Busting Brackets
Fansided

AAC Basketball: Updated 2018-19 preseason rankings for the conference

By Lukas Harkins

ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 11: during the final game of the 2018 AAC Basketball Championship against at Amway Center on March 11, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 11: during the final game of the 2018 AAC Basketball Championship against at Amway Center on March 11, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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NEW ORLEANS, LA – NOVEMBER 11: Head coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr. of the Tulane Green Wave reacts. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA – NOVEMBER 11: Head coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr. of the Tulane Green Wave reacts. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

It is no secret that Tulane basketball is a struggling program. Not only has the Green Wave not made the NCAA Tournament as a member of the AAC but they actually have not posted a better conference record than 6-12 since the inception of the conference five years ago. In fact, the program has not even been to the Big Dance since the 1994-95 season.

And now, heading into this season, it does not seem likely that the Green Wave will take the next step forward because of two serious losses. Both of Tulane’s leading scorers and rebounders last season, Melvin Frazier (15.9 points, 5.6 rebounds) and Cameron Reynolds (15.1 points, 6.3 rebounds), are now gone and that will not be easy to recover from.

In terms of making up for these losses, though, Tulane has four newcomers joining the program (Jordan Walker has to sit out this season). Despite this, none of the three incoming 2018 recruits for Tulane are ranked extremely high and therefore it would not be prudent to expect major contributions from any of them right away.

This is why the improvement of players already in the program is important. Most notably, the presumed star players for the Green Wave this season will be Samir Sehic (10.5 points), Ray Ona Embo (10.1 points), and Jordan Cornish (9.9 points). These players are all already experienced scorers and should be able to take the next step in their careers now that Frazier and Reynolds are no longer with the program.