Last season, the Memphis Tigers were the class of AAC Basketball, winning both the regular season and conference tournaments and earning the league’s lone bid to the NCAA Tournament. Thanks to the transfer portal, including Tyrese Hunter, PJ Haggerty, and Dain Dainja, they got to be that good.
Memphis and the rest of the AAC have landed plenty of players from the portal this offseason. Which teams would be considered early winners? Here are three teams that have had successful roster building.
Charlotte 49ers
Key incoming transfers
- Major Freeman - 13 ppg and 3.8 rpg at Siena
- Dezayne Mingo - 12.6 ppg and 5.2 apg at Marshall
- Kuluel Mading - 7.2 ppg and 4.2 rpg at Norfolk State
After losing leading scorer Nik Graves to Creighton, the 49ers hope that the new backcourt duo of Mingo and Freeman will be better at the AAC level. Mading was an All-MEAC defender last season and should be a key interior presence for the team. After finishing at the bottom, Charlotte had a solid transfer group to be more competitive.
Memphis
- Dug McDaniel - 11.4 ppg and 4.9 apg at Kansas State
- Quante Berry - 10.3 ppg and 4.3 rpg at Temple
- Aaron Bradshaw - 6.0 ppg and 2.7 rpg at Ohio State
After losing all of its rotation pieces from last season, Memphis had to add a ton of talent. One is a familiar face in Berry, a double-digit scorer from Temple in the AAC. McDaniel was okay at Kansas State but was an all-league player at Michigan and could break out here. Speaking of “breaking out”, the x-factor will be Bradshaw, a former 5-star prospect who hasn’t broken through yet at the high-major level. Could moving down a level be what he needs to have a big year inside?
South Florida Bulls
- Devin Haid - 14.2 ppg and 5.6 rpg at Central Connecticut State
- Joseph Pinion - 12 ppg and 4.1 rpg at Arkansas State
- Izaiyah Nelson - 10.6 ppg and 8.9 rpg at Arkansas State
New head coach Bryan Hodgson brought with him a couple of starters over from the Sun Belt regular-season co-champs, including Pinion and Nelson, who should be one of the top bigs in the AAC. Haid is set to be the lead guard, and the roster has the potential to make noise in the conference, thanks to the former Redwolves.