Memphis basketball releases 2024-25 AAC schedule pairings

Memphis basketball officially unveiled its 2024-25 American Athletic Conference (AAC) schedule pairings Thursday afternoon.

The Tigers will play all 12 opposing AAC schools at least once this season for a grand total of 18 conference matchups.

Twelve of those games will happen in home-and-home series against UAB, Florida Atlantic, Rice, Wichita State, South Florida and Temple. Memphis is also set for home meetings with North Texas, East Carolina and Tulsa, and visits to Charlotte, UTSA and Tulane.

The AAC will release dates and TV times in the near future.

Memphis’ most pivotal AAC games this year will likely take place in its four meetings with UAB and FAU—the league’s two representatives in the NCAA Tournament last season.

Andy Kennedy’s Blazers return a good portion of their core from 2023-24, including AAC Defensive Player of the Year Yaxel Lendeborg.

The Owls, meanwhile, have had to rebuild via the transfer portal with former Baylor assistant John Jakus taking over as head coach for Dusty May, who left FAU for Michigan. Key players like Johnell Davis, Alijah Martin, Vlad Goldin and Nick Boyd have also joined new schools.

But Jakus has landed nice pieces like former Xavier guard KyKy Tandy, former Florida State forward Baba Miller and last season’s SWAC Player of the Year Ken Evans Jr.

The tandem of Penny Hardaway and Rick Stansbury, however, has garnered a portal class that’ll likely position Memphis as the league’s preseason favorite.

PJ Haggerty (6-foot-3) averaged 21.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game for Tulsa last year, which helped him earn the AAC Freshman of the Year award.

Tyrese Hunter (6-foot) averaged 11.1 points and 4.1 assists for Texas in 2023-24. He also won the Big 12 Freshman of the Year award at Iowa State in 2021-22, and is 6-3 in NCAA Tournament games.

Colby Rogers (6-foot-4) scored 16.4 points per contest while shooting 40.9% from 3-point range (7.1 attempts per game) for Wichita State. PJ Carter (6-foot-5) averaged 9.5 points and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 41.5% from the field and 40.3% from 3-point range in 31 appearances for UTSA.

Moussa Cisse (7-foot) and Tyreek Smith (6-foot-8) averaged a combined 3.1 blocks per game last year for Ole Miss and SMU respectively. Nick Jourdain (6-foot-9) started 25 of 32 games for the Tigers in 2023-24, and put up 6.5 points and 4 rebounds per contest. He is Memphis’ only returning scholarship player.

Dain Dainja (6-foot-9) averaged 6.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in limited minutes for an Illinois team that made the Elite Eight last season.

The Tigers, who still have two open scholarships remaining, also welcome George Mason transfer Baraka Okojie, Vincennes transfer Damarien Yates and freshman guards Jared Harris and Daniel Vieira-Tuck.