NOTEBOOK: Men’s and women’s basketball teams picked to finish fifth and second in AAC respectively
Both USF basketball teams were selected to finish in the upper half of the AAC standings in the 2019-2020 preseason coaches poll, the league announced Monday.
Bulls predicted to finish in highest spot in 5 years
USF men’s basketball was selected to finish fifth in the 2019-20 AAC season by the league’s coaches.
USF is tabbed to finish higher in the league than its eighth-place finish last season, after winning the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) last season.
This is the first time in five seasons USF hasn’t been picked last or second to last in the AAC, per the Tampa Bay Times.
Trio of Bulls named to preseason All-AAC
Redshirt sophomore forward Alexis Yetna and a pair of guards — senior Laquincy Rideau and junior David Collins — were named to the AAC All-Conference preseason poll.
USF is the only team in the AAC with three players named preseason all-conference.
Rideau was named to the preseason All-AAC first team. He was named the conference Defensive Player of the Year last season after registering 101 steals, fourth best in the NCAA. Rideau also broke conference and program records for most steals in a season.
Yetna, the reigning AAC Freshman of the Year, was selected to the preseason All-AAC second team. He topped the conference with 9.6 rebounds per game last season and led the team and the conference in total rebounds with 346.
Collins joins Yetna in the preseason second-team, coming off being named to the conference third team last season. Collins scored 587 points last season and was named the CBI MVP.
USF selected to finish below league favorite UConn
USF women’s basketball was selected second in the 2019-2020 AAC preseason coaches poll, behind conference favorite UConn. The Bulls did not receive any first-place votes. UCF was the only other team to receive a first-place vote. UConn received the other 11 votes.
After an injury-ridden season last year, the Bulls finished fifth, their lowestsince the formation of the AAC in 2013.
Despite injuries, USF was a contender in the AAC tournament last season, but was eliminated by UConn in the semifinals. The Bulls earned a bid to the Women’s NIT, defeating Stetson before falling to James Madison in the second round.
Pehadzic named to AAC preseason second-team
Junior guard Enna Pehadzic was named to the AAC Preseason All-Conference second team for the second season in a row.
She was the only Bull to earn preseason all-conference honors. Pehadzic averaged 12.1 points a game last season and led the team in 3-pointers.
Pehadzic scored a career-high 35 points against ECU on Feb. 20, the second highest by any conference player last season.
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