Wichita State enters the 2022-23 season as a hunter, picked eighth out of 11 teams in American Athletic Conference preseason men's basketball poll, which was released Wednesday morning ahead of the league's two-day virtual media day event.
 
Fans can catch live coverage of the 2022 American Men's and Women's Basketball Virtual Media Days on ESPN+. The show runs from 8 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 13 and 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 14.
 
Wichita State coaches and select student-athletes will be on the show from 10-10:45 a.m. CT on Wednesday. The full schedule for all 11 schools is listed below.
 
The Shockers (15-13, 6-9) return just two lettermen from a year ago but will look to raise the bar with the help of eight transfers with Division I experience.
 
WSU teams have met or exceeded preseason expectations in four of the five seasons since joining the league, most notably in 2020-21 when a similarly overhauled roster was picked seventh in the preseason but went on to win the regular season title.
 
Led by preseason player of the year Marcus Sasser, Houston is a unanimous favorite to defend its 2022 title, earning 10 first-place votes (coaches could not select their own team or players). Freshman forward Jarace Walker was a unanimous pick for rookie of the year.
 
Memphis has a pair of first-teamers in DeAndre Williams and SMU transfer Kendric Davis, the league's reigning player of the year. The Tigers (87 poll points) edged out Cincinnati (82) for the runner-up spot.
 
Fourth-place Tulane (74) landed a league-best three players on the preseason all-conference squad, including first-teamer Jalen Cook.
 
Damian Dunn grabbed the final first-team spot for Temple, which checked in fifth with 66 points.
 
UCF (51), SMU (43), WSU (35), South Florida (33), Tulsa (21) and East Carolina (13) rounded out the rankings.
 
Wichita State hosts Newman for an exhibition game on Wednesday, Nov. 2 and tips off the regular season the following week with home matchups against Central Arkansas (Monday, Nov. 7) and Alcorn State (Saturday, Nov. 12).
 
Season tickets are on sale now through the Shocker Ticket Office, (M-F, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.), by phone at 316-978-FANS (3267) or in person at southwest corner of Charles Koch Arena.
 

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American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll:
First-Place votes in parenthesis
 
1. Houston (10) – 100
2. Memphis (1) – 87
3. Cincinnati – 82
4. Tulane – 74
5. Temple – 66
6. UCF – 51
7. SMU – 43
8. Wichita State – 35
9. South Florida – 33
10. Tulsa – 21
11. East Carolina – 13
 
Preseason Player of the Year:
Marcus Sasser, Sr., G, Houston
 
Preseason Rookie of the Year:
Jarace Walker, F, Houston*
 
Preseason All-Conference First Team:
Marcus Sasser, Sr., G, Houston*
Kendric Davis, Sr., G, Memphis*
DeAndre Williams, Sr., F, Memphis
Damian Dunn, R-So., G, Temple
Jalen Cook, So., G, Tulane*
 
Preseason All-Conference Second Team:
David DeJulius, Gr., G, Cincinnati
Jamal Shead, Jr., G, Houston
Khalif Battle, R-So., G, Temple
Kevin Cross, Jr., F, Tulane
Jaylen Forbes, Jr., G, Tulane
 
* denotes unanimous selection
 

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American Men's and Women's Basketball Media Days Schedule:
Central Times Listed
 
Wednesday, October 12 | 8 a.m. CT | ESPN+
8 a.m. | Commissioner Mike Aresco
8:30 a.m. | East Carolina
9:15 a.m. | Temple
10 a.m. | Wichita State
10:45 a.m. | Houston
11:30 a.m.  | SMU
 
Thursday, October 13 | 10 a.m. ET | ESPN+
9 a.m. | Cincinnati
9:45 a.m. | South Florida
10:30 a.m. | UCF
11:15 a.m. | Memphis
Noon | Tulane
12:45 p.m. | Tulsa