IRVING, Texas (SMU/The American) –
Zhuric Phelps was named Preseason All-American Athletic Conference Second Team, the league announced Monday during AAC Basketball Media Day.
Last season, Phelps averaged 17.5 points (6
th AAC), 3.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists (11th AAC), and 2.3 steals (1
st AAC, 16
th NCAA). He scored at least 19 points in 17 games, had 5 or more assists 8 times and had 17 games with multiple steals. He earned an AAC Player of the Week honor and three nods on the Weekly Honor Roll. Phelps averaged 19.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.7 steals in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, earning all-tournament honors as the Mustangs reached the championship game.
The Mustangs return three starters in
Phelps,
Samuell Williamson and
Jalen Smith plus a transfer class ranked as high as No. 2 in The American for the second season under Head Coach
Rob Lanier. In August, the Mustangs went on a 10-day trip to Spain, going 3-0 with games in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona.
The season opens at Moody Coliseum on Nov. 6. The non-conference schedule is highlighted by home games against Texas A&M (Nov. 14) and Dayton (Nov. 29), road match-ups with Arizona State (Dec. 6) and Florida State (Dec. 16) plus the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off with West Virginia, Wisconsin and Virginia (Nov. 20-22).
SMU will play five AAC opponents twice: ECU, Memphis, North Texas, Tulane and UAB. The Mustangs will play home games only against Charlotte, Temple, Tulsa and UTSA, and play road games only versus Florida Atlantic, Rice, South Florida and Wichita State. The American Men's Basketball Championship is March 13-17 (Wednesday-Sunday) at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.
For season ticket information, visit
smumustangs.com/tickets.
American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll
|
Preseason Poll |
Points |
| 1 |
Florida Atlantic (11) |
167 |
| 2 |
Memphis (3) |
159 |
| 3 |
Tulane |
142 |
| 4 |
UAB |
128 |
| 5 |
East Carolina |
105 |
| 6 |
North Texas |
100 |
| 7 |
SMU |
97 |
| 8 |
Wichita State |
90 |
| 9 |
South Florida |
62 |
| 10 |
Tulsa |
59 |
| 11 |
Rice |
56 |
| 12 |
Temple |
49 |
| 13 |
Charlotte |
46 |
| 14 |
UTSA |
14 |
First-place votes in parenthesis
Preseason All-Conference First Team
Eric Gaines, UAB
Johnell Davis, Jr., G, Florida Atlantic
Alijah Martin, Jr., G, Florida Atlantic
Jahvon Quinerly, Sr., G, Memphis
Jaylen Forbes, Jr., G, Tulane*
Preseason All-Conference Second Team
RJ Felton, Jr., G, East Carolina
Jordan Brown, R-Sr., F, Memphis
Max Fielder, Sr., F, Rice
Zhuric Phelps, Jr., G, SMU
Kevin Cross, Jr., F, Tulane
Preseason Player of the Year
Johnell Davis, Jr., G, Florida Atlantic
Alijah Martin, Jr., G, Florida Atlantic
Preseason Rookie of the Year
Carl Cherenfant, G, Memphis
JJ Taylor, F, Memphis
* denotes unanimous selection
