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AAC preseason awards: UConn picked to win the AAC, Katie Lou Samuelson tabbed as preseason Player of the Year

By Russell Steinberg

Connecticut's Katie Lou Samuelson (33) reacts after a made basket against Notre Dame in an NCAA Tournament national semifinal at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday, March 30, 2018. UConn will play Notre Dame in the 2018 Jimmy V Women's Classic. (Brad Horrigan/Hartford Courant/TNS via Getty Images)
Connecticut's Katie Lou Samuelson (33) reacts after a made basket against Notre Dame in an NCAA Tournament national semifinal at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday, March 30, 2018. UConn will play Notre Dame in the 2018 Jimmy V Women's Classic. (Brad Horrigan/Hartford Courant/TNS via Getty Images) /
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UConn remains respected by the AAC preseason conference awards.

To the surprise of [checks notes] no one, American Athletic Conference head coaches picked UConn to win the league championship in its preseason poll on Monday. The poll, along with preseason all-conference honors, were unveiled at AAC men’s and women’s basketball media day in Philadelphia.

UConn’s Katie Lou Samuelson was named preseason player of the year, while her teammates Napheesa Collier and Crystal Dangerfield join her on the all-AAC first team.

The Huskies received all but one first-place vote, with second-place USF presumably getting Geno Auriemma’s vote (coaches cannot vote for their own team).

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While UConn and USF were expected to finish in the top two, the real intrigue came right after that. Houston and UCF finished third and fourth respectively, but just three points separated them and both could feasibly be NCAA Tournament teams in 2019. The Knights return Kornelia Wright and add a top-100 recruit in Diamond Battles as well as a couple of high-level transfers. Meanwhile the Cougars return essentially their whole team from last year, including Jasmyne Harris (19.6 ppg) and Angela Harris (14.9 ppg).

Below them, the standings stay murky. Cincinnati and Temple were picked fifth and sixth respectively, but again with only three points separating them. Temple was incredibly young last year and suffered some major growing pains, but returns the core of a team that surrounded the now-departed Tanya Atkinson. Cincinnati will welcome a new coach to a team that was already on the rise.

As for the preseason awards, there weren’t many surprises. Jasmyne Harris joins the trio of Huskies on the all-conference first team, along with USF’s Kitija Laksa — a unanimous selection. Laksa averaged 21.1 points per game last year and shot 38 percent from three.

The full preseason poll and awards list can be seen below:

Preseason Poll
Team (First Place Votes) Points

1. UConn (11)* 121
2. USF (1) 111
3. Houston 95
4. UCF 92
5. Cincinnati 74
6. Temple 72
7. SMU 55
8. ECU 46
9. Tulane 42
10. Wichita State 35
11. Memphis 25
12. Tulsa 24

Preseason Player of the Year
Katie Lou Samuelson, UConn

Preseason All-Conference First Team
Napheesa Collier, UConn*
Crystal Dangerfield, UConn
Katie Lou Samuelson, UConn*
Jasmyne Harris, Houston
Kitija Laksa, USF*

Preseason All-Conference Second Team
Angela Harris, Houston
Laura Ferreira, USF
Alicia Froling, SMU
Alliya Butts, Temple
Mia Davis, Temple

*denotes unanimous selection

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