Quinones, Carlyle Earn Preseason Praise from the American Coaches

IRVING, Texas – The American Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll and Honors have been announced, and Florida Atlantic's Felipe Quinones and Kanaan Carlyle each earned honors in voting by the league's 13 head coaches, as announced on Friday.

Quinones becomes the second Owl in as many years to be voted as American Preseason Freshman of the Year, while Carlyle was voted to the Preseason All-Conference First Team. Felipe Quinones Freshman of the Year

"Kanaan and Felipe are a key part of the foundation of our team moving forward, and each are well-deserving of their respective honor as voted on by the league's coaches," said Head Coach John Jakus. "Preseason acclaim is great to receive, and in the end, those are team awards. If those honors hold, it's only because the team did its job."

Quinones comes to the Owls as a consensus four-star recruit out of Christopher Columbus High School in Miami. The incoming freshman guard and native of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, was ranked #74 by ESPN in its SCNext 100, as the #14 overall shooting guard, and as the #11 player from the state of Florida, with an 84 Scout Grade.

Carlyle returns for his second year as an Owl. The senior guard, hailing from Atlanta, is coming off a season where he averaged 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game, with shooting splits of .409/.324/.854. He set career highs nearly across the board in 2025-26, and is the second-leading scorer among all returning American Conference players.

The American Conference will also host its 2026 American Tipoff this Sunday and Monday in Tampa, Florida, bringing together both men's and women's basketball programs to officially usher in the upcoming season. Representing the men at the American's signature preseason event will be Coach Jakus, Carlyle, and senior guard Jelani Hamilton.

The Owls, voted eighth in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, are just over three weeks away from the opening game of the 2026-27 season, hosting LIU on Monday, Nov. 2 on Abessinio Court at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.

Here is the full list of the preseason players honored and the team poll:

Preseason Player of the Year
Je'Shawn Stevenson, Jr., G, UNT

Preseason Freshman of the Year
Felipe Quinones, Fr., G, Florida Atlantic

Preseason First Team All-Conference
Kanaan Carlyle, Sr., G, Florida Atlantic
Preseason Second Team All-Conference
Jayden Reid, Sr., G, Memphis
Je'Shawn Stevenson, Jr., G, UNT
Sonny Wilson, Sr., G, South Florida
Will Berg, R-Sr., C, Wichita State

Justyn Fernandez, Sr., G, UAB
Deuce Jones, Jr., G, UAB
Tylik Weeks, Sr., F, Memphis
Derrian Ford, 5th, G, Temple
Gavin Griffiths, Sr., G, Temple
Dillon Battie, Jr., F, Wichita State
Jordan Frison, Sr., G, Wichita State

Preseason Coaches' Poll
(# in parentheses is first place votes)

Wichita State (9) – 140
Memphis (4) – 131
South Florida – 118
Tulsa – 99
Charlotte – 95
UAB – 89
UNT – 84
Florida Atlantic – 75
Temple – 61
Tulane – 52
East Carolina – 34
Rice – 22
UTSA – 14

2026-27 MEN'S BASKETBALL INFO
To see the 2026-27 schedule, click here, and to view the team's roster, click here.

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