Busting Brackets
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AAC Basketball: Breaking down the stars on each team in the conference

By Lukas Harkins

ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 13: Adams and Jeremiah Martin. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 13: Adams and Jeremiah Martin. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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MEMPHIS, TN – MARCH 14: The Houston Cougars huddle together before a game against the Louisville Cardinals during the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament at FedExForum on March 14, 2014 in Memphis, Tennessee. Louisville defeated Houston 94-65. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images)
MEMPHIS, TN – MARCH 14: The Houston Cougars huddle together before a game against the Louisville Cardinals during the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament at FedExForum on March 14, 2014 in Memphis, Tennessee. Louisville defeated Houston 94-65. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images) /

Houston Cougars – SR Rob Gray Jr.

Without Damyean Dotson, the Houston Cougars will need to rely on Rob Gray Jr. even more this season. Gray was a junior last season, and he put up 20.6 points per game, which led the American Athletic Conference. With his scoring output, Gray was named to the All-Conference First Team in 2016-17.

Like Connecticut’s Jalen Adams (mentioned earlier), Gray has the ability to potentially win the conference’s Player of the Year award this season. Yet, even with Gray’s outstanding play, Houston was unable to make the NCAA Tournament a season ago. The team finished the year 21-11 and third in the AAC.

Gray’s co-star, Dotson (17.4 PPG, 6.9 RPG), is now graduated and that will definitely hurt the team as they try to recover from losing so much production. With this, even more of the team’s production will be put on Gray’s back. He will be called on to be the top scoring option in every single game and Houston will need somebody else to step up on occasion.

Still, with Gray taking a lot of shots this season, he should once again lead the conference in scoring, and he could even see an increase to nearly 25 per game.