2022–23 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season

The 2022–23 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2022, followed by the start of the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season on November 7, 2022. Conference play began December 27, 2022, and concluded with the 2023 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament, held March 9–12, 2023, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

Scheduling stayed in the current 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 Houston won the regular season championship. The 2022 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament was held at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, where it was also won by Houston. Houston and Memphis received bids to the NCAA tournament. Memphis lost in the second round to Gonzaga, while Houston advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to Villanova. The conference finished 4–2 overall. SMU received a bid to the 2022 National Invitation Tournament. SMU lost to Washington State in the second round. The conference went 1–1 overall in the NIT.

Kendric Davis from SMU was named the AAC Player of the Year. Houston's Kelvin Sampson was named Coach of the Year.

Coaches

Coaching changes +CoachSchoolReasonReplacementJoe DooleyEast CarolinaEast Carolina fired Dooley after 4 seasons on March 11, 2022. It was his second stint with the program, having previously been the head coach from 1995–1999.Michael Schwartz.Frank HaithTulsaOn March 12, 2022, Haith announced that he was resigning after 8 seasons.Eric Konkol.Tim JankovichSMUJankovich announced his retirement after 6 seasons on March 22, 2022.Rob Lanier.

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 1 18–15 7–11 0 0 0 0East CarolinaMichael SchwartzTennessee(asst.) 0 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0HoustonKelvin SampsonHouston Rockets(asst.) 8 199–70 100–43 3 4 1 0MemphisPenny HardawayEast HS 4 85–43 45–24 0 1 0 0SMURob Lanier Georgia State 0 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0South FloridaBrian GregoryMichigan State(advisor) 5 65–89 26–61 0 0 0 0TempleAaron McKieTemple(asst.) 3 36–40 20–29 0 0 0 0TulaneRon HunterGeorgia State 3 36–46 18–34 0 0 0 0TulsaEric KonkolLouisiana Tech 0 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0UCFJohnny Dawkins Stanford 6 112–72 57–51 0 1 0 0Wichita State Isaac Brown Wichita State (asst.) 2 31–19 17–11 1 1 0 0 Notes: Overall and AAC records are from time at current school and are through the end of 2021–22 season. NCAA records include time at current school only. AAC records only, prior conference records not included. *In current job

Preseason

Recruiting classes +2022 Recruiting classes rankingsTeamESPNRivals247 SportsSigneesCincinnati-No. 39No. 353East Carolina--No. 1396Houston-No. 16No. 303Memphis--- -SMU--- -South Florida-No. 73No. 1382Temple-No. 97No. 1341Tulane--No. 1101Tulsa-No. 58No. 1153UCF-No. 52No. 602Wichita State--- -

Preseason watchlists Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists. WoodenNaismithCousyWestErvingMaloneNABCAbdul-JabbarKendric Davis, MemphisMarcus Sasser, HoustonJarace Walker, HoustonDeAndre Williams, Memphis

Preseason media poll On October 12, The American released the preseason Poll and other preseason awards.

Coaches Poll 1 Houston 100 (10) 2 Memphis 87 (1) 3 Cincinnati 82 4 Tulane 74 5 Temple 66 6 UCF 51 7 SMU 43 8 Wichita State 35 9 South Florida 33 10 Tulsa 21 11 East Carolina 13

Preseason All-AAC Preseason Player of the Year Marcus Sasser, Houston Preseason Rookie of the Year Jarace Walker, Houston*Preseason All-AAC First Team Marcus Sasser, Houston* Kendric Davis, Memphis* DeAndre Williams, Memphis Damian Dunn, Temple Jalen Cook, Tulane* Preseason All-AAC Second Team David DeJulius, Cincinnati Jamal Shead, Houston Khalif Battle, Temple Kevin Cross, Tulane Jaylen Forbes, Tulane*Unanimous selections

Regular season

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.   CincinnatiEast CarolinaHoustonMemphisSMUSouth FloridaTempleTulaneTulsaUCFWichita Statevs. Cincinnati – 1–1 2–0 2–0 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–2 0–1vs. East Carolina 1–1 – 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–1vs. Houston 0–2 0–1 – 0–2 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2vs. Memphis 0–2 0–1 2–0 – 0–2 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–1 1–1 0–2vs. SMU 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 – 1–1 0–1 2–0 0–2 1–0 2–0vs. South Florida 2–0 0–2 1–0 2–0 1–1 – 2–0 1–0 0–2 0–2 2–0vs. Temple 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–2 – 2–0 0–2 0–2 1–0vs. Tulane 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–2 – 1–1 0–1 1–1vs. Tulsa 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 – 2–0 2–0vs. UCF 2–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 0–2 – 0–2vs. Wichita State 1–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 0–2 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–2 2–0 –Total 11–7 6–12 17–113–5 5–13 7–11 10–8 12–6 1–17 8–10 9–9

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 14 David DeJulius, Cincinnati Jarace Walker, Houston Week 2 – Nov 21 Marcus Sasser, Houston Taylor Hendricks, UCF Week 3 – Nov 28 Kendric Davis, Memphis Taylor Hendricks (2), UCF Week 4 – Dec 5 Khalif Battle, Temple Taylor Hendricks (3), UCF Week 5 – Dec 12 Kendric Davis (2), Memphis Taylor Hendricks (4), UCF Week 6 – Dec 19 Kendric Davis (3), Memphis Jarace Walker (2), Houston Week 7 – Dec 26 Zhuric Phelps, SMU Emanuel Sharp, Houston Week 8 – Jan 2 Kendric Davis (4), Memphis Taylor Hendricks (5), UCF Week 9 – Jan 9 Jaylen Forbes, Tulane Jarace Walker (3), Houston Week 10 – Jan 16 Kendric Davis (5), Memphis Jaylen Forbes (2), Tulane Taylor Hendricks (6), UCF Week 11 – Jan 23 DeAndre Williams, Memphis Jarace Walker (4), Houston Week 12 – Jan 30 Kendric Davis (6), Memphis Khalif Battle (2), Temple Jarace Walker (5), Houston Week 13 – Feb 6 Jalen Cook, Tulane Jarace Walker (6), Houston Week 14 – Feb 13 DeAndre Williams (2), Memphis Taylor Hendricks (7), UCF Week 15 – Feb 20 Jalen Cook (2), Tulane Ezra Ausar, East Carolina Week 16 – Feb 27 DeAndre Williams (3), Memphis Taylor Hendricks (8), UCF Week 17 – Mar 6 Jamal Shead, Houston Taylor Hendricks (9), UCF

All-AAC Awards and teams Player of the Year Marcus Sasser, Houston Coach of the Year Kelvin Sampson, Houston Freshman of the Year Jarace Walker, Houston Defensive Player of the Year Jamal Shead, Houston Most Improved Player J'Wan Roberts, Houston Sixth Man of the Year Reggie Chaney, Houston Sportsmanship Award Ludgy Debaut, East Carolina Sion James, Tulane All-AAC First Team Landers Nolley II, Cincinnati Marcus Sasser, Houston* Kendric Davis, Memphis* DeAndre Williams, Memphis Jalen Cook, Tulane All-AAC Second Team Taylor Hendricks, UCF Jamal Shead, Houston J'Wan Roberts, Houston Jarace Walker, Houston Jaylen Forbes, Tulane All-AAC Third Team David DeJulius, Cincinnati Tyler Harris, South Florida Damian Dunn, Temple Kevin Cross, Tulane Craig Porter Jr., Wichita State All-Freshman Team Taylor Hendricks, UCF* Ezra Ausar, East Carolina* Jarace Walker, Houston* Terrance Arceneaux, Houston Emanuel Sharp, Houston*Unanimous selections Source:

Postseason

American Athletic Conference tournament

NCAA tournament

Seed Region School First Four First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship 1 Midwest HoustonN/A defeated (16) Northern Kentucky, 63–52 defeated (9) Auburn, 81–64 eliminated by (5) Miami (FL), 75–89 – – – 8 East MemphisN/A eliminated by (9) Florida Atlantic, 65–66 – – – – –W–L (%): Total:

National Invitation tournament

Seed Bracket School First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals 4 Rutgers Cincinnati defeated Virginia Tech, 81–72 defeated Hofstra, 79–65 eliminated by Utah Valley, 68–74 – – – Oregon UCF defeated (4) Florida, 67–49 eliminated by (1) Oregon, 54–68 – – –W–L (%):2–0 ()1–1 ()0–1 ()0–0 ()0–0 () Total: 3–2 ()

NBA draft The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2023 NBA draft.

Player Position School Round Pick TeamJarace WalkerPFHouston18Washington WizardsTaylor HendricksPFUCF19Utah JazzMarcus SasserSG/PGHouston125Memphis Grizzlies

References