AP voters are annually asked to select our college player of the year, coach of the year and three All-America teams. The AA teams don't have to be in the c-f-f-g-g format, but have to at least conceivably be able to take the floor together.

Unless you want a "position-less" team ...

Anyway, here are my selections. Threw the AAC a bone with Nic Moore on third team. Sue me. And as for player of the year, I get that Denzel Valentine is terrific and maybe a more well-rounded player. But I can't deny a player so offensively brilliant and efficient and skilled as Buddy Hield. He's a rare breed.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma

COACH OF THE YEAR
Tubby Smith, Texas Tech

FIRST TEAM

Buddy Hield, Oklahoma
Denzel Valentine, Michigan State
Brice Johnson, North Carolina
Ben Simmons, LSU
Kris Dunn, Providence

SECOND TEAM

Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia
Grayson Allen, Duke
Tyler Ulis, Kentucky
Georges Niang, Iowa State
Perry Ellis, Kansas

THIRD TEAM

Yogi Ferrell, Indiana
Josh Hart, Villanova
Domantas Sabonis, Gonzaga
Jarrod Uthoff, Iowa
Nic Moore, SMU

Here's the AAC's all-conference and all-rookie teams. I thought Shonn Miller might make second team instead of Daniel Hamilton, but despite Hamilton's struggles this season, he's still among the league's top rebounders and assist men. And he's got more name recognition.

Also thought Jalen Adams might make all-rookie, but this isn't a huge crime, either. If you want to go by stats, he doesn't compare to the five who made it -- or, you could argue, with UCF's Tacko Fall, the league's top shot-blocker who's become a bit of an offensive force lately.

The league's defensive player of the year, Sixth Man Award, most improved player and Sportsmanship Award winners will be announced on Wednesday. On Thursday, at a 12:30 p.m. luncheon, the league's player of the year, coach of the year, rookie of the year and scholar-athlete of the year will be announced.

UConn doesn't figure to reap too many (if any) of these awards. Maybe Rodney Purvis for Sixth Man? Maybe Amida Brimah for DPOY (did he play enough? I don't think so).

One thing is certain: if SMU's Nic Moore repeats as AAC player of the year, he won't be on-hand to accept his award. Seems Moore has booked a cruise this week with his girlfriend. Guess you can do that when your team has a postseason ban.

All-Conference First Team
Troy Caupain, G, Cincinnati
Shaq Goodwin, F, Memphis
*Nic Moore, G, SMU
*Quenton DeCosey, G, Temple
James Woodard, G, Tulsa

All-Conference Second Team
Daniel Hamilton, G/F, UConn
Gary Clark, F, Cincinnati
Devonta Pollard, F, Houston
Dedric Lawson, F, Memphis
Shaquille Harrison, G, Tulsa

Honorable Mention All-Conference
Shonn Miller, F, UConn
Damyean Dotson, G, Houston

All-Rookie Team
Kentrell Barkley, G/F, East Carolina
*Dedric Lawson, F, Memphis
Galen Robinson, Jr., G, Houston
*Jahmal McMurray, G, USF
*Shake Milton, G, SMU

As the American Athletic Conference season winds down this week, it's time to take a look at who could/should be hauling in some hardware at the league tournament next week in Orlando.

A lot of tough choices this season, really. In fact, looking back at the preseason all-conference teams, we've got just two players picked for the first team making either first or second team all-AAC. Of course, we could be very wrong.

Here's how we see it:

ALL-CONFERENCE

FIRST TEAM

Nic Moore, Sr. G, SMU

Quenton DeCosey, Sr. G, Temple

Shaq Goodwin, Sr. F, Memphis

James Woodard, Sr. G, Tulsa

Gary Clark, Soph. F, Cincinnati

SECOND TEAM

Damyean Dotson, Jr. G, Houston

Troy Caupain, Jr. G, Cincinnati

Shonn Miller, Gr. F, UConn

Jordan Tolbert, Sr. F, SMU

Shaq Harrison, Sr. G, Tulsa

HONORABLE MENTION

Daniel Hamilton, Soph. F, UConn

Dedric Lawson, Fr. F, Memphis

Pat Birt, Jr. F, Tulsa

Louis Dabney, Sr. G, Tulane

ALL-ROOKIE

Jalen Adams, G, UConn

Jahmal McMurray, G, USF

Dedric Lawson, F, Memphis

Shake Milton, G, SMU

Kentrell Barkley, F, ECU

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Candidates: Nic Moore, SMU; Quenton DeCosey, Temple

Winner: Nic Moore, SMU

Moore won the award last season (beating out UConn's Ryan Boatright), and was the preseason pick this year, which certainly gave him the leg up on the competition from the start. Sometimes, guys have trouble living up to the expectations (see: Dunn, Kris), but not in Moore's case. He's third in the league in scoring at 16.7 ppg, third in assists and fourth in steals. It's a shame his NCAA tourney career will be defined by the following: snubbed as a sophomore, first-round loss on controversial goaltending call as a junior, postseason ban as a senior.

As recently as a few weeks ago, I thought Daniel Hamilton had a chance to unseat Moore for the honor. But he struggled so badly for the whole month of January, and UConn has fallen so short of expectations, that it's worth wondering whether Hamilton will even earn all-AAC honors.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Candidates: Dedric Lawson, Memphis; Jahmal McMurray, USF; Shake Milton, SMU

Winner: Dedric Lawson, Memphis

Despite a pair of atrocious performances this season against UConn, Lawson -- a heralded McDonald's All-American coming in -- is the choice. He leads the AAC in rebounding at 9.5 per game (barely edging out Hamilton) while also scoring at a 15.6 ppg clip. McMurray leads the league in scoring, but he's too one-dimensional on a bad team. Jalen Adams was the preseason pick, but while he's really made strides in recent weeks, he's not going to win this one.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Candidates: Fran Dunphy, Temple; Kelvin Sampson, Houston; Larry Brown, SMU

Winner: Kelvin Sampson, Houston

This is a really tough one that could go to either Dunphy or Sampson. Temple was picked to finish sixth and is 12-4 with a chance to finish first. Houston was picked to finish seventh and is 10-6, fresh off a win at UConn. I was really impressed with the job Sampson did in Sunday's win in Storrs, and even more impressed with his postgame press conference. Dunphy won it last year, so maybe there's a tendency to go with someone new. Either that or Dunphy becomes the Mike Brey of the AAC: the de facto coach of the year.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Candidates: Tacko Fall, UCF; Gary Clark, Cincinnati; Shaq Goodwin, Memphis; Shaq Harrison, Tulsa; Amida Brimah, UConn

Winner: Gary Clark, Cincinnati

This usually goes to a shot-blocker, so that eliminates Harrison. Fall, a freshman, leads the league in blocks (2.1 per game). Brimah would be second at 2.0 per game, but he's only played in nine league contests and will end up only playing 11. He is the reigning league DPOY, but is 11 games enough to merit a repeat? I say it goes to Clark, the top shot-blocker (1.8) on the league's most consistently excellent defensive team.

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR

Candidates: Markus Kennedy, SMU; Rodney Purvis, UConn; Rob Gray, Jr., Houston

Winner: Rodney Purvis, UConn

This is another real tough one. Kennedy won it last year, but he's been bothered by a knee injury for much of this season and is only averaging 9.7 points and 7.1 rebounds in league play. Not bad, but not what was expected from a preseason first team all-league pick. Gray leads the league in scoring in overall games (17.1 ppg) but doesn't rank in conference play because he's only played in 12 (starting seven of them) due to a balky ankle. He scored just two points Sunday against UConn. Is it fair to give the league's Sixth Man Award to a player who's only come off the bench in five league games?

Unless I'm missing someone else, Purvis seems to be the best fit. We all know his limitations, but he's come off the bench in 12 of 16 league games and averaged 10.9 points.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
I'll go with Temple's Obi Enechionyia, unless anyone can come up with someone else.

SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD
UConn's Pat Lenehan won it last year, so could Nnamdi Amilo and his 4.0 GPA make it two Huskies in as many years? Doubtful, since Amilo is not a scholarship athlete this season.

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
This is not meant to be a sarcastic putdown of the players in the AAC, but I don't have a great guess who's deserving of the award. Sometimes it goes to a real good player who got edged out in another award, so maybe Quenton DeCosey or a James Woodard wins it. If we could give an award to the UConn player who's most amenable to the media (I know that doesn't exactly equate to sportsmanship) then Purvis would be a front-runner.

In its third season, the AAC doesn't appear to be as good as we thought it was going to be just a few months ago. With SMU barred from the postseason, could this be a one-bid league? Probably not, but considering how the league has had the two biggest snubs for each of the last two NCAA tournaments (SMU in 2014, Temple in 2015), it's hard to envision any more than two bids -- at least at this point.

We chronicle all this in today's Register. Meanwhile, with conference play just underway (and UConn readying for its league opener on Saturday at Tulane), here's our picks for the league's award-winners this season:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Daniel Hamilton, UConn. The most complete player in the league, and possibly its best NBA prospect. Hamilton leads the league in assists, is fifth in reboundng and 13th in scoring. Even with reigning POY Nic Moore back and playing well, we're gonna side with Hamilton on this one.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Dedric Lawson, Memphis. He's got strong competition from SMU's Shake Milton, but Lawson has thus far made the transfer of Austin Nichols far more bearable. He's fifth in the league in scoring and second in rebounding.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Shaq Harrison, Tulsa. Amida Brimah isn't expected back until about mid-February, so we're eliminating him from the competition. With that in mind, we'll throw Tulsa a bone and give it to the player who currently leads the league in steals.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Kelvin Sampson, Houston. No matter how many games SMU wins, there's no way they'll give this award to Larry Brown -- right? Houston was expected to be better this season, and Sampson -- a very good coach -- may have the Cougars even better than expected.

ALL-CONFERENCE

FIRST TEAM

Daniel Hamilton, UConn
Rodney Purvis, UConn
Nic Moore, SMU
Jordan Tolbert, SMU
James Woodard, Tulsa
Troy Caupain, Cincinnati

SECOND TEAM

Shaq Harrison, Tulsa
Quenton DeCosey, Temple
Dedric Lawson, Memphis
Shaq Goodwin, Memphis
Rob Gray, Houston

HONORABLE MENTION

B.J. Tyson, East Carolina
Gary Clark, Cincinnati
Octavius Ellis, Cincinnati
Louis Dabney, Tulane

ALL-ROOKIE

Dedric Lawson, Memphis
Shake Milton, SMU
Jahmal McMurray, South Florida
Jalen Adams, UConn
Tacko Fall, UCF

A few awards that won't be announced at the AAC tournament in Orlando in March:

BEST NAME: Tacko Fall, UCF. Is there any competition? That he's 7-foot-6, 300 pounds and playing pretty well (2.5 blocks per game) only adds to his intrigue.

BEST TRANSFER: Jordan Tolbert, SMU. Texas Tech transfer leads the league in rebounding at 10.2 per game, to go with 12.6 points. He's overshadowed Markus Kennedy to this point.

BEST GRAD TRANSFER: Ricky Tarrant, Jr., Memphis. UConn fans love Shonn Miller and Sterling Gibbs, but Tarrant, who started his career at Tulane, then played two seasons at Alabama, may have the bigger overall impact.

BEST JUCO TRANSFER: Rob Gray, Houston. After playing at Howard JC last year, Gray is leading the AAC in scoring at 18.5 points per game.

BEST SHAQ: Shaq Goodwin, Memphis. In a narrow victory, Goodwin, who seems to have been around forever, edges Harrison, who along with James Woodard forms one of the top guard combos in the league.

BEST ATHLETE: Bo Zeigler, South Florida.


BEST POINT GUARD: Nic Moore, SMU.

BEST SHOOTING GUARD: James Woodard, Tulsa.

BEST SMALL FORWARD: Daniel Hamilton, UConn.

BEST POWER FORWARD: Jordan Tolbert, SMU.

BEST CENTER: Amida Brimah, UConn.

HOTTEST COACH'S SEAT: Josh Pastner, Memphis. (Runner-up: Donnie Jones, UCF).

Happy to be an AP Top 25 voter again this season. Fans of teams I don't vote for, or don't vote high enough, aren't happy -- or at least they won't be. We don't know who they are yet, of course, but they'll be out there.

Here's my preseason Top 25 ballot that I submitted last night, along with a five-man All-America team we're asked to contribute. Just couldn't vote North Carolina No. 1. (I mean, is everybody just going to keep whistling in the wind and ignoring perhaps the worst academic scandal in college sports, at least in recent years?) Instead, I'm going with the Heels' former ACC rival, Maryland, which boasts some terrific returnees (Melo Trimble, Jake Layman) and some top-notch newcomers ... including, of course, Diamond Stone.

And while I understand that many freshmen have burst onto the scene and been stars right off the bat in recent years, even leading teams to national titles, I'm erring on the side of caution and not ranking freshman-laden teams too high, for the most part. I'm also excluding freshmen from my preseason All-America team.

And, as you'll notice, I'm giving the AAC some love. This isn't bias or homerism. This is voting for the teams whose talent I'm most familiar with. I really believe UConn has the chance to be a terrific team -- though it may take a little bit for all the newcomers to get on the same page. You could make an argument that the Huskies have four of the league's top 10 players -- and that's not even including Shonn Miller.

I love SMU's talent but was a little wary about how the team would perform, knowing it's barred from the postseason. That wariness changed after Tuesday's AAC Media Day, where Markus Kennedy and Nic Moore appeared to have the perfect attitude in handling the situation -- though it remains to be seen if they can keep that focus when everybody starts talking March Madness come February.

And I'm really high on Cincinnati. I know they're boring, but you can't deny the Bearcats' defense. And, to be honest, they shoot the ball pretty well, too, and figure to score a little better this season. They've got just about everybody back from last year's NCAA team that gave Kentucky all it could handle in the Round of 32, including Octavius Ellis, Troy Caupain and, perhaps the most talented of them all, Gary Clark. And, of course, they've got Mick Cronin back on the sidelines this season.

I wouldn't be surprised if UConn, SMU or Cincinnati win the AAC regular season title. These are three very good teams, and I'm giving them the love they deserve.

1. Maryland
2. North Carolina
3. Kansas
4. Virginia
5. Kentucky
6. Iowa State
7. Oklahoma
8. Duke
9. Gonzaga
10. Arizona
11. Wichita State
12. California
13. UConn
14. Villanova
15. Michigan State
16. Indiana
17. Utah
18. LSU
19. SMU
20. Cincinnati
21. Butler
22. Wisconsin
23. Notre Dame
24. Vanderbilt
25. Texas A&M


All-America:

Kris Dunn, Providence
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma
Melo Trimble, Maryland
Kyle Wiltjer, Gonzaga
Georges Niang, Iowa State

The AAC released its preseason coaches' poll on Tuesday morning, and the coaches pretty much got it right.

SMU is picked to win the league. Debatable (especially with its postseason ban) but certainly not criminal. UConn's picked second, Cincinnati third, Tulsa fourth, Memphis fifth, Temple sixth, Houston seventh ... pretty standard.

Daniel Hamilton earned first-team honors, and I completely agree. I think there's a chance he could wind up conference player of the year. I'm that high on Hamilton. But it's no surprise that SMU's Nic Moore, who won the award last year, is the preseason pick.

Jalen Adams is tabbed as rookie of the year. I thought this could go to either Adams or Memphis's D.J. Lawson, who is a McDonald's All-American and could see major minutes as the player asked to replace Austin Nichols. But again, certainly no crime that Adams (who likely won't start much this season) is the choice.

Amida Brimah and Sterling Gibbs made preseason second team. Certainly fair. But here's where things get a little sticky -- Rodney Purvis did not earn any recognition. He is the Huskies' top returning scorer, and we all saw what he could do over the final couple of weeks last season, particularly in the league tourney while Ryan Boatright was battling injury and double-teams.

Of course, there are only so many spots (10) on the preseason teams, and it's hard to give four of them to UConn players. Should Purvis have got the nod over, say, Brimah? You could make that argument.

But he didn't,. and now maybe this "snub" could serve as motivation for Purvis as the season unfolds.

Preseason Player of the Year
Nic Moore, R-Sr., G, SMU
 Preseason Rookie of the Year
Jalen Adams, Fr., G, UConn
 Preseason All-Conference First Team
Octavius Ellis, Sr., F, Cincinnati
Daniel Hamilton, So., G/F, UConn
*Markus Kennedy, R-Sr., F, SMU
*Nic Moore, R-Sr., G, SMU
James Woodard, Sr., G, Tulsa
 Preseason All-Conference Second Team 
Troy Caupain, Jr., G, Cincinnati
Amida Brimah, Jr., C, UConn
Sterling Gibbs, GS, G, UConn
Shaq Goodwin, Sr., F, Memphis
Shaquille Harrison, Sr., G, Tulsa
 
[*] denotes unanimous selection
2015-16 Preseason Coaches' Poll
(First-place votes in parenthesis)

	Team	Points
1.	SMU (8)	98
2.	UConn (2)	87
3.	Cincinnati (1)	84
4.	Tulsa	76
5.	Memphis	59
6.	Temple	54
7.	Houston	48
8.	East Carolina	31
9.	UCF	30
10.	USF	20
11.	Tulane	11

Here's a quick breakdown of UConn's 2015-16 schedule

Sun., Nov. 1 Tampa (exhibition) at Gampel, 2 p.m.
Division II program whose facilities UConn borrowed prior to USF game last year

Sat., Nov. 7 New Haven (exhibition)  at XL Center, 1 p.m.
Huskies will look to avenge football team’s loss to Chargers in 1992! First time programs have met in a major sport since.

Fri., Nov. 13 Maine  at Gampel, 7 p.m.
Black Bears coached by former Providence assistant Bob Walsh.

Tues., Nov. 17 New Hampshire at Gampel, 7 p.m.  
Wildcats may be UConn’s toughest low-major foe this season.

Sat., Nov. 21 Furman  at Gampel, TBD
Clearly an excuse to get RI native, Furman grad Brad Faxon over to a UConn game. Or not. This is a Battle 4 Atlantis "subregional" game.

Wed. Nov. 25 vs. Michigan at Imperial Arena, Bahamas, 9:30 p.m.
After disappointing 2014-15, John Beilein-coached Wolverines should be tourney team again. 

Thur., Nov. 26 vs. Syracuse or Charlotte  at Imperial Arena, Bahamas, TBD
A date with ex-Big East rival Orange sure would be delicious.

Fri., Nov. 27 vs. TBD  at Imperial Arena, Bahamas, TBD
Final game of Battle 4 Atlantis; could be first of two meetings with Texas.

Wed., Dec. 2 Sacred Heart  at XL Center, 7 p.m.
Pioneers went 9-9 in Northeast Conference last season.

Tue., Dec. 8 vs. Maryland at MSG, 9:30 p.m. 
The Diamond Bowl: Huskies go up vs. frosh Diamond Stone, who rejected UConn for Terps. Maryland should be a preseason national top-five team across the board.

Sat., Dec. 12 Ohio State at Gampel, noon 
First of home-and-home with Buckeyes, who lost NBA lottery pick D’Angelo Russell, several others.

Sun., Dec. 20 UMass-Lowell at XL Center, 4 p.m.  
Last of three America East foes on Huskies’ schedule.

Wed., Dec. 23 CCSU  at XL Center, 12:30 p.m.
Huskies face former assistant Howie Dickenman’s crew for second straight season.

Tue., Dec. 29 at Texas  at Erwin Center, 9 p.m.
Longhorns welcome Shaka Smart as new head coach after canning underachieving Rick Barnes; Sterling Gibbs returns to the school at which he started.

Sat., Jan. 2 at Tulane  at Devin Fieldhouse, TBD
With Sugar Bowl night before, New Orleans will be hoppin’ for Huskies’ AAC season opener.

Tue., Jan 5 Temple at XL Center, 8 p.m.
Owls were NCAA tourney’s top snub last year, but won’t make as convincing a case this season.

Sat., Jan. 9 Memphis at Gampel, 7 p.m. 
Austin Nichols transferred to Virginia, but Tigers welcome McD’s All-America brothers Dedric and K.J. Lawson.

Thu., Jan. 14 at Tulsa at Reynolds Center, 7 p.m.
Golden Hurricane have every player back from last year’s second-place AAC squad. Literally, everyone.

Sun., Jan. 17 at Houston at Hofheinz Pavilion, 2 p.m.
Hofheinz Pavilion a house of horrors for UConn, who are 0-2 there in AAC play.

Tue., Jan. 19 Tulane at XL Center, 7 p.m.
Green Wave welcome deepest, most talented recruiting class in years.

Sat., Jan. 23 Georgetown at XL Center, noon  

Beginning of home-and-home with Hoyas, who will be strong, led by D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera and a top recruiting class that includes former UConn target Jessie Govan

Thu., Jan. 28 Cincinnati at XL Center, 7 p.m.
Bearcats have just about everyone back, including coach Mick Cronin, who missed most of last season with health issue.

Sun. Jan. 31 at Central Florida at CFE Arena, TBD
Two of AAC’s top frosh last year, B.J. Taylor, Adonys Henriquez, lead the way.

Thu., Feb. 4 at Memphis at FedExForum, 9 p.m.
Big man Shaq Goodwin played very well while Nichols was sidelined by injury last season.

Sun., Feb. 7 East Carolina at Gampel, noon
Huskies won’t visit ECU this season as part of AAC unbalanced schedule. Thank God, because last year's trip was a snowy, icy, flight-delayed nightmare. And not just for the writers.

Thu. Feb. 11 at Temple at Liacouras Center, 7 p.m.
Owls will always be dangerous as long as Fran Dunphy is their coach.

Sat., Feb. 13 Tulsa at Gampel, 8 p.m.
There aren’t many better all-around guards in league than James Woodard.

Thu., Feb. 18 SMU at XL Center, TBD
Led by reigning AAC player of year Nic Moore, Larry Brown’s Mustangs will vie for second straight league title.

Sat., Feb. 20 at Cincinnati at Fifth Third Arena, TBD
Gary Clark, Octavius Ellis form possibly AAC’s top front line.

Thu., Feb 25 at South Florida at Sun Dome, TBD
Orlando Antigua will get this program turned around, but not this season.

Sun., Feb. 28 Houston at Gampel, TBD
Lots of people like Kelvin Sampson-coached Cougars as sleeper team in AAC. I don't quite see it yet.

Thu., March 3 at SMU at Moody Coliseum, 9 p.m.
Only thing that could hold Mustangs back this year is ongoing NCAA investigation.

Sun., March 6 Central Florida at Gampel, 2 p.m.
Coach Donnie Jones could be on hot seat if Knights don’t show improvement.

Yeah, we know, most college sports previews at this time of year have to do with football. But we're all about basketball over here, and we decided to take a midsummer's look at the AAC's prospects for next season.

Turns out, the prospects are quite good. Barring any disasters, the league should get three and possibly as many as five teams into this year's NCAA tournament. Which means, of course, that it'll likely get just three, since the AAC has had the selection committee's two biggest snubs (SMU in '14, Temple last year) the past two seasons.

Mick Cronin returns to Cincinnati's sidelines this season

Anyway, the league looks good this year. Its player of the year (Nic Moore) is back. So are five other all-league players: Tulsa's James Woodard and Shaq Harrison, Cincinnati's Octavius Ellis, SMU's Markus Kennedy and Tulane's Louis Dabney. So is Mick Cronin, after missing most of last season with a vascular condition.

There are some tough losses -- Ryan Boatright, Austin Nichols, Will Cummings, Yanick Moreira, Corey Allen, Jr.. But there are also numerous high-level transfers (both graduates and otherwise) who will make immediate impacts: UConn's Sterling Gibbs and Shonn Miller; SMU's Jordan Tolbert and Semi Ojeleye; Memphis's Ricky Tarrant, Jr. And there are some talented, impact freshmen, too: Memphis' McDonald's All-American brothers Dedric and K.J. Lawson, UConn's Jalen Adams, SMU's Malik "Shake" Milton.

It says here that UConn, SMU and Cincy will be the top three -- pick your order, but we'll give the Huskies the edge on overall depth and talent -- with Tulsa and Memphis battling for tourney bids. One of those two will probably get in. Maybe both.

Temple lost a lot of talent but has a lot coming back, and it has Fran Dunphy. Owls may be borderline, but we know how that usually turns out. And Houston's been getting a little national love lately, but I just don't see it ... yet.

1. UCONN

Daniel Hamilton may be UConn's (and AAC's) best player

Best player: Daniel Hamilton; Top returning scorer: Rodney Purvis; Biggest loss: Ryan Boatright; Best addition: Sterling Gibbs (Seton Hall transfer); Best freshman: Jalen Adams; Biggest positive: Talent, depth at every position; Biggest negative: Team may take a while to jell.

2. SMU
Best player: Nic Moore; Top returning scorer: Moore; Biggest loss: Yanick Moreira; Best addition: Jordan Tolbert (Texas Tech transfer); Best freshman: Malik “Shake” Milton; Biggest positive: Defense! Defense!; Biggest negative: NCAA investigation looms over program (and Larry Brown seems to have lost a little of his fastball).

3. CINCINNATI
Best player: Gary Clark; Top returning scorer: Octavius Ellis; Biggest loss: Jermaine Sanders; Best addition: Head coach Mick Cronin (after missing most of last season due to health); Best freshman: Jacob Evans; Biggest positive: One of the stingiest defensive teams in the land; Biggest negative: No real go-to scorer.

4. TULSA
Best player: James Woodard; Top returning scorer: Woodard; Biggest loss: None; Best addition: Pat Birt (JUCO transfer); Best freshman: Sterling Taplin; Biggest positive: Everyone’s back from a 15-3, second-place team; Biggest negative: Golden Hurricane will sneak up on no one this season.

5. MEMPHIS
Best player: Shaq Goodwin; Top returning scorer: Goodwin; Biggest loss: Austin Nichols; Best addition: Dedric Lawson; Best freshman: Lawson; Biggest positive: Lawson brothers, transfer Ricky Tarrant ease loss of Nichols; Biggest negative: Nichols is gone, and Josh Pastner still coaches this team.

6. TEMPLE
Best player: Quenton DeCosey; Top returning scorer: DeCosey; Biggest loss: Will Cummings; Best addition: Shawn Alston; Best freshman: Alston; Biggest positive: DeCosey, AAC top rebounder Jaylen Bond are back; Biggest negative: Two of top three scorers (Cummings, Jesse Morgan) graduated.

7. HOUSTON
Best player: Devonta Pollard; Top returning scorer: Pollard; Biggest loss: Jherrod Stiggers; Best addition: Ronnie Johnson (Purdue transfer); Best freshman: Galen Robinson, Jr.; Biggest positive: Johnson, Damyean Dotson good transfer additions; Biggest negative: One of worst shooting teams in country last season.

8. CENTRAL FLORIDA

Best player: B.J. Taylor; Top returning scorer: Taylor; Biggest loss: Brandon Goodwin; Best addition: A.J. Davis (Tennessee transfer); Best freshman: Tacko Fall; Biggest positive: We could watch 700 pounds of big men (Fall, Justin McBride) playing together; Biggest negative: UCF was one of the worst defensive teams in nation a year ago.

9. TULANE
Best player: Louis Dabney; Top returning scorer: Dabney; Biggest loss: Jay Hook; Best addition: Malik Morgan (LSU transfer); Best freshman: Melvin Frazier; Biggest positive: Deepest recruiting class in 15 years; Biggest negative: Three players who started all 31 games last year now gone.

10. SOUTH FLORIDA
Best player: Chris Perry; Top returning scorer: Nehemias Morillo; Biggest loss: Corey Allen, Jr.; Best addition: Roddy Peters (Maryland transfer); Best freshman: Luis Santos; Biggest positive: Perry’s back after missing last 13 games with heart ailment; Biggest negative: Troy Holston, Jr. suffered ACL tear in June.

11. EAST CAROLINA
Best player: B.J. Tyson; Top returning scorer: Tyson; Biggest loss: Terry Whisnant; Best addition: Clarence Williams (JUCO transfer); Best freshman: Deng Riak; Biggest positive: Tyson; Biggest negative: Pirates were badly outrebounded last season.

PRESEASON SUPERLATIVES:

SMU's Nic Moore is the reigning AAC player of the year

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Nic Moore, SMU. It's his until he surrenders it ... which he might.

BEST PLAYER: Daniel Hamilton, UConn. Or at least the best NBA prospect.

BEST NEWCOMER: Sterling Gibbs, UConn. Second-team all-Big East, 44-percent 3-point shooter.

BEST FRESHMAN: Dedric Lawson, Memphis. Should still be a high school senior, but will replace Austin Nichols at power forward.

BEST SHOOTER: Sterling Gibbs, UConn.

BEST DEFENDER: Amida Brimah, UConn. We know his shortcomings, but he'll lead league in blocks again. (Honorable mention: Shaq Harrison, Tulsa).

BEST DUNKER: Bo Zeigler, USF. He's got Stanley Robinson-type hops.

BEST COACH: Larry Brown, SMU. Tough to argue against a Hall of Famer.

BEST RETURN OF A COACH: Mick Cronin, Cincinnati. Though Larry Davis did a terrific job in his stead.

HOTTEST COACH'S SEAT: Josh Pastner, Memphis. (Honorable mention: Donnie Jones, UCF).

BEST POINT GUARD: Nic Moore, SMU.

BEST SHOOTING GUARD: James Woodard, Tulsa.

BEST SMALL FORWARD: Daniel Hamilton, UConn.

BEST POWER FORWARD: Markus Kennedy, SMU.

BEST CENTER: Octavius Ellis, Cincinnati.

BEST SHAQ: Shaq Harrison, Tulsa. Edges out Memphis's Shaq Goodwin, with Cincy's Shaq Thomas getting some love, too. Lotta Shaqs in this league.

BEST B.J.: B.J. Taylor, UCF. Edges out ECU's B.J. Tyson. Shut up.

BEST SCANDAL: SMU. NCAA looking into possible academic improprieties involving a former assistant coach, former player Justin Martin and current Mustang Keith Frazier. (Runner-up: Memphis, though a report about a tutor providing improper academic help to players apparently was much ado about nothing).

BEST BOOK ABOUT UCONN'S 2014 NATIONAL TITLE RUN: He he. Couldn't resist a little self-promotion.

A few quick items today:

Ryan Boatright will be competing in the 3-Point Shooting Championship out at Butler University in Indianapolis on Thursday night, during Final Four festivities. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN.

Boatright declined an invite to play in the All-Star Game as his shoulder heals. There is no structural damage to his shoulder, and it's getting better with rest, but he just didn't want to risk further injury.

*** As you likely know by now, Diamond Stone spurned UConn (and, more notably, his hometown Wisconsin) and chose to take his talents to Maryland. While UConn had seemingly been resigned to this for a while, the fact that the Milwaukee native didn't choose the Badgers but instead fellow Big Ten rival Maryland was a surprise.

UConn will still get to see him up close and personal on Dec. 8 at Madison Square Garden, when the Huskies and Terps square off in a Jimmy V Classic game.

*** The AP All-America teams were released today. No UConn player made even honorable mention. To make honorable mention, you must either have been conference player of the year or received at least two votes by AP writers.

Boatright got just one All-America vote.

First Team

Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin, 7-0, 242, senior, Lisle, Ill., 18.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.7 apg, 55.3 fg pct, 39.5 3-pt fg pct, 1.6 blocks (65 first-team votes, 325 total points).

Jahlil Okafor, Duke, 6-11, 270, freshman, Chicago, 17.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 66.9 fg pct (64, 323).

Jerian Grant, Notre Dame, 6-5, 204, senior, Bowie, Md., 16.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.6 apg, 1.7 steals, 36.6 minutes (53, 298).

Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky, 7-0, 240, junior, Olathe, Kan., 9.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.0 apg, 58.8 ft pct (45, 285).

D'Angelo Russell, Ohio State, 6-5, 180, freshman, Louisville, Ky., 19.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 5.1 apg, 41.5 3-pt fg pct, 1.6 steals (51, 282).<

Second Team

Delon Wright, Utah, 6-5, 190, senior, Los Angeles, 14.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 5.3 apg, 52.9 fg pct, 83.4 ft pct, 2.1 steals (15, 186).

Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky, 6-11, 250, freshman, Piscataway, N.J., 9.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 55.4 fg pct, 81.4 ft pct, 2.4 blocks (8, 139).

Seth Tuttle, Northern Iowa, 6-8, 240, senior, Sheffield, Iowa, 15.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.3 apg, 61.6 fg pct, (3, 139).

Bobby Portis, Arkansas, 6-11, 242, sophomore, Little Rock, Ark., 17.5 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 54.7 fg pct (2, 102).

Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia, 6-5, 215, junior, Atlanta, 13.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.5 apg, 87.1 ft pct (2, 98).<

Third Team

Buddy Hield, Oklahoma, 6-4, 212, junior, Freeport, Bahamas, 17.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 82.2 ft pct (3, 96).

Kyle Wiltjer, Gonzaga, 6-10, 240, junior, Portland, Ore., 16.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.9 apg, 53.6 fg pct, 46.6 3-pt fg pct (4, 93).

Rakeem Christmas, Syracuse, 6-9, 250, senior, Philadelphia, 17.5 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 55.2 fg pct, 2.5 blocks (74).

Georges Niang, Iowa State, 6-8, 230, junior, Methuen, Mass., 15.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 3.5 apg, 40.2 3-pt fg pct, 80.5 ft pct (1, 51).

Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga, 6-2, 182, senior, Holland Landing, Ontario, 11.5 ppg, 5.0 apg, 44.4 3-pt fg pct, 83.3 ft pct (1, 50).<

Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order)

Lawrence Alexander, North Dakota State; Justin Anderson, Virginia; Ryan Arcidiacono, Villanova; Ron Baker, Wichita State; Jalen Cannon, St. Francis, Brooklyn; Karl Cochran, Wofford; Kyle Collinsworth, BYU; Quinn Cook, Duke (1 first-team vote).

Kris Dunn, Providence (1); Perry Ellis, Kansas (1); Rico Gathers, Baylor; Madarious Gibbs, Texas Southern; Anthony Gill, Virginia; Kendall Gray, Delaware State; Ty Greene, S.C.-Upstate; Olivier Hanlan, Boston College (1).

Montrezl Harrell, Louisville (1); Martez Harrison, UMKC; Tyler Harvey, Eastern Washington; Corey Hawkins, UC Davis; Tyler Haws, BYU; LaDontae Henton, Providence; Darrun Hilliard, Villanova; R.J. Hunter, Georgia State.

Stanley Johnson, Arizona (1); Tyus Jones, Duke; Tyler Kalinoski, Davidson; Tim Kempton, Lehigh; David Laury, Iona; Damon Lynn, NJIT; Derrick Marks, Boise State; Jerell Martin, LSU; T.J. McConnell, Arizona.

Mikh McKinney, Sacramento State; Nic Moore, SMU; Justin Moss, Buffalo; Saah Nimley, Charleston Southern; Cameron Payne, Murray State; Chasson Randle, Stanford; Justin Sears, Yale; Kenneth "Speedy" Smith, Louisiana Tech.

Keifer Sykes, Green Bay; Marcus Thornton, William & Mary; Melo Trimble, Maryland; Fred VanVleet, Wichita State (1); Thomas Walkup, Stephen F. Austin; Jameel Warney, Stony Brook; Dez Wells, Maryland; Joseph Young, Oregon (1).

All you really need to know is that UConn scored 19 points in the game's first 22 1/2 minutes on Saturday.

Then, the Huskies scored 19 points in the game's final 6 1/2 minutes to win.

Also, Ryan Boatright is not only UConn's Mr. Clutch, he also gets a chance to prove the AAC coaches made the wrong choice for player of the year when he faces SMU's Nic Moore on Sunday.

Should be fun.

Daniel Hamilton was named the AAC's rookie of the year on Thursday, and Pat Lenehan earned the league's Scholar-Athlete Award.

Both, of course, are well-deserved. Here's what they had to say:

HAMILTON:



"It's truly a blessing. I just want to continue to keep improving from this day on and keep getting better."

(on Kevin Ollie being a "second father")

"I can just talk to him about anything, his door is open 24 hours. Being to be able to talk to him about anything, on and off the court."

"It's truly an honor to be able to play for him, as well."

"This award means a lot. There were a lot of expectations coming into it, but when you've got coaches and teammates believing in you, it's not that tough."

Hamilton noted that his grandmother, Lucine Noble, passed away recently. The funeral is on Tuesday, and he will try to fly out to California on Monday to attend.

Added Kevin Ollie:

"You've got to take in consideration, he's from L.A., coming all the way across the country. Dealing with the academics, the time management we put on their lives -- it's tough. For him to continue to work and to have that on his back throughout the whole season, being named preseason rookie of the year, it's great. His expectations of himself are more than we expect of him. He's going to continue to do a good job, hopefully throughout this new season that we have, he'll continue his great play."

LENAHAN:



"It was completely unexpected. I didn't really think I'd be up for it. I know the scholar part, but the scholar-athlete part. It's an honor to receive the award. I think it says a lot about the University of Connecticut and the basketball program, really what coach Ollie stands for. I'm happy to be a representative of what coach Ollie wants us to do on and off the court."

*** Meanwhile, Temple's Fran Dunphy won coach of the year and SMU's Nic Moore was named player of the year. Obviously, Ryan Boatright could have won player of the year, as well, but Moore was the best player on the best team.

Here's what Ollie said about it:

"Anybody who's a competitor, you want to win player of the year. He had some great numbers, he led our conference in scoring, in assists he was right up in the top five. He did a wonderful job. He was unanimous first team, that's a great honor for him. Of course he wanted to win player of the year. I'd be lying right in your face if he didn't. But, at the end of the day, he doesn't have any control over that. What he has control over is getting our team ready to play, being a leader, being the point guard of our team. I think that's where his mindset is."

The AAC all-conference and all-rookie teams were announced this morning.

They are as follows:

FIRST TEAM

Ryan Boatright, UConn *
Nic Moore, SMU *
Austin Nichols, Memphis
James Woodard, Tulsa
Will Cummings, Temple

SECOND TEAM

Markus Kennedy, SMU
Yanick Moreira, SMU
Shaq Harrison, Tulsa
Octavius Ellis, Cincinnati
Louis Dabney, Tulane

HONORABLE MENTION

Daniel Hamilton, UConn
Amida Brimah, UConn
Troy Caupain, Cincinnati
Jaylen Bond, Temple

ALL-ROOKIE

Daniel Hamilton, UConn
Adonys Henriquez, UCF
B.J. Taylor, UCF
Gary Clark, Cincinnati
B.J. Tyson, East Carolina

* -- unanimous selection

Listening to the American Athletic Conference coaches today on a conference call, it sounds like SMU's Nic Moore will be the league's player of the year. The award will be announced on Thursday around 11:30 a.m.

Here's what some of the coaches had to say:

Memphis's Josh Pastner:

“I would assume it’s gonna be Nic Moore, they won the league. I’d be surprised if he didn’t. But there’s a lot of great players in this league.”

SMU's Larry Brown:

"I think there are a lot of great players in our league. If you ask me, and I don't ever like to push my kids, but we won the league with (Emmanuel) Mudiay not coming, losing Keith (Frazier), Justin Martin. Certain people had to step up and Nic had a great year. I think we're all proud of him. Any time you play on a conference championship team, that's got to mean something.

"(Shaq) Harrison is great, (Will) Cummings is great. (Ryan) Boatright, I admire him. There are a lot of quality players in our conference that did a great job for their team. But Nic's one of my kids. We wouldn't be sitting where we are without him playing at such a high level."

Temple's Fran Dunphy:

"I think there are a lot of good candidates at (Cummings') position, a lot of really good palyers. It'll be an interesting ballot and vote. I will say (Cummings) is a terrific guy. We wouldn't know what to do without him. But many coaches would tout their leaders in that way. Just so much respect for the league, programs, coaches within that league. If he's honored that way, he would be very much respectful of that."

East Carolina coach Jeff Lebo:

"I think there are a lot of worthy candidates, a lot of point guards in this league certainly worthy of it -- (Ryan) Boatright, (Will) Cummings I love and Nic Moore at SMU has had a special season. Those three guys, in y mind, pop to the forefront. It's hard to pick one over the other. I don't think there's a clear-cut. If any onoe of those three win it, I wouldn't be surprised."

A few quotes from after UConn's practice today, in advance of Saturday's bout with SMU:

RODNEY PURVIS:

(on SMU)

“They’ve got speed, they’ve got size, they’ve got balance -- guards and inside. They have all the qualities of a good team. They all share the ball and play well together.”

“We got off to a really good start last game, and then our energy just dropped down. It felt like we were just fighting for our lives, as soon as we lost the lead. We’re home this time, their crowd was crazy there, the whole gym was packed. Hopefully, our gym will be packed-out tomorrow and we’ll come out with a whole lot more energy than what we did and play a well-balanced game.”

(on close calls vs. other ranked teams like Duke, Texas)

“I think we’re close enough. Those games were early in the year, we were a new team. I think that had a lot to do with it, not having our backs against the wall, things like that. I feel like we’re a far better team right now. We’re just looking forward to (Sunday)."

(on discrepancies between his first-half, second-half splits)

“I watch film all the time, and I just don’t understand it myself. I don’t get it.”

(the opposite of Niels Giffey, who would do almost all his scoring in the first half?)

“Niels could afford to do that. We had a really, really good team last year.”

(on Nic Moore)

“If he was 6-3, 6-4, he’d probably be in the NBA right now.”

(on his grandmother, Hildred Bownes, who was diagnosed with cancer about three weeks ago and is now in hospice care in Greenville, N.C.)

“She’s doing a little bit better, going through the radiation and things like that.”

RYAN BOATRIGHT:

“(Would be big) to beat them and let them know we’re not scared of them, and just to get that confidence that we can beat them. Because we’re gonna have to face them in the conference tournament to win it. We’re probably gonna be in separate brackets, or even if we’re in the same, we’re gonna have to see them. It’s definitely an important game tomorrow.”

(on teammates not being as reliant on him as earlier in season)

“I think they’re playing with a little more confidence. I think they’re taking the shots that the defense is giving to them, and they’re knocking them down better than they were before. I think they’re playing with more confidence, not necessarily relying on me. I’m definitely looking for them. I just think they’re making their shots now.”

(is it starting to sink in that his college career is almost over?)

“I was thinking about it the last few days. Senior Day is around the corner, so it’ll be my last game at Gampel. It’s a long time coming, man. I’ve been through a lot up here, had a great career. It’s crazy that it’s coming to an end. It went so fast. Hopefully, it’s not the end of my season. Hopefully, we can get into that postseason.”

KEVIN OLLIE:

“Glad to be home. It was a tough trip, but it’s always better when you win. I’m glad we got the win. Our guys played very, very hard the second half. We really played lockdown defense, allowed us to get out and run and execute on offense.”

(what UConn must do better this time vs. SMU)

“I mean, it’s the same thing. We’ve got to be real disciplined. We’ve got to take care of the basketball, got to rebound. Nothing’s changed. They had 20 points off our turnovers, we didn’t get back in transition, we didn’t allow it to be a game. Hopefully, we can take care of those mistakes. That’s something we can control.”

(on Nic Moore)

“He’s right there at the top of the list.”

“Whatever you think a point guard is, he does it. He’s mentally tough. When they need a bucket, he goes and gets it. When they need a stop, he goes and gets it. He’s a winner. They look at him for leadership, and he comes through every time.”

“We need a win. If it was South Florida, SMU, if was -- who’s No. 1? -- Kentucky. If it was Kentucky, we need a win. Whoever we face -- if a YMCA team came up to play at the XL, we’d need a win. We need to win these next three. You can’t win three if you don’t win the first one. We’re gonna try to win the first one.”

*** Rakim Lubin (concussion) didn't practice on Saturday. Even if he's cleared for Sunday, it's unlikely he'd see anything but emergency playing time.

*** Sam Cassell, Jr. (leg) is off crutches and will get another MRI on his stress fracture in a couple of weeks.

The American Athletic Conference awards won't be handed out for another four weeks or so, at the championship tournament in Hartford. Trying to figure out who the favorites to win each category is tricky. In fact, it appears we could have another similar situation as last year for player of the year, when UConn's Shabazz Napier, Cincinnati's Sean Kilpatrick and Louisville's Russ Smith were all worthy. Conventional wisdom had the award going to Kilpatrick, whose Bearcats tied with Smith's Cardinals for first place in the league.

Instead, it went to Napier, even though UConn wound up finishing in fourth place in the regular season standings. Kilpatrick and coach Mick Cronin weren't too happy about it. Of course, both blew their chance to avenge the perceived snub when Kilpatrick blew a layup in the waning seconds of the AAC semifinals, allowing UConn to win and advance to the finals to face Louisville.

UConn has frontrunners in three categories: Player of the year (Ryan Boatright), rookie of the year (Daniel Hamilton) and defensive player of the year (Amida Brimah). You could make an argument that all three deserve to win. There is no way in heck they do, however, given UConn's disappointing record this season. In fact, it's doubtful the Huskies get more than one of the awards.

Here's how I see the awards panning out -- not necessarily who I think should win, but who I think will win. (All stats referred to are for conference play only):

FIRST TEAM
Ryan Boatright, UConn
Nic Moore, SMU
Yanick Moreira, SMU
James Woodard, Tulsa
Will Cummings, Temple
Austin Nichols, Memphis

SECOND TEAM
Octavius Ellis, Cincinnati
Troy Caupain, Cincinnati
Shaquille Harrison, Tulsa
Jesse Morgan, Temple
Markus Kennedy, SMU

ALL-ROOKIE
Daniel Hamilton, UConn
B.J. Taylor, UCF
Adonys Hernandez, UCF
B.J. Tyson, ECU
Gary Clark, Cincinnati

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Two-man race between Ryan Boatright and Nic Moore. Boatright leads the league in scoring and is fifth in assists. God knows where UConn would be without him. He was also preseason player of the year, which may give him a leg up in the minds of the voters -- the league's coaches. (Of course, Russ Smith was last year's preseason POY and that didn't help him win it). Moore is the best player on the league's best team. He leads the league in assists and is sixth in scoring. Usually, the award goes to a player on a first or second-place team (obviously, that didn't happen last year).
Pick: Moore. I think the coaches will give it to him, based on SMU's success, even though Boatright has been by far the more dynamic player. Boatright says he's not concerned with individual awards, anyway.

COACH OF THE YEAR:
Another two-man race between SMU's Larry Brown and Tulsa's Frank Haith. Brown has the best team and has dealt with the loss of several key players at different points of the season. Of course, the Mustangs were picked to finish second int he league. Haith, in his first year at the helm, inherited a team that won the Conference USA tourney last year and was picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll. The Golden Hurricane is currently second in the league standings at 10-2.
Pick: Haith. This is subject to change, however, if Tulsa falters over the next few weeks -- which is entirely possible. Then, Brown will win it.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
There are a lot of good candidates. Obviously, Daniel Hamilton (the preseason pick) is a frontrunner. UCF's B.J. Taylor (12.8 ppg), ECU's B.J. Tyson (11.5), UCF's Adonys Hernandez (10.4) and Hamilton (9.8) are among the league's top scorers. Hamilton is second in rebounding, while Cincy's Gary Clark is seventh. Hamilton is also 10th in assists, the only frosh to be in all three categories.
Pick: Hamilton.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Tough one. Amida Brimah is the league's leading shot-blocker and is certainly the dominant defensive force. That's usually enough to win you the award, but I don't think it will this season. My guess is that it will go to either Will Cummings of Temple or Shaquille Harrison of Tulsa, who are 1-2 in the league in steals.
Pick: Harrison.

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
SMU's Markus Kennedy has yet to start a game since returning to the team from academic suspension. If this is Larry Brown's way of making him earn his way back in the lineup, I'd say he has by now: he's 14th in the league in scoring (11.9), ninth in rebounding (6.2) 15th in blocked shots (0.9) and even 12th in steals (1.2). Unless the coaches don't want to vote for a guy who was suspended for the first semester, Kennedy's gotta be the one.
Pick: Kennedy.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
Injuries severely hampered Yanick Moreira last season, forcing him to miss four weeks in the middle of the season. This year, he's averaging 10.9 points and seven boards for the first-place Mustangs.
Pick: Moreira.

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Sean Kilpatrick got this last season in what looked like a consolation prize for not winning player of the year. So, we'll go with either Moore or Boatright, whoever doesn't win POY this season.

SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD
Your guess is as good as mine, although now that they're scholarship players, either Pat Lenehan or Nnamdi Amilo are as qualified as anyone.

Just back from the funeral of Dean Smith, his former mentor at North Carolina, Larry Brown spoke with the media on Friday at SMU's practice gym.

Here's some of what Brown had to say about Saturday night's UConn-SMU showdown -- an ESPN College GameDay feature (not to mention a meeting of the frontrunners for AAC player of the year)::

(on Kevin Ollie leading UConn to a national title last April ... and an amusing comment about Allen Iverson)



Brown continued:

"I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Nobody’s like Allen. Allen Iverson, every day I think about him and realize what he accomplished. There will never be another one like him. But I have a lot of admiration for Boatright. He’s such a competitor. Allen was a great competitor. He’s got a will to win. Our little kid (Nic Moore) has a lot of the same qualities. It’ll be fun watching them going after each other.”

(on Saturday night's bout being a College GameDay feature on ESPN)

“I’m a big fan of GameDay. The people that are here, and Jay Bilas, Seth (Greenberg), Jason (Williams) -- it’s hard for me to talk about Duke guys -- but they do a wonderful job for college basketball. I think it’ll be neat for our students. We didn’t know how to storm the court when we beat Connecticut. I’m sure we won’t know how to act with GameDay here, but hopefully we’ll be good enough where this will be an annual occurrence.”

(on UConn this season)

“They were great last night. They would’ve beaten anybody, I think. They’ve got the best shot-blocker in the country ... God, he’s unbelievable. (Daniel) Hamilton is one of the best young players I saw. They’re pretty versatile. Then they’ve got Boatright. You’ve got a kid that’s won before. When things go bad, you can look to him, he can bail you out on the offensive end. And then on the defensive end, you’ve got somebody that goes after every shot. I was walking today with some of my staff. If you ask me to take one guy in our conference, besides some of the kids you hear mostly about, I’d take that center who corrects everything, every mistake you make. And he plays with passion. I think they’re only gonna get better. Hamilton’s still young, and he’s figuring it out. I like their team.”

“I think you need shot-blocking in college. With the 3-point line, everybody has to extend. You’re gonna make mistakes, and you’re gonna need somebody to protect. I think that’s a real big factor for their success. And he even made a couple of jumpers last night.”

STERLING BROWN:

“They’re gonna come in angry, we’re gonna come in angry, too. We beat them twice, we didn’t make the tournament. That’s our ultimate goal this year, to make the tournament, so they’re just another team in our way.”

(on Boatright)

“Whoever’s guarding him, Ryan (Manuel), Nic (Moore), whoever’s guarding him is gonna have to stick him tough. We’re gonna have to stop him and get to the shooters.”

CANNEN CUNNINGHAM:

“They played really well against Tulsa. I don’t think they’re better than us. We’ve just got to get better today in practice, prepare for the game and see who can get it tomorrow.”

(which team has the bigger target on its back Saturday night?)

“I think we are, just because we just took first place in the league and everybody’s trying to get to the tournament. Right now, we’re in a better position than them to get to the tournament, and they need some big wins. So I’d say it’s on our backs.”

Quotes, video from UConn's most impressive win of the season -- a 70-45 thrashing of Tulsa Thursday night in Hartford. Geared by a four-guard starting lineup, the Huskies got off to a fast start, then kept their foot on Tulsa's throats at the start of the second half.

KEVIN OLLIE:

“Probably our most complete game, from top to bottom -- defensively, offensively.”

“Offensively, I thought the ball moved. Daniel really spread out the court and allowed us to attack. And Boatright is just playing real great basketball.”

(the four-guard starting lineup of Ryan Boatright, Rodney Purvis, Daniel Hamilton and Terrence Samuel)

“It really gives you spacing. Nothing against Kentan (Facey), or anything like that, but with Daniel out there ... he hit two 3’s in a row, on a play that we just designed. It just gives us a lot more spacing, a lot more creativity in a package that we have offensively. I thought we did a marvelous job executing.”

“We were able to get out and press a little bit. We wanted to stop them, because their fast break is so potent. On mades, we wanted to get up and press a little bit, so they can just hesitate. I think we did a good job, just having them pause a little bit, then kind of get deep in the shot clock. They’re starting off at 22, 23 seconds.”

(on Ryan Boatright)

“He’s just getting better every day. He’s learning how to talk to his teammates. With Ryan, he says the right things, but sometimes it doesn’t come out the right way. And now, he’s really just talking to them, explaining what he wants.”

“When it’s time to take over a game, he’s starting to get that switch where, ‘Alright, it’s my time.’”

HAMILTON:



AMIDA BRIMAH:

“It opens up the game for me. The guards were playing great defense, too, it just opens up the game for all of us.”

(on going 3-for-3 on his mid-range jumpers)

“I’ll work on it a lot. I just don’t use it ‘cuz I feel like, to me, jumpers are kinda soft. So I’ll just go in the paint more. If you give me a lot of space, I’m gonna shoot it. But if I’m in the paint, I’m gonna go for a post move, a stronger move.”

(will he ever shoot a 3 in a game?)

“No.”

(why not?)

“I can shoot 3’s, but I’m not doing it.”

BOATRIGHT:

(on the small lineup)

“We get up and down the floor a lot faster. The transition speed is high. And on the defensive end, we irritate. We’re into you 94 feet.”

“The sense of urgency is there. Our destiny is in our own hands.”

(on SMU)

“They play tremendous defense, great team defense. They communicate extremely well, they’re physical, they’re balanced, they’ve got great guards. They’ve got guys in the frontcourt that can produce. They’re a tough team.”

(on Nic Moore)

“He’s just a small, firey, feisty guy. He plays hard all the time, he has a knockdown jump shot, a knockdown trey-ball. He leads his team. He’s a good player.”

(on Moore, Boatright being favorites for AAC player of the year)

“Nah, I’m worried about UConn winning the next seven games. Individual awards, I couldn’t care less. I’ll take the Final Four and the championship any day.”

PURVIS:

(on Hamilton)

“Having him at the four really helps out a lot. With Daniel, you can pick and pop. With me, Boat and T-Sam, we’re attacking guards. Once we attack, we’re drawing two people every time.”

(think Hamilton would be this good a rebounder?)

“No, I didn't. When he first got here, I thought he was skinny. I thought he was gonna get pushed around and beat up. I don’t know how he does that rebounding stuff. He’ll be stealing his teammates’ rebounds. He just likes to rebound.”

The AAC regular season kicks off on New Year's Eve. You're not as excited as you used to be when the Big East season used to roll around. But look hard enough and the American could be an intriguing league before it's all said and done.

I think UConn is on to something here. As expected, it has taken the Huskies a while to jell with a bunch of new faces and no more Shabazz Napier to bail them out of sticky situations. But there's talent here, obviously strong coaching, and the team has played pretty well lately.

I thought Ryan Boatright would be good this year, but have to admit that, so far, he's been better than I expected. Daniel Hamilton, too. Fun to watch such a fundamentally sound, unselfish player. And it looks like Rodney Purvis might be ready to blow up, as well.

And let's not forget, three of the Huskies' four losses have come from teams currently ranked in the Top 25: No. 2 Duke, No. 11 Texas and No. 17 West Virginia.

Meanwhile, have you noticed what's been going on down at SMU lately?

The Mustangs lost three of their first five games this season and fell off everybody's radar -- including mine. But SMU was without the services of Markus Kennedy, the all-AAC forward who was out on academic suspension. Xavier transfer Justin Martin also missed four games early on.

It should also be pointed out that the 'Stangs lost to three pretty good teams: at No. 7 Gonzaga, at Indiana and at home to a good (10-2) Arkansas squad whose only losses have been to No. 9 Iowa State and Clemson (in overtime).

Kennedy is back now, however, and SMU has won six straight -- including at Michigan (though, admittedly, both NJIT and Eastern Michigan have accomplished the same feat).

"I knew SMU was gonna pick it up once they got big Mo back," said Boatright.

In Kennedy and current AAC player of the week Yanick Moreira, SMU may have the league's best frontcourt. In 2014 first team all-AAC guard Nic Moore and former McDonald's All-American Keith Frazier, the backcourt's very strong, too.

Oh, and the head coach isn't too shabby, either. Emmanuel Who-diay?, the Mustangs might ask.

Is SMU a better team than UConn right now? I thought so -- by a smidge. Then, it barely beats a Division 2 team called Midwestern State at home on Monday. So I'll go with the Huskies right now. But make no mistake -- this conference appears very much to be a two-team race to the top.

And I don't think this will be a one-bid league, as some have suggested. I think both UConn and SMU will continue to improve, and their respective RPI's will remain strong enough, thanks to good out-of-conference schedules. Four bids like last year seems far-fetched, but three isn't out of the realm.

I'll give Cincy some consideration because it always seems to be there, thanks largely to its defense. The Bearcats may miss head coach Mick Cronin (unruptured aneurysm) for a while, though.

And I'm really starting to like Temple, with bona fide scorers Will Cummings and Quenton DeCosey now joined by talented transfers Jesse Morgan (UMass) and Devin Coleman (Clemson). The Owls will give the Huskies all they can handle on New Year's Eve (1 p.m.) at the XL Center.

Memphis? Forget about it. No guard play. Tulsa's been a disappointment, but could get better if it buys into Frank Haith. Same with Houston and Kelvin Sampson, I suppose. UCF's strong recruiting class is yielding some nice results. I thought USF (6-7) would be better, and still could be. Tulane's 9-1 start was a fraud, built on a bunch of cupcakes. The Green Wave has lost its last two games to ranked Washington and St. Johns (by 25). East Carolina? No.

Will UConn be better than SMU come March? It remains to be seen, and we'll have two fun games -- one an ESPN College GameDay feature on Feb. 14 in Dallas, the other a nationally-televised showdown on CBS on March 1 in Hartford -- to help sort it out.

But remember: the Huskies have yet to prove they can beat the Mustangs head-to-head, after losing both games last season.

No, it's not the Big East. But I'm looking forward to the start of the AAC season. Could be interesting.

My predictions:

1. UConn
2. SMU
3. Cincinnati
4. Temple
5. Memphis
6. Tulsa
7. Houston
8. Central Florida
9. South Florida
10. Tulane
11. East Carolina

Player of the Year: Ryan Boatright, UConn
Rookie of the Year: Daniel Hamilton, UConn
Coach of the Year: Fran Dunphy, Temple
Defensive Player of the Year: Ryan Boatright, UConn
Most Improved Player: Yanick Moreira, SMU

FIRST TEAM

Ryan Boatright, UConn
Daniel Hamilton, UConn
Nic Moore, SMU
Yanick Moreira, SMU
Will Cummings, Temple
Octavius Ellis, Cincinnati

SECOND TEAM

Amida Brimah, UConn
Rodney Purvis, UConn
Markus Kennedy, SMU
Austin Nichols, Memphis
Jesse Morgan, Temple

ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

Daniel Hamilton, UConn
B.J. Taylor, UCF
Adonys Henriquez, UCF
Gary Clark, Cincinnati
B.J. Tyson, East Carolina