# 2019–20 Conference USA men's basketball season

The 2019–20 Conference USA men's basketball season began with practices in October 2019, followed by the start of the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play started in late December 2019 and will end in March 2020, after which 12 member teams will participate in the 2020 Conference USA tournament at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The tournament champion is guaranteed a selection to the 2020 NCAA tournament.

## Preseason

Western Kentucky was picked as the favorite in the champion in the preseason poll of Conference USA's fourteen coaches.

### Preseason Poll

| 1. | WKU (13) |
| 2. | UTSA (1) |
| 3. | Louisiana Tech |
| 4. | UTEP |
| 5. | Old Dominion |
| 6. | UAB |
| 7. | North Texas |
| 8. | Middle Tennessee |
| 9. | Florida Atlantic |
| 10. | FIU |
| 11. | Marshall |
| 12. | Charlotte |
| 13. | Rice |
| 14. | Southern Miss |
 first place votes

### Preseason All-Conference teams

* Media
* Devon Andrews FIU
* Jailyn Ingram Florida Atlantic
* DaQuan Bracey Louisiana Tech
* Antonio Green Middle Tennessee
* Xavier Green Old Dominion
* Zack Bryant UAB
* Jhivvan Jackson UTSA
* Keaton Wallace UTSA
* Taveion Hollingsworth WKU
* Charles Bassey WKU

## Head coaches
### Coaching changes

On April 11, 2019, Southern Miss head coach Doc Sadler announced his resignation after 5 seasons at the school. 6 days later, the Eagles hired Southeastern Louisiana head coach and Southern Miss alum Jay Ladner for the head coaching job.

### Coaches

| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Year at school | Overall record | C-USA record | C-USA championships | NCAA Tournaments |
| Charlotte | Ron Sanchez | Virginia (asst.) | 2 | 8–21 | 5–13 | 0 | 0 |
| FIU | Jeremy Ballard | VCU (asst.) | 2 | 20–14 | 10–8 | 0 | 0 |
| Florida Atlantic | Dusty May | Florida (asst.) | 2 | 17–16 | 8–10 | 0 | 0 |
| Louisiana Tech | Eric Konkol | Miami (asst.) | 6 | 129–65 | 67–39 | 0 | 0 |
| Marshall | Dan D'Antoni | Los Angeles Lakers (asst.) | 6 | 96–77 | 52–38 | 1 | 1 |
| Middle Tennessee | Nick McDevitt | UNC Asheville | 2 | 11–21 | 8–10 | 0 | 0 |
| North Texas | Grant McCasland | Arkansas State | 3 | 41–30 | 16–20 | 0 | 0 |
| Old Dominion | Jeff Jones | American | 7 | 140–67 | 73–32 | 1 | 1 |
| Rice | Scott Pera | Rice (asst.) | 3 | 20–43 | 12–24 | 0 | 0 |
| Southern Miss | Jay Ladner | Southeastern Louisiana | 1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 | 0 |
| UAB | Robert Ehsan | UAB (asst.) | 4 | 57–44 | 29–25 | 0 | 0 |
| UTEP | Rodney Terry | Fresno State | 2 | 8–21 | 3–15 | 0 | 0 |
| UTSA | Steve Henson | Oklahoma (asst.) | 4 | 51–49 | 29–25 | 0 | 0 |
| WKU | Rick Stansbury | Texas A&M (asst.) | 4 | 62–42 | 34–20 | 0 | 0 |
Notes:
* All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
* Year at school includes 2019–20 season.
* Overall and C-USA records are from time at current school and are through the end of the 2018–19 season.

## Conference matrix

| | Charlotte | Florida International | Florida Atlantic | Louisiana Tech | Marshall | Middle Tennessee | North Texas | Old Dominion | Rice | Southern Miss | UAB | UTEP | UTSA | Western Kentucky |
| vs. Charlotte | – | 0−1 | 0−1 | 1−0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1−0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1−1 |
| vs. FIU | 1−0 | – | 0−2 | 1−0 | 1–0 | 0−1 | 1−0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0−1 |
| vs. Florida Atlantic | 1−0 | 2−0 | – | 1−0 | 0−1 | 0−1 | 1−0 | 1−0 | 0−1 | 1−0 | 1−1 | 0−1 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| vs. Louisiana Tech | 0−1 | 0−1 | 0–1 | – | 1–0 | 0−1 | 1−1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1−0 |
| vs. Marshall | 1−0 | 0−1 | 1–0 | 0−1 | – | 0–1 | 1−0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2−0 |
| vs. Middle Tennessee | 1−0 | 1−0 | 1–0 | 1−0 | 1–0 | – | 1−0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1−0 |
| vs. North Texas | 0−1 | 0−1 | 0–1 | 1−1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | – | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1−0 |
| vs. Old Dominion | 1−1 | 1−0 | 0–1 | 1−0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1−0 | – | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1−0 |
| vs. Rice | 0−1 | 0−1 | 1–0 | 1−0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1−1 | 1–0 | – | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1−0 |
| vs. Southern Miss | 0−1 | 0−1 | 0–1 | 2−0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1−0 | 1–0 | 0−1 | – | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1−0 |
| vs. UAB | 1−0 | 1−0 | 1–1 | 1−0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1−0 | 1–0 | 1−0 | 1–0 | – | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0−1 |
| vs. UTEP | 1−0 | 1−0 | 1–0 | 1−0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1−0 | 1–0 | 0−2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | – | 1–1 | 1−0 |
| vs. UTSA | 1−0 | 1−0 | 1–0 | 0−1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1−0 | 0–1 | 0−1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | – | 1−0 |
| vs. WKU | 1−1 | 1−0 | 1–0 | 0−1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0−1 | 0–1 | 0−1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0−1 | – |
| Total | 9–6 | 8–6 | 7–8 | 11–4 | 8–7 | 3–12 | 12–3 | 7–8 | 5–10 | 5–10 | 7–8 | 5–10 | 6–8 | 11–4 |

## All-Conference Teams and Awards

| Award | Recipients |
| Player of the Year | Javion Hamlet (North Texas) |
| Coach of the Year | Grant McCasland (North Texas) |
| First Team | DaQuan Bracey (Louisiana Tech) Javion Hamlet (North Texas) Bryson Williams (UTEP) Jhivvan Jackson (UTSA) Taveion Hollingsworth (Western Kentucky) |
| Second Team | Devon Andrews (FIU) Osasumwen Osaghae (FIU) Taevion Kinsey (Marshall) Umoja Gibson (North Texas) Keaton Wallace (UTSA) |
| Third Team | Jahmir Young (Charlotte) Jordan Shepherd (Charlotte) Jarrod West (Marshall) Carson Williams (Western Kentucky) Jared Savage (Western Kentucky) |
| All-Freshman Team | Jahmir Young (Charlotte) Andrew Taylor (Marshall) Tyson Jackson (Middle Tennessee) Jalen Benjamin (UAB) Jordan Rawls (Western Kentucky) |
| All-Defensive Team | Malik Martin (Charlotte) Osasumwen Osaghae (FIU) Derric Jean (Louisiana Tech) Jarrod West (Marshall) Aaron Carver (Old Dominion) Jared Savage (Western Kentucky) |