ESPN’s Andy Katz has looked into his crystal ball and declared that the Memphis Tigers will begin next year as the top-ranked college basketball team in the country.
“Why not Memphis?” Katz asks, then proceeds to explain. Why not, indeed?
Why not tab the Tigers as a possible pre-preseason No. 1?
The deadline to declare for the NBA draft was Sunday night. Of all the potential favorites, Memphis was the only team that didn’t get hit. And if you watched any of the high school all-star games the past month, you know the Tigers are adding one of the best players in the country in big guard Derrick Rose.
So add Rose, along with another high school senior stud in wing Jeff Robinson, to a core of players like Chris Douglas-Roberts, Robert Dozier, Joey Dorsey, Antonio Anderson, Doneal Mack, Willie Kemp, Andre Allen and Kareem Cooper, and you have the makings of a potential national champ.
Remember, this core group has been in back-to-back Elite Eight games. They have the experience. They are clearly winners. The only departure is senior Jeremy Hunt, whose toughness, according to Memphis coach John Calipari, will be replaced by Rose.
“It’s scary,” Calipari said Sunday. “Everybody lost somebody except for us.
Read the rest of Katz’ story.
