Memphis has been pegged near the top of the American Conference before the season even tips, landing second in the league’s preseason coaches’ poll with four first-place votes.
The Tigers finished with 131 points, trailing only Wichita State, which checked in first with 140 points and nine first-place votes. The poll and preseason all-conference teams were selected by the league’s 13 head coaches.
Memphis also put two players on the preseason all-conference teams. Senior guard Jayden Reid earned first-team recognition, while senior forward Tylik Weeks landed on the second team.
Reid, a 5-10 guard from Westbury, New York, arrives from Northwestern after averaging 10.1 points per game there. Before that, he spent two seasons in the American at South Florida, where he posted 12.6 points and 3.6 assists per game as a sophomore and made the 2023-24 American All-Freshman Team.
Weeks, a 6-7 forward from New York, New York, transferred in from Southern Miss after leading the Sun Belt Conference in scoring last season at 19.7 points per game. He was a Sun Belt All-Conference First-Team pick and scored in double figures in 32 of 34 games, including four games of at least 30 points.
The Tigers are bringing in a revamped group this season, with 13 newcomers and nine Division I transfers. Penny Hardaway enters his ninth season as Memphis head coach with a 175-87 record, including 93-48 in conference play.
Around the league, North Texas guard Je'Shawn Stevenson was named Preseason Player of the Year, while Florida Atlantic’s Felipe Quinones earned Preseason Freshman of the Year honors.
The rest of the preseason first team included Kanaan Carlyle of Florida Atlantic, Sonny Wilson of South Florida and Will Berg of Wichita State. The second team featured Justyn Fernandez and Deuce Jones of UAB, Derrian Ford and Gavin Griffiths of Temple, and Dilion Battie and Jordan Frison of Wichita State.
The full preseason coaches’ poll placed South Florida third, followed by Tulsa, Charlotte, UAB, North Texas, Florida Atlantic, Temple, Tulane, East Carolina, Rice and UTSA.
In Other News...
Memphis Returns Home Facing A Standings Stretch That Could Change Everything
After nearly two weeks away from home, Memphis returns to the pitch with a pivotal stretch that could reshape the American Conference race. The Tigers are set to host Tulsa and Charlotte this week, and they do so coming off a solid late-September run that included a draw against South Florida and a win over Florida Atlantic.
Memphis enters the week in second place in the league standings, just two points behind UAB while holding a game in hand. With the conference table still tightly packed, these home matches give the Tigers a chance to apply real pressure near the top and strengthen their path as the season enters a decisive phase. [Read more 🡒]
Memphis Keeps Proving Why The American Still Runs Through The Tigers
Memphis kept its league push rolling with another convincing American Conference result, blanking Tulsa 4-0 and doing all of the damage after halftime. The Tigers have now gone unbeaten through their opening stretch of conference play at 3-0-1, and the performance fit the bigger pattern around this program: steady, organized and difficult to shake once they get rolling.
The second-half surge featured goals from Abby Forsgren, Ai Kitagawa, Ellis Kelly and Taliah Brooks, while Ava Galani handled the clean sheet in net. More than just another win, it pushed Memphis conference unbeaten streak to 33 matches, a reminder that anyone trying to take the league crown still has to go through the Tigers first. [Read more 🡒]
Memphis Just Earned Major National Recognition Behind A Key Athletics Leader
The University of Memphis is getting a little more national shine through one of its most influential behind-the-scenes leaders. Its Faculty Athletics Representative has been named the 2026 NCAA Division I Faculty Athletics Representative of the Year, an honor that reflects the kind of steady work that rarely makes headlines but helps keep an athletic department connected to the wider academic mission.
She has served in the Memphis FAR role since 2015 and has built a rsum that stretches well beyond campus, including a presidency of the national organization of Division I FARs and a spot on the NCAA Tennis Oversight Committee. Also a law professor at the University of Memphis, she has become a prominent voice in the space where college sports, governance and academics intersect, and this latest recognition only underscores how much weight her work carries beyond Memphis. [Read more 🡒]