PHILADELPHIA – East Carolina men's basketball junior guard B.J. Tyson was named Preseason All-American Athletic Conference Second-Team, while the Pirates were selected seventh in the preseason poll announced by the league office Monday.

The preseason poll and all-conference teams were selected by the league's 11 head coaches. Cincinnati was named the preseason favorite by The American coaches after tallying 95 points, one point ahead of 2016 American Athletic Conference tournament champion UConn. SMU was tabbed for third-place with 76 points, a single point in front of fourth-place Houston while Memphis garnered 63 points to rank fifth. Reigning regular season champion Temple was picked sixth with 56 points.

East Carolina received 39 points in the poll and ranked ahead of UCF (37), Tulsa (34), USF (25) and Tulane (11).

Cincinnati senior Troy Caupain and Memphis Lawson Dedric Lawson shared Preseason Player-of-the-Year honors. Both were unanimous Preseason First-Team All-Conference selections as was Cincinnati's Gary Clark. They were joined on the first-team by SMU's Ben Moore and Houston's Damyean Dotson.

Joining Tyson on the Preseason Second-Team All-Conference squad were guards Jaleen Adams of UConn, Rob Gray of Houston, Jahmal McMurray of USF and Shake Milton of SMU.

Tyson enters his junior campaign as the fourth-leading returning scorer in The American this year. The Anson, N.C. native averaged 14.6 points per game, while shooting 42.0 percent from the floor. He led the Pirates in scoring 15 times last season and dropped in 20 or more points nine times.

ECU opens the 2016-17 season on Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, at 8 p.m. against Grambling State.

2016-17 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PRESEASON COACHES' POLL

Team (First-Place Votes) Pts.

Cincinnati (6) 95

UConn (5) 94

SMU 76

Houston 75

Memphis 63

Temple 56

East Carolina 39

UCF 37

Tulsa 34

USF 25

Tulane 11

2016-17 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCEPRESEASON INDIVIDUAL HONORS

Preseason Co-Players of the Year Troy Caupain, G, Sr.,

Cincinnati Dedric Lawson, G/F, So. Memphis

Preseason Rookie of the Year Alterique Gilbert, G, Fr., UConn

Preseason All-Conference Teams

First Team

Troy Caupain, G, Cincinnati*

Gary Clark, F, Cincinnati*

Dedric Lawson, G/F, Memphis

Ben Moore, F, SMU

Damyean Dotson, G, Houston

Second Team

Shake Milton, G, SMU

Jalen Adams, G, UConn

Jahmal McMurray, G, USF

Rob Gray, Jr., G, Houston

B.J. Tyson, G, East Carolina