Houston Men's Basketball Selected as Preseason Favorite in The American; Caleb Mills AAC Preseason Player of the Year

POSTED: October 28, 2020 -- 10:45 a.m. CT

For the second straight season, the University of Houston Men's Basketball program was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the American Athletic Conference Coaches' Preseason Poll.

Sophomore guard Caleb Mills was recognized as The American's Preseason Player of the Year and was one of only two unanimous selections to the league's Preseason First Team.

Mills began his first season of competition with the Cougars as a redshirt freshman in 2019-20 and made an immediate impact.

Mills had eight 20-point games, including a career-high 27 points at Memphis in late February, while competing in all but one game.

He led the Cougars with 13.2 points per game, joining Houston Cougars legend Rob Williams as the only freshmen in school history to lead their teams in scoring. Williams averaged 16.3 points per contest as a freshman in 1979-80.

Mills finished second among the Cougars with 50 3-pointers in his first collegiate season on the way to being named to the 2020 All-American Athletic Conference Second Team. He also earned a place on the league's All-Freshman Team, joining current teammate guard Marcus Sasser.

The Cougars received nine first-place votes from the league's head coaches, totaling 99 points. Houston finished nine points ahead of Memphis, which received the remaining two first-place votes.

Following Memphis, SMU (80), Cincinnati (77), USF (61), Tulsa (50), Wichita State (44), UCF (37), ECU (34), Temple (18) and Tulane (15) rounded out the rest of the poll.

Mills was joined on the Preseason First Team by Keith Williams (Cincinnati), Kendric Davis (SMU), Brandon Rachal (Tulsa) and Jayden Gardner (ECU), who joined Mills as unanimous First-Team picks.

Chris Vogt (Cincinnati), D.J. Jeffries (Memphis), Landers Nolley II (Memphis), Alexis Yetna (USF) and Tyson Jolly (SMU) made up the Second Team.

Houston tied with Memphis as the No. 1 team in Preseason Poll a year ago. With a 23-8 overall record and 13-5 mark in American Athletic Conference play, the Cougars captured their second straight regular-season title for only the second time in school history.

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2020-21 American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Poll and Honors

Rank	School (First-place in parentheses)	Points
1	Houston (9)	99
2	Memphis (2)	90
3	SMU	80
4	Cincinnati	77
5	USF	61
6	Tulsa	50
7	Wichita State	44
8	SMU	47
9	East Carolina	34
10	Temple	18
11	Tulane	15

Preseason Player of the Year - Caleb Mills, G, Houston

Preseason Rookie of the Year - Moussa Cisse, C, Memphis

Preseason All-Conference First Team

Keith Williams, G, Cincinnati

Jayden Gardner, F, East Carolina*

Caleb Mills, G, Houston*

Kendric Davis, G, SMU

Brandon Rachal, F, Tulsa

* unanimous selection

Preseason All-Conference Second Team

Chris Vogt, C, Cincinnati

D.J. Jeffries, F, Memphis

Landers Nolley II, G, Memphis

Alexis Yetna, F, USF

Tyson Jolly, G, SMU

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