Memphis Picked Second by AAC Coaches, Four Tigers Earn Preseason Honors
DALLAS – The Memphis Tigers were picked to finish second in the 2024-25 AAC Preseason Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll, the league announced Friday afternoon. JR Moore and Steve Lenox discussed the preseason ranking on Friday's J&J Show on 92.9 FM ESPN.
Reigning champion UAB received nine first-place votes and finished with 141 total points to claim the top spot in the poll. Memphis collected four first-place votes and 136 points. 92.9 FM ESPN is discussing it live.
Four Tigers were also recognized with preseason honors as PJ Haggerty and Tyrese Hunter landed on the first team all-conference, while Colby Rogers earned a spot on the second team.
Newcomer Jared Harris was tabbed Preseason Freshman of the Year.
Haggerty was the 2023-24 Kyle Macy National Freshman of the Year and earned third team All-AAC honors at Tulsa last season after averaging 21.2 points (15th NCAA), 5.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game. He also finished second in the country with 309 free throw attempts and third with 237 makes.
Hunter has been an ironman through three collegiate seasons, earning starts in all 106 games of his career while averaging more than 31 minutes per contest. He averaged 11.1 points, 4.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game last season at Texas.
Rogers was one of the most coveted 3-point shooters in the transfer portal this summer before choosing the Tigers. The 6-foot-4 guard started all 34 games for the Wichita State Shockers last season and averaged a team high 16.4 points with 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists each time out. He broke the program's single-season record with 99 made 3-pointers (17th in DI) and connected at a 40.9-percent clip (25th in DI) on 7.1 attempts per game.
Harris will look to carve out a role on a team that most consider to be one of head coach Penny Hardaway’s most talented roster in his seven seasons at the helm of the program. He was rated a 4-star and the No. 86 overall prospect in country, according to the On3 consensus rankings. He averaged 21.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 4.6 steals per game last season for Silsbee High School
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AAC Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. UAB (9) 141
2. Memphis (4) 136
3. South Florida 108
4. Wichita State 102
5. Florida Atlantic 97
6. Temple 86
7. North Texas 83
8. Charlotte 65
9. East Carolina 63
10. Tulsa 44
11. UTSA 35
Tulane 35
13. Rice 18
First-place votes in parenthesis
Preseason Player of the Year
Yaxel Lendeborg, Sr., F, UAB
Preseason Freshman of the Year
Jared Harris, G, Memphis
Preseason All-Conference First Team
Yaxel Lendeborg, Sr., F, UAB *
RJ Felton, Sr., G, East Carolina
PJ Haggerty, R-So., G, Memphis
Tyrese Hunter, Sr., G, Memphis
Jamal Mashburn Jr., Gr., G, Temple
Preseason All-Conference Second Team
Efrem ‘Butta’ Johnson Jr., G, UAB
Alejandro Vasquez, Sr., G, UAB
KyKy Tandy, Gr., G, Florida Atlantic
Colby Rogers, R-Sr., G, Memphis
Jayden Reid, So., G, South Florida
* denotes unanimous selection