IRVING, Texas (March 12, 2024) – The American Athletic Conference announced its yearly postseason accolades on Tuesday.
Amir Abdur-Rahim became the first University of South Florida coach to be named a conference Coach of the Year in men's basketball.
Chris Youngblood earned a Co-Player of the Year honor, while
Selton Miguel was tabbed the Sixth Man of the Year as well as the Most Improved Player.
Abdur-Rahim became the first USF men's basketball coach to win an American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year accolade. In his first season at South Florida, he has led the Bulls to a 20-win season, just the sixth time in program history. The 23 wins are the most during the regular season and one shy of tying the most in program history at 24. USF earned their first-ever ranking and reached No. 24 in the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. He guided South Florida to 16 wins in conference play, the most in program history. The Bulls went on the program's longest winning streak with 15 games. He is the only coach to win their regular season debut and their conference debut.
Youngblood earned his first AAC Player of the Year nod and was the first Player of the Year since Charlie Bradley in 1983. He also picked up a First-Team All-AAC and is the first player to do so since Dominique Jones in 2010. In conference play, he averaged 15.7 points per game with 40 assists, 10 steals, and nine blocks. He led the conference with a 3-point field goal percentage of 45.0 percent. His 45 3-pointers were the fourth most in the AAC. He produced 16 games in double figures, with four games of 20 or more. He produced a career-high 29 points in the win against Tulane on March 3. He shot 46.0 percent from the field and 78.3 percent from the free-throw line.
Miguel earned his first Sixth Man of the Year and his first Most Improved Player accolades. He landed on his first all-conference nod with a second-team honor. He is the first Sixth Man of the Year since Altron Jackson in 2001. He averaged 14.9 points per game with 3.0 rebounds per contest. He tallied 40 assists, 19 steals, and eight blocks. He produced 16 games in double figures, with three games of 20 or more. He recorded a career-high 25 points in the win against No. 24 Florida Atlantic on February 18. He produced a career-high three blocks against UAB on January 7. He finished conference play shooting 79.1 percent from the free-throw line, 41.4 percent from the field, and 33.3 percent from 3-point range.
Jayden Reid was named to the AAC All-Freshman Team. He finished his first year with 5.7 points per game and 2.3 rebounds a contest. He led the team with 47 assists. He added 21 steals. He tied a career-high five field goals made against Temple on January 4, where he finished with 14 points. He tallied three games in double digits during conference play. He dished out six assists in the win against Tulane on March 3. He shot 53.8 percent from 3-point range, 42.9 percent from the field, and 72.5 percent from the free throw line.
American Athletic Conference Accolades
Players of the Year
Johnell Davis, Jr., G, Florida Atlantic
Chris Youngblood, Sr., G, South Florida
Coach of the Year
Amir Abdur-Rahim, South Florida*
Defensive Player of the Year
Yaxel Lendeborg, Jr., F, UAB
Freshman of the Year
PJ Haggerty, G, Tulsa*
Most Improved Player
Selton Miguel, Sr., G, South Florida
Sixth Man of the Year
Selton Miguel, Sr., G, South Florida*
Sportsmanship Award
Sion James, Jr., G, Tulane
All-Conference First Team
Yaxel Lendeborg, Jr., F, UAB
Johnell Davis, Jr., G, Florida Atlantic*
David Jones, Sr., G, Memphis
Jason Edwards, So., G, North Texas
Chris Youngblood, Sr., G, South Florida
All-Conference Second Team
Lu'Cye Patterson, Jr., G, Charlotte
Vladislav Goldin, Jr., C, Florida Atlantic
Alijah Martin, Jr., G, Florida Atlantic
Selton Miguel, Sr., G, South Florida
Zhuric Phelps, Jr., G, SMU
All-Conference Third Team
Igor Milicic Jr, Jr., F, Charlotte
RJ Felton, Jr., G, East Carolina
Jahvon Quinerly, Sr., G, Memphis
Kevin Cross, Sr., F, Tulane
PJ Haggerty, Fr., G, Tulsa
All-Freshman Team
Keanu Dawes, F, Rice*
Jayden Reid, G, South Florida*
Zion Stanford, G, Temple
Tyshawn Archie, G, Tulsa
PJ Haggerty, G, Tulsa*
Matt Reed, F, Tulsa
* denotes unanimous selection
Next Up
The Bulls begin the American Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday, March 15, in Fort Worth, Texas. South Florida, the No. 1 seed, will play the winner of the No. 8 East Carolina and the No. 9 Tulsa matchup at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
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About USF Men's Basketball
The South Florida men's basketball team is led by Amir Abdur-Rahim, who was named the 11th head coach in program history on March 29, 2023. Abdur-Rahim was named the 2023 Mid-Major Coach of the Year (Hugh Durham Award) after leading Kennesaw State to its first-ever Division I NCAA Tournament berth in 2022-23. Abdur-Rahim's Kennesaw State team set an NCAA record as the fastest team to ever reach the NCAA Tournament after a one-win campaign, accomplishing the feat in a span of just three seasons. He was also named the 2022-23 NABC District 3 and ASUN Coach of the Year after leading Kennesaw State to both the regular season and tournament titles, and a school-record 26 wins.
USF has retired three numbers in its 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.
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