The Southern Methodist University men’s basketball team was picked third in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) preseason rankings at Wednesday’s AAC Media Day.
SMU received seventy-seven votes, trailing Houston and Memphis, Houston received ninety-eight votes with eight first-place votes, and Memphis received ninety-two votes with three first-place votes. The third-place pick comes a year after the Mustangs went 11-6, their seventh winning season in eight years, and appeared in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.
It was the team’s first postseason bid since 2017, and their first time playing in the NIT since 2014. SMU was also picked to finish third last year but ended with the fourth seed in the conference tournament.
In addition to the team being awarded, senior guard Kendric Davis was unanimously picked as a Preseason First-Team All-American Athletic Conference member.
The nomination follows a breakout junior year for Davis. He led the league in points a single game (19) and assists per game (7.6), earning multiple accolades, including First-Team All-AAC, First-Team NABC All-District, and USBWA All-District. The nineteen points per game was a career-high for Davis, improving his career average to 13.2 points. This was his first preseason All-AAC selection and third overall All-AAC selection, making First-Team last season and Third-Team his sophomore year. Davis has scored 693 points at SMU and 926 in his college career, with 233 in his freshman year at TCU.
The Mustangs will begin their 2021-22 season at home against McNeese State on Tuesday, November 9th at Moody Coliseum at 7 PM CST. The first AAC game will be at Tulsa on Wednesday, December 29th, at 7 PM CST. SMU is scheduled to play thirty-one games, eighteen of which will be against AAC teams.