2022-23 preseason player of the year picks for every D-I conference

It’s not easy to track all of the moving pieces in men’s college basketball in the transfer portal era. This offseason saw over 1,800 players entering and exiting the transfer portal. Others made last-minute decisions about leaving college or staying — some of it based on NIL (name, image and likeness) opportunities. Some top recruits decommitted from their original choices and recommitted to other programs, and others reclassified.

One of the biggest consequences of this movement: some of the mid-major leagues lost nearly every player on their 2021-22 all-conference teams to other leagues. But the transformation of the sport’s landscape has created more intriguing player of the year races in each conference.

After focusing on the top coaches of every conference, and with the rosters more or less set as we approach the 2022-23 season, we predict the preseason player of the year in every Division I league — with the knowledge that, come March, this list might look different. We also pick each player’s strongest competition for the honor.

Navigate to each league:

American | America East | ACC | ASUN | A-10| Big 12 | Big East | Big Sky | Big South | Big Ten | Big West | CAA | C-USA | Horizon | Ivy | MAAC | MAC | MEAC | MVC | MW | NEC | OVC | Pac-12 | Patriot | SEC | SoCon | Southland | SWAC | Summit | Sun Belt | WCC | WAC

American Athletic Conference

Marcus Sasser | 6-2| G | Houston Cougars

Before suffering a season-ending foot injury midway through last season, Sasser (17.7 PPG, 44% from 3) led a Houston squad that averaged 116 points per 100 possessions and held opponents to just 79 points per 100 possessions when he was on the court, according to HoopLens.com data.

Top competition: Kendric Davis | 6-0 | G | Memphis Tigers

Last season’s AAC player of the year averaged 19.4 PPG and shot 40% from 3 in SMU’s half-court offense, per Synergy Sports data.

America East Conference

Dylan Penn | 6-foot-3 | G | Vermont Catamounts

Penn (16.6 PPG,…