2009-10 Conference Primers: #8 – Conference USA
Posted by rtmsf on October 30th, 2009
RTC is seeking a 2009-10 correspondent for Conference USA. If you’re interested, please email us at rushthecourt@yahoo.com
Predicted Order of Finish:
- Tulsa (13-3)
- UTEP (12-4)
- Memphis (12-4)
- Houston (11-5)
- Marshall (9-7)
- Southern Miss (8-8)
- Tulane (8-8)
- UAB (6-10)
- Rice (6-10)
- Central Florida (6-10)
- East Carolina (3-13)
- SMU (1-15)
All-Conference Team:
- Aubrey Coleman (G), Houston
- Arnett Moultrie (F/C), UTEP
- Jerome Jordan (C), Tulsa
- Ben Uzoh (G), Tulsa
- Randy Culpepper (G), UTEP
Impact Newcomer. Will Coleman (F), Memphis
What You Need To Know. Everyone knows about Memphis’ off-season. First and foremost, it’s important to know who’s breathing down Memphis‘ neck if they should falter like many are predicting. Tulsa is a popular preseason pick because of the excellent senior duo of Ben Uzoh and Jerome Jordan, the latter being the popular pick for preseason CUSA Player Of The Year. Ignore UTEP at your own peril, with a formidable inside-outside duo of their own in the 6’11 sophomore Arnett Moultrie and junior guard Randy Culpepper. Houston boasts the best true guard combo with seniors Aubrey Coleman and Kelvin Lewis, both averaging around 19 PPG. Even Marshall and Central Florida look to be improved this season. Now, keep in mind, this is all IF Memphis actually loses a conference game (we still can’t get over their 61 straight CUSA wins) and trips up. He might just be 31 years old, but new head coach Josh Pastner will surprise everyone with how easily he takes to his new job. People might forget that Duke transfer Elliot Williams is eligible for the Tigers now, and he will provide immediate help along with the rim-kissing (literally…there are photos of this) 6’9 260-pound junior-college transfer Will Coleman. This will be a fun conference to watch this season because the issue isn’t so much that Memphis is free-falling back to the rest of the conference — it’s the fact that the rest of the conference is actually catching up to Memphis.
Predicted Champion. Tulsa (NCAA Seed: #7). The Golden Hurricane is our choice to supplant Memphis and take the title in Conference USA this season, as Doug Wojcik’s team has been waiting for this opportunity. If John Calipari, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and so on were currently residing in Memphis, we wouldn’t be considering this, but Memphis’ loss is Tulsa’s gain because they have an exceptionally talented and experienced team returning this year. Point guard Ben Uzoh and center Jerome Jordan enter the 2009-10 season as two of the best players at their position in the conference, and it’s easy to understand why: Uzoh did a little bit of everything last season, to the tune of 14.0 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 3.6 APG, and 1.5 SPG in over 35 minutes per game, while Jordan continued to progress toward play-for-pay with 13.8 PPG, 8.6 RPG, and 2.6 BPG on 58.6% shooting from the field. Justin Hurtt, Glenn Andrews and Steven Idlet also return as key contributors from a team that was 25-11 overall and 12-4 in CUSA, including three losses by a combined four points (especially tough was a buzzer-beating 1-point loss vs. Memphis). Even if Memphis had remained intact, Tulsa would have still viewed the 2009-10 season as a likely NCAA one, it’s just that now they’re going in as the favorite.
