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NATIONAL SIGNING DAY 2017: AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

UConn leads the way as the Huskies take the seat of the top class in 2017 within the American Athletic Conference.
9, Nov 2016

NATIONAL SIGNING DAY 2017: AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

1: UCONN

53. Makai Ashton-Langford, PG

116. Tyler Polley, F

Josh Carlton, C

2: TEMPLE

Nate Pierre-Louis, CG

Dre Perry, SF

JP Moorman, F

Justyn Hamilton, C

3: SMU

Ethan Chargois, C

Everett Ray, PF

Elijah Landrum, CG

William Douglas, CG

4: MEMPHIS

David Nickelberry, SF

Jamal Johnson, SG

Victor Enoh, PF

5: CINCINNATI

Trevor Moore, SG

Keith Williams, SF

6: HOUSTON

Michael Adewunmi, SG

Fabian White, PF

7: UCF

Danny Lewis, SG

Myles Douglas, SF

8: TULANE

Bul Ajang, PF

Buay Koka, C

9: TULSA

Elijah Joiner, SG

10: EAST CAROLINA

KJ Davis, SF

11: SOUTH FLORIDA

 

HoopSeen125 players coming to AAC: 2

Total signees/commitments: 24

Best scorer: Nate Pierre-Louis – Temple

Best rebounder: Josh Carlton – UConn

Best defender: Dre Perry – Temple

Best shooter: Trevor Moore – Cincinnati

Best passer: David Nickelberry – Memphis

Biggest sleeper: Elijah Joiner – Tulsa

Top PG: Makai Ashton-Langford – UConn

Top SG: Jamal Johnson – Memphis

Top SF: Dre Perry – Temple

Top PF: Tyler Polley – UConn

Top C: Josh Carlton – UConn

The American Athletic Conference finally had its breakthrough last year as it produced four teams into the NCAA Tournament. While UConn has already secured a national championship as a league affiliate, the Huskies have needed help in bolstering the depth of the league. The same can be said once again this year about the recruiting abilities throughout the league as the Huskies sit atop of the class’s rankings and are the only program to hold a top-125 commitment.

Now, this is not to say that others such as Temple, SMU, Memphis, and Cincinnati have not been able to reap their own success on the recruiting front. However, UConn is the program to carry two, top-125 commitments, the biggest being Makai Ashton-Langford, a top-60 guard that was highly coveted all throughout his high school playing career.

The New England native will be joined by Tyler Polley, his fellow top-125 peer, as the 6-foot-8 slender forward should fit in perfectly within the confines of the Storrs program as a hybrid power forward that can really score the ball from 17-feet and in. The trio is topped off by DeMatha Catholic product and interior producer Josh Carlton, an excellent 5-man option out of the senior ranks.

Baltimore, MD

Class
2017
Position
SF
Height
6' 5"
National
NR
State
NR
College
Temple
Travel Team

Directly behind Kevin Ollie’s bunch, while lacking star power, but boasting great depth and versatility, is the Temple Owls. Fran Dunphy secured two, super tough and engaging small forwards in Dre Perry and JP Moorman. Down low, the AAC program nabbed the commitment of high upside big man Justyn Hamilton, yet went out and kept a local product close to home in Nate Pierre-Louis, a guard that led the entire UAA circuit in scoring this past summer.

Just like Temple, SMU boasts its own four man class led by William Douglas and Everett Ray. Both should be able to produce day one down in Texas and thanks to others joining the fray along the lines of Ethan Chargois and Elijah Landrum, the program seems to be on steady ground moving ahead during the new era that is under the lead of head coach Tim Jankovich.

His first year in Memphis for Tubby Smith, it seems that recruiting has never been an issue for the Tigers program. This year is nothing outside of the norm as they went out and loaded up with versatile, high upside prospects from the south. Jamal Johnson, a 6-foot-4 combo guard that can shoot it and pass it, along with David Nickelberry, one of the top playmaking wings out of the 2017 class, are already in the hopper for Smith’s bunch. They are complemented nicely by Victor Enoh, a super tough and explosive power forward that works best whenever the game speeds up.

The rest of the league is a bit bunched up from here. Cincinnati sits at the fifth overall spot thanks to the sharpshooting skills from Trevor Moore and versatility of Keith Williams. Houston, UCF, and Tulane each added two solid pieces to their core out of the senior ranks while Tulsa and ECU carry a lone commitment. Keep an eye on Golden Hurricanes commit Elijah Joiner as the Windy City native is the type of jumbo guard that has excelled in the past at the Tulsa program and could become the top breakout performer from the league’s class as a whole.

Altogether, there are 24 commitments from the 11 team members. South Florida is the only school currently sitting without a commitment at the time being while UConn is the only school that can stand up for itself within the HoopSeen Top-125 Rankings as they hold commitments from two of its members.

The next few months, on the recruiting front and on playing floor, will define just how good the conference is and can be. While the AAC is thought of as a power conference, it has become outlasted by the Atlantic 10 and the CAA within rankings like the KenPom, hence further infiltration of talent, not taking UConn into account, is needed by all of its league members.  


Corey Evans has been a member of the HoopSeen family since the summer of 2015. He brings a wealth of experience in scouring the nation in evaluation some of the top prospects from coast-to-coast, and in also finding some of the more under-the-radar prospects from various locales. The managing editor on site, Evans has run a college scouting service, the Roundball Rundown Report, since 2012, as he works with over 100 division-1 college basketball programs from both sides of the nation. Based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Evans is the primary national contributor at HoopSeen which has broadened the scope of information included within the site itself. 

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