TCU picked to finish 5th in Conference USA National Division
10/25/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 25, 2001
CHICAGO - The TCU Horned Frogs have been picked to finish 5th in the National Division of the Conference USA annual preseason poll, as selected by the 14 head coaches. Memphis, with the return of three starters and the arrival of the nation's top recruiting class, is atop the poll.
In addition, the coaches have also picked Cincinnati senior guard Steve Logan to repeat as C-USA Player of the Year. The Bearcats, who have won at least a share of their last seven conference titles, including six in the history of C-USA, are the favorites to win the American Division crown this winter.
Preseason all-league forward Kelly Wise, who was the only Conference USA player to average a double-double last season (15.3 ppg., 10.1 rpg), leads a balanced Memphis attack. The Tigers finished 21-15 last season, becoming just the second Conference USA team to advance to the NIT semifinals. Wise is joined up front by 6-11 junior Earl Barron, who helped the USA Basketball World University Games team to the bronze medal last summer. Guard DaJuan Wagner, the nation's consensus high school Player of the Year, headlines a recruiting class that has been ranked No. 1 by many in the country.
Logan earned Conference USA Player of the Year honors last winter after finishing among the league's top 10 in scoring (sixth, 17.6 ppg), three-point field goal percentage (seventh, 39.1 percent) and free throw percentage (third, 88 percent). The 6-0 Cleveland, Ohio native is a career 85.2 percent free throw shooter, which ranks first in Cincinnati's record book, and third in league history.
Logan and Wise are joined on the preseason all-league team by Charlotte's Jobey Thomas and South Florida's high-scoring duo of Altron Jackson and B.B. Waldon.
Thomas, who has led Conference USA in three-pointers each of the last two seasons, is also the league's all-time treys leader (236). The 6-4 guard was named to the All-Conference USA third team last year after setting C-USA's single-season free throw percentage record (90.3 percent, 80-of-88). His 94 three-pointers are the second-best single-season performance in league history. Like Barron, Thomas also had an active summer, leading the NIT All-Star Team to a 4-1 record by averaging 16.2 points per game during their European Tour.
Jackson and Waldon are one of the nation's most prolific scoring tandems, collectively posting 36 points per game. The 6-8 Waldon is fifth on C-USA's career scoring list with 1,455 points, while Jackson is a close sixth with 1,401 points. In order to surpass C-USA's current career scoring leader, Charlotte's DeMarco Johnson (1,763 points from 1996-98), Waldon needs to average 11.4 points during this regular season, while Jackson must average 13.4 points.
The 2001-02 campaign also marks the Conference USA basketball debuts for East Carolina and TCU. The Pirates join C-USA's American Division, while the Horned Frogs move into the National Division. The teams with the top 12 league records, regardless of division, will advance to the C-USA Tournament March 6-9 in Cincinnati.
2001-02 CONFERENCE USA COACHES POLLS
Conference USA Preseason Polls
National Division
1. Memphis
2. South Florida
3. UAB
4. Southern Miss
5. TCU
6. Houston
7. Tulane
American Division
1. Cincinnati
2. Charlotte
3. Marquette
4. Louisville
t5. Saint Louis
t5. DePaul
7. East Carolina
Preseason All-League Team
Steve Logan, Cincinnati, G, Sr., Cleveland, Ohio
Altron Jackson, South Florida, F., Sr., Sarasota, Florida
Kelly Wise, Memphis, F., Sr., Fort Walton Beach, Florida
B.B. Waldon, South Florida, F, Sr., Lakeland, Florida
Jobey Thomas, Charlotte, G, Sr., Charlotte, North Carolina
