Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
SNY’s AAC Top 10 Picks; Preseason Teams; Top Rookies
The American Athletic Conference — formerly the Big East football outfits plus friends — will hold their first annual media day Wednesday in Memphis, also the site of the conference tournament.
That means that Louisville coach Rick Pitino won’t be in New York — site of the Big East media day. As you may recall, Pitino and Jim Boeheim had an entertaining war of words last year in New York, with each saying the other was “full of s–t.”
Here are the SNY.tv picks for the 2013-14 projected order of finish along with the preseason All-Conference teams and top incoming recruits.
1. Louisville (35-4, 14-4 Big East)
2. UConn (20-10, 10-8 Big East)
3. Memphis (31-5, 16-0 Conference USA)
4. Cincinnati (22-12, 9-9 Big East)
5. Temple (24-10, 11-5 Atlantic 10)
6. Central Florida (20-11, 9-7 Conference USA)
7. SMU (15-17, 5-11 Conference USA)
8. Houston (20-13, 7-9 Conference USA)
9. Rutgers (20-11, 5-13 Big East)
10. South Florida (12-19, 3-15 Big East)
All-ConferenceFirst Team
Russ Smith, G, Louisville (Preseason Player of the Year)
Shabazz Napier, G, Connecticut
Sean Kilpatrick, G, Cincinnati
Chane Behanan, F Louisville
Montrezl Harrell, F, Louisville
Second Team
Ryan Boatright, G, Connecticut
Isaiah Sykes, G, Central Florida
Joe Jackson, G, Memphis
TaShawn Thomas, F, Houston
DeAndre Daniels, F, UConn
Top Incoming Rookies (ESPN.com Class of 2013 rankings)
No. 15. Austin Nichols, PF, Memphis
No. 33. Kuran Iverson, SF, Memphis
No. 35. Jermaine Lawrence, PF, Cincinnati
No. 37. Nick King, SF, Memphis
No. 48. Anton Gill, SG, Louisville
No. 49. Keith Frazier, SG, SMU
No. 64. John Egbunu, C, USF
No. 75. Akoy Agau, PF, Louisville
No. 90. Dominic Woodson, C, Memphis
No. 95. Rashawn Powell, PG, Memphis
No. 98. Kentan Facey, PF, UConn
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.