IRVING, Texas \u2013 The American Conference will host its 2026 American Tipoff on Sunday and Monday, October 11\u201312, at the JW Marriott Tampa in Tampa, Florida, for both men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball programs to officially usher in the upcoming season.<\/p>\n
Representing UTSA men’s basketball will be third-year head coach Austin Claunch<\/a>, sophomore Dorian Hayes<\/a> and senior Isaiah Watts<\/a>. Representing UTSA women’s basketball will be sixth-year head coach Karen Aston<\/a>, senior Idara Udo<\/a> and sophomore Adriana Robles<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tampa will host the American\u2019s signature preseason event for the first time, gathering all 26 head coaches and 52 student-athletes, representing 13 men\u2019s and 13 women\u2019s teams across the conference, for two days of media interviews and behind-the-scenes content creation.<\/p>\n Team rotations will begin at 12:00 p.m. CT on Sunday and will continue Monday morning, highlighted by a live broadcast on ESPN+. Hosted by Maria Trivelpiece, Mike O\u2019Donnell and Brooke Weisbrod, the show will offer exclusive insights, feature interviews and season previews with head coaches and student-athletes from all 26 American basketball programs. Live coverage of the 2026 American Tipoff starts Monday at 7:00 a.m. CT.<\/p>\n