Tulsa’s Woodard and Harrison Earn Preseason All-Conference Honors, Tulsa Picked Fourth in Preseason Poll
10/27/2015 8:34:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Tulsa men's basketball team was picked to finish fourth in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Poll, and senior guards James Woodard and Shaquille Harrison were selected to the preseason all-conference first and second teams, respectively, in a vote by the league's head coaches, the conference announced Tuesday.
"Congratulations to James and Shaq on being named to the preseason all-conference teams. Based off of their performances from last year, they certainly deserve preseason recognition. We expect them to elevate their games even more to lead our team this season," said Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith. "We're excited to compete this season in what will be a very strong American Athletic Conference."
The Golden Hurricane finished second in The American in 2015 with a 14-4 league record and a 23-11 overall mark, and advanced to the second round of the NIT. TU returns all five starters including Harrison and Woodard, and has nine seniors on the roster.
Woodard was a first-team All-American Athletic Conference selection last season. He led the Hurricane in 2014-15 with 14.5 points per game and 88 3-pointers, and added 4.9 rebounds per contest. Harrison was a second-team all-conference selection, after averaging 14.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game last year.
Tulsa opens the season Nov. 14 against Central Arkansas at 7 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. The Hurricane will play a pair of exhibition games, Nov. 7 against Haskell Indian Nations, and Nov. 10 against Rogers State, both at the Reynolds Center.
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2015-16 Preseason Coaches' Poll
(First-place votes in parenthesis)
Team Points
1. SMU (8) 98
2. UConn (2) 87
3. Cincinnati (1) 84
4. Tulsa 76
5. Memphis 59
6. Temple 54
7. Houston 48
8. East Carolina 31
9. UCF 30
10. USF 20
11. Tulane 11
First Team All-Conference
Octavius Ellis, Sr., F, Cincinnati
Daniel Hamilton, So., G/F, UConn
*Markus Kennedy, R-Sr., F, SMU
*Nic Moore, R-Sr., G, SMU
James Woodard, Sr., G, Tulsa
Second Team All-Conference
Troy Caupain, Jr., G, Cincinnati
Amida Brimah, Jr., C, UConn
Sterling Gibbs, GS, G, UConn
Shaq Goodwin, Sr., F, Memphis
Shaquille Harrison, Sr., G, Tulsa
[*] denotes unanimous selection
American Player of the Year
Nic Moore, R-Sr., G, SMU
American Rookie of the Year
Jalen Adams, Fr., G, UConn
Players Mentioned
Guard
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