0–2 — 2–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–2vs. SMU 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 — 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–1 1–0vs. South Florida 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 — 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–0vs. Temple 0–2 0–2 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 — 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–0vs. Tulane 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 — 0–1 1–1 0–2vs. Tulsa 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 0–2 2–0 1–0 — 1–1 2–0vs. UCF 0–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 — 1–1vs. Wichita State 2–0 0–1 2–0 2–0 0–1 0–1 0–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 —Total 7–11 6–11 15–313–5 13–4 3–15 10–7 10–8 4–14 9–9 6–9

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

Week Player of the week Freshman of the week Ref. Week 1 – Nov 15 Marcus Sasser, Houston Emoni Bates, Memphis Week 2 – Nov 22 Kendric Davis, SMU Jalen Duren, Memphis Week 3 – Nov 29 Khalif Battle, Temple Kenny Pohto, Wichita State Week 4 – Dec 6 Kendric Davis (2), SMU Viktor Lakhin, Cincinnati Week 5 – Dec 13 Vance Jackson, East Carolina Zhuric Phelps, SMU Week 6 – Dec 20 Kendric Davis (3), SMU Jalen Duren (2), Memphis Week 7 – Dec 27 Zach Hicks, Temple Kenny Pohto (2), Wichita State Week 8 – Jan 3 Jalen Cook, Tulane Josh Minott, Memphis Week 9 – Jan 10 Josh Carlton, Houston Damian Dunn, Temple Jahlil White, Temple Week 10 – Jan 17 Kyler Edwards, Houston Jahlil White (2), Temple Week 11 – Jan 24 Kyler Edwards (2), Houston Darius Johnson, UCF Week 12 – Jan 31 Marcus Weathers, SMU Jalen Cook (2), Tulane Josh Minott (2), Memphis Week 13 – Feb 7 Fabian White Jr., Houston Jalen Duren (3), Memphis Week 14 – Feb 14 Marcus Weathers (2), SMU Jalen Duren (4), Memphis Week 15 – Feb 21 Tai Strickland, Temple Darius Johnson (2), UCF Week 16 – Feb 28 Fabian White Jr. (2), Houston Jalen Duren (5), Memphis Week 17 – Mar 7 Michael Weathers, SMU Jalen Duren (6), Memphis

All-AAC Awards and teams Player of the Year Kendric Davis, SMU Coach of the Year Kelvin Sampson, Houston Freshman of the Year Jalen Duren, Memphis* Defensive Player of the Year Dexter Dennis, Wichita State Most Improved Player Kevin Cross, Tulane Sixth Man of the Year Ricky Council IV, Wichita State Sportsmanship Award Darien Jackson, Tulsa All-AAC First TeamJosh Carlton, HoustonFabian White Jr., HoustonJalen Duren, MemphisKendric Davis, SMU*Jalen Cook, Tulane All-AAC Second TeamTristen Newton, East CarolinaKyler Edwards, HoustonDeAndre Williams, MemphisMarcus Weathers, SMUDamian Dunn, TempleJaylen Forbes, Tulane All-AAC Third TeamDarin Green Jr., UCFDavid DeJulius, CincinnatiJamal Shead, HoustonKevin Cross, TulaneTyson Etienne, Wichita State All-Freshman TeamDarius Johnson, UCFJalen Duren, Memphis*Josh Minott, MemphisZach Hicks, TempleJahlil White, Temple*Unanimous selections Source:

Postseason

American Athletic Conference tournament

NCAA tournament

Two teams from the conference were selected to participate:

Seed Region School First Four First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship 5 South HoustonN/A defeated (12) UAB, 82–68 defeated (4) Illinois, 68–53 defeated (1) Arizona, 72–60 eliminated by (2) Villanova, 44–50 – – 9 West MemphisN/A defeated (8) Boise State, 64–53 eliminated by (1) Gonzaga, 78–82 – – – –W–L (%): Total:

National Invitation tournament

One team from the conference was selected to participate:

Seed Bracket School First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals1 SMU SMU defeated Nicholls, 68–58 eliminated by (4) Washington State, 63–75 W–L (%):1–0 ()0–1 ()0–0 ()0–0 ()0–0 () Total: 1–1 ()

NBA draft The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2022 NBA draft.

Player Position School Round Pick TeamJalen DurenCMemphis113Charlotte HornetsJosh MinottSFMemphis245Charlotte Hornets

References