American Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year
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The American Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year is a basketball award given to the American Conference's most outstanding head coach. The conference formed in 2013–14 after many schools departed from the original Big East Conference to form their own conference. The conference was called the American Athletic Conference from its inception up until July 21, 2025, at which time it was formally rebranded. Mick Cronin of Cincinnati was the first-ever winner.[1]
| Awarded for | The most outstanding basketball coach in the American Conference |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| History | |
| First award | 2014 |
| Most recent | Bryan Hodgson, South Florida |
Key
| Awarded one of the following National Coach of the Year awards that year: Associated Press Coach of the Year (AP) | |
| Coach (X) | Denotes the number of times the coach had been awarded the Coach of the Year award at that point |
* |
Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach but is no longer active |
*^ |
Active coach who has been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame (as a coach) |
| Conf. W–L | Conference win–loss record for that season |
| Conf. St.T | Conference standing at year's end (Tdenotes a tie) |
| Overall W–L | Overall win–loss record for that season |
| Season‡ | Team won the NCAA Division I National Championship |
Winners
| Season | Coach | School | National Coach of the Year Awards | Conf. W–L | Conf. St. | Overall W–L | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–14 | Mick Cronin | Cincinnati | — | 15–3 | 1stT | 27–7 | [1] |
| 2014–15 | Fran Dunphy | Temple | — | 13–5 | 3rdT | 26–11 | [2] |
| 2015–16 | Fran Dunphy (2) | Temple | — | 14–4 | 1st | 21–12 | [3] |
| 2016–17 | Tim Jankovich | SMU | — | 17–1 | 1st | 30–5 | [4] |
| 2017–18 | Kelvin Sampson | Houston | — | 14–4 | 2ndT | 27–8 | [5] |
| 2018–19 | Kelvin Sampson (2) | Houston | — | 16–2 | 1st | 33–4 | [6] |
| 2019–20 | Frank Haith | Tulsa | — | 13–5 | 1stT | 21–10 | [7] |
| 2020–21 | Isaac Brown | Wichita State | — | 11–2 | 1st | 16–6 | [8] |
| 2021–22 | Kelvin Sampson (3) | Houston | — | 15–3 | 1st | 32–6 | [9] |
| 2022–23 | Kelvin Sampson (4) | Houston | — | 17–1 | 1st | 33–4 | [10] |
| 2023–24 | Amir Abdur-Rahim | South Florida | — | 16–2 | 1st | 25–8 | [11] |
| 2024–25 | Penny Hardaway[a] | Memphis | — | 16–2 | 1st | 29–6 | [12] |
| 2025–26 | Bryan Hodgson | South Florida | — | 15–3 | 1st | 23-8 | [13] |
Winners by school
In this table, the "year joined" reflects the calendar year when each school joined the conference. The "Years" column reflects the calendar year in which each award was presented.
| School (year joined) | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Houston (2013)[a 1] | 4 | 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 |
| South Florida (2013) | 2 | 2024, 2026 |
| Temple (2013) | 2 | 2015, 2016 |
| Cincinnati (2013)[a 1] | 1 | 2014 |
| SMU (2013) | 1 | 2017 |
| Tulsa (2014) | 1 | 2020 |
| Wichita State (2017) | 1 | 2021 |
| Memphis (2013) | 1 | 2025 |
| East Carolina (2014) | 0 | — |
| Louisville (2013)[a 2] | 0 | — |
| Rutgers (2013)[a 2] | 0 | — |
| Tulane (2014) | 0 | — |
| UCF (2013)[a 1] | 0 | — |
| UConn (2013)[a 3] | 0 | — |
Footnotes
- An honorary award was also presented to Amir Abdur-Rahim of South Florida, who died shortly before the start of the 2024–25 season.