ORLANDO – In the annual American Athletic Conference men's basketball preseason poll, voted on by the league's coaches, UCF was predicted to finish eighth of 11 teams in the conference for the upcoming 2020-21 season, announced Wednesday.
The Knights finished last season 16-14 overall and 7-11 in AAC action, tying for eighth with rival South Florida in the league standings. UCF was set up for a conference tournament matchup with the Bulls before it ultimately was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
UCF returns six lettermen off of last year's squad, all of whom started games during the 2019-20 campaign.
Darin Green leads the way after averaging 10.1 points per game and leading the AAC in both 3-point field goals made (68) and 3-point field goal percentage (41.7) as a true freshman.
The Knights also add VCU transfer forward Sean Mobley, Louisville transfer guard Darius Perry and Oregon transfer forward C.J. Walker to the mix for the upcoming 2020-21 campaign. Walker is still awaiting a waiver to be able to play right away for UCF.
UCF totaled 37 points in the poll, finishing ahead of ECU in ninth (34), Temple in 10th (18) and Tulane in 11th (15).
Houston, which tied for first in the league with Cincinnati and Houston last season, was picked to win it in 2020-21. The Cougars had nine of 11 first-place votes.
Memphis received the other two first-place nods, finishing second in the poll. SMU and Cincinnati rounded out the top five at fourth and fifth, respectively, while South Florida (6th), Tulsa (7th), and Wichita State (8th) came in just ahead of the Knights.
Preseason Poll
1. Houston (9) – 99
2. Memphis (2) – 90
3. SMU – 80
4. Cincinnati – 77
5. South Florida – 61
6. Tulsa – 50
7. Wichita State – 44
8. UCF – 37
9. ECU – 34
10. Temple – 18
11. Tulane – 15
Preseason Player of the Year
Caleb Mills, Houston
Preseason Rookie of the Year
Moussa Cisse, Memphis
Preseason First Team
Keith Williams, Cincinnati
Jayden Gardner, ECU
Caleb Mills, Houston
Kendric Davis, SMU
Brandon Rachal, Tulsa
Preseason Second Team
Chris Vogt, Cincinnati
D.J. Jeffries, Memphis
Landers Nolley II, Memphis
Alexis Yetna, South Florida
Tyson Jolly, SMU
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