University of Memphis men’s basketball sophomore forward Dedric Lawson was chosen as the American Athletic Conference co-preseason player of the year, along with Cincinnati senior guard Troy Caupain, at the league’s media day in Philadelphia on Monday.
Lawson was the expected recipient of the preseason award after averaging 15.8 points and 9.3 rebounds last season and tying former Tiger Keith Lee’s freshman record of 17 double-doubles.
Lawson’s 15.8 points per game scoring average made the Memphis native the first freshman to lead the Tigers in points per game since Sean Banks in 2003-2004, and his rebounding average led the conference.
What is most impressive about his numbers is Lawson graduated from high school early to add some frontcourt depth to the Tigers and should be entering his freshman year this season.
The sophomore forward tested the draft waters prior to the 2016 NBA Draft, but the feedback he received convinced him to return to school and give the Tigers a dangerous weapon in the frontcourt.
Caupain, a first team all-conference pick a year ago, posted averages of 13.0 points per game and 4.8 assists per game last season and was one of the top guards in the AAC.
Lawson and Caupain also join the preseason all-conference first team with Caupain’s teammate, Gary Clark, SMU’s Ben Moore and Houston’s Damyean Dotson. However, no other Tiger was voted on either preseason all-conference team.
The preseason all-conference second team was comprised of SMU’s Shake Milton, UConn’s Jalen Adams, USF’s Jahmal McMurray, Houston’s Rob Gray Jr. and East Carolina’s B.J. Tyson.
Regarding the Tigers, the team was picked by the AAC’s coaches to finish fifth in the league. In “the closest preseason poll in American Athletic Conference history,” according to the league’s website, Cincinnati claimed the top spot over last season’s conference champions, UConn, by one vote. The Bearcats received six first-place votes while the Huskies claimed the other five.
SMU, Houston and Memphis rounded out the top five, followed by Temple, East Carolina, UCF, Tulsa, USF and Tulane.
UConn’s Alterique Gilbert, who was rated as the 34th best high school prospect in the nation by 247Sports’ composite rankings, was selected as the AAC Preseason Rookie of the Year.
The 2017 AAC Men’s Basketball Championship will be held at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut March 9-12.
The league also held its women’s media day, where the U of M’s women’s team was picked to finish seventh after going 18-13 and reaching the NIT in the postseason. UConn is projected to finish first.
The men’s 2016-2017 season kicks off with a Nov. 7 exhibition game against Christian Brothers University, and the season opener Nov. 14 against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley at FedEx Forum.
