AAC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2023-24 season
team. 933. . . . Pirates . 6
East Carolina has a few really interesting players on the roster, mostly additions from the transfer portal. While they’re coming off a season below .500, the Pirates could be an intriguing sleeper choice in the AAC.
In Michael Schwartz’s first season at the helm, the former Tennessee assistant didn’t rack up a lot of impressive wins, but he kept his program relevant. He did so without the team’s most important player from a year earlier, Tristen Newton, who ended up at UConn.
The Pirates made a lot of interesting moves on the transfer portal, though, bringing in former Kansas guard Bobby Pettiford Jr. and former LSU guard Cam Hayes. They also held on to guards Jaden Walker and RJ Felton, creating the best guard rotation in the AAC.
East Carolina is a bit lean on the inside – it’s Brandon Johnson and everyone else. But if the guards live up to the hype, the Pirates will have a legitimate chance to break a 31-year NCAA Tournament drought.
. . . Mustangs . 5. team. 453
Someone out of left field, this season will suddenly be the last for the SMU Mustangs in the AAC as they shift to the ACC in July. They are the only current member of the conference with multiple regular season titles in the league and would love to leave with one more.
Last year was one of SMU’s worst in the conference. First-year coach Rob Lanier had to cope with the interconference transfer of Kendric Davis to Memphis. The Mustangs won just 10 games, finishing in second-to-last place in the conference standings.
SMU is reloaded heading into 2023-24, though. While Zach Nuttall graduated, Samuell Williamson is back for another year after taking on a big role last year, particularly as a ball thief. There are also a handful of big transfers coming in, led by former Butler guard Chuck Harris, who averaged at least 10.4 points per game in each of his three seasons with the Bulldogs.
The Mustangs arguably have the top talent in the conference and return more than 50 percent of the minutes from last season’s debacle. They also return guard Zhuric Phelps, one of the AAC’s best players. Phelps led the conference in steals last year and averaged 17.5 points per game, sixth in the American.
While a couple of new entrants into the American are in the top tier of the conference, SMU has the talent to make their swan song a memorable one.