DALLAS, OCT. 28, 2020 – University of South Florida junior forward Alexis Yetna was selected to the American Athletic Conference Preseason All-Conference Second Team the league office announced on Wednesday.
Yetna, who missed the entire 2019-20 season with an injury, was tabbed the 2019 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year after finishing the season tops in the league in rebounding with 9.6 per game and pulling down a single-season league record 346 boards. He also paced the conference with 3.3 offensive rebounds per game and featured three games with at least 16 rebounds.
Yetna (Paris) also added 12.3 points per game and paced the conference with 15 double-doubles. Yetna became just the second freshman of the year in school history and first since Jorge Azcoitia was named the 1979 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year.
It’s the second straight season in which Yetna was selected to the AAC Preseason All-Conference Team.
The Bulls were predicted to finish fifth in the preseason poll voted on by the league’s coaches, marking the second straight season USF was selected in the top half of the poll.
Houston earned the top spot with 99 total points and nine of the 11 first place votes. Memphis (90) was picked to finish second and SMU (80) third, while Cincinnati (77) and USF (61) round out the top five teams in the preseason poll. Tulsa (50), Wichita State (44) and UCF (37) were slotted sixth through eighth, respectively, with East Carolina (34), Temple (18) and Tulane (15) rounding out the bottom three teams.
Houston (9) and Memphis (2) were the only two other schools to earn first place votes.
Despite a 2019-20 season that saw USF players miss a combined 41 games due to injury, the Bulls finished with seven league victories that included wins over Memphis, UConn, UCF and Temple. In addition, that group helped USF rank 20th in the NCAA in scoring defense by allowing only 62.7 points per game as the Bulls held 27 of their 31 opponents under their season scoring average.
In addition, the last two seasons have seen USF set a single season school-record with 24 wins in 2018-19, capture the 2019 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) championship and win 38 games over the past two years, which is the most wins at USF over a two-year span since the 1990-91 and 1991-92 teams also won 38.
USF will announce its schedule for the upcoming season in the coming weeks.
Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll
Team (First-Place Votes) 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. UCF 37
9. East Carolina 34
10. Temple 18
11. Tulane 15
Preseason Players of the Year
Caleb Mills, Houston
Preseason Rookie of the Year
Moussa Cisse, Memphis
Preseason All-Conference First Team
Keith Williams, Cincinnati
Jayden Gardner, East Carolina*
Caleb Mills, Houston*
Kendric Davis, SMU
Brandon Rachal, Tulsa
Preseason All-Conference Second Team
Chris Vogt, Cincinnati
D.J. Jeffries, Memphis
Landers Nolley II, Memphis
Alexis Yetna, USF
Tyson Jolly, SMU
*denotes unanimous selection
To stay up-to-date on the latest USF men’s’ basketball news, follow the Bulls on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).
About USF Men’s Basketball
The USF men’s basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory. On March 22, 2017, Gregory was introduced as the 10th head coach in program history. He previously led programs at Georgia Tech (2011-16) and Dayton (2003-11). Gregory spent nearly a decade as an assistant coach under Michigan State’s Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo and helped the Spartans win the 2000 NCAA National Championship. Gregory owns nearly 300 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship. In his second season at the helm of the Bulls, Gregory led the team to the best win turnaround in the NCAA, the most single-season wins in school history and the 2019 College Basketball Invitational championship.
USF has retired three numbers in its 47-year history: Chucky Atkins (12), Charlie Bradley (30) and Radenko Dobras (31). The Bulls have earned three NCAA tournament bids, appeared in the NIT eight times and won the 2019 College Basketball Invitational.
For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.
