Tag: Memphis Tigers basketball

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Big Game Players

INDvMEM Indy Eleven vs Memphis 901 FC .07/23/2022.IUPUI Michael A. Carroll Stadium.Indianapolis, IN.Photo: Don Thompson

The Memphis Grizzlies and Ja Morant reached new heights in 2022, the team tying a franchise record with 56 wins as the player started his first All-Star Game and earned second-team All-NBA accolades. Better yet, the Griz became the youngest team in NBA history to win as many as 55 games, good enough to earn the franchise its first Southwest Division championship. It turns out that leading the NBA in rebounding, steals, and blocks is a good thing, as Memphis finished the 2021-22 campaign with the second-best mark in the entire league, this despite Morant missing 25 games with various ailments. The Grizzlies turned aside Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs before fizzling out against the title-bound Golden State Warriors. It was the kind of season that leaves a fan base wanting even more. Lots more.

The Tigers — both basketball and football — had “yes but” seasons in 2022. Penny Hardaway’s hoop squad reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in eight years, but wasn’t able to reach the big dance’s second weekend (extending a drought that dates back to 2009). Highlights of the season on the hardwood included a pair of wins over top-10 foes (Alabama and Houston). On the gridiron, the Tigers reached bowl eligibility for the ninth straight season, but finished merely 6-6 (a second straight year). Coach Ryan Silverfield will be back for a fourth season, but expectations — both within the program and outside — are high and heavy for 2023.

The Memphis Redbirds fell short of the playoffs in their first season in the International League, but a pair of players achieved some history for the franchise. Outfielder Moisés Gómez slammed 16 home runs for Memphis after being promoted from Double-A Springfield (where he had hit 23) to establish a new minor-league record for the St. Louis Cardinals with 39 bombs for the season. And Alec Burleson — another rising outfielder — hit .331 to win the International League batting title, the first such crown in Redbirds history.

Memphis 901 FC catapulted the organization to new heights, thanks to stellar player recruitment from the front office, coach Ben Pirmann’s tactical tweaking and man-management, and team-of-the-season performances from multiple players. There were plenty of things to be happy about. Memphis finished the year with a 22-8-6 record, racking up the franchise’s highest season totals for wins, points, and goals scored. 2022 saw a first ever playoff win for the organization, a 3-1 victory over Detroit City FC, before the team just missed out on the conference finals with a tight loss to the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Along the way, striker Phillip Goodrum tallied 21 goals, midfielder Aaron Molloy chipped in with 8 goals and 10 assists, and defender Graham Smith marshaled the team to 11 clean sheets. Once the dust fell, 901 FC quickly announced contract extensions for all three players, each of whom were named in either the first or second USL All-League teams. And plenty of other key players had their contracts extended, including captain Leston Paul. The only sour note is that Pirmann announced his exit from the club, accepting the head coaching role with Charleston Battery FC. But looking back, this squad made Memphis and its AutoZone Park matchday fans proud. After a couple years, 901 FC showed that it belongs in the USL.

Meanwhile, sports infrastructure got a big boost when Mayor Jim Strickland announced an ambitious $684 million proposal to renovate the FedExForum, Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, and AutoZone Park. Plus, the plan called for a new soccer-first Memphis 901 FC stadium (with options to host other programming and events). The city is asking the state of Tennessee to cover $350 million after seeing Nashville’s plans for a new $2 billion stadium for the Tennessee Titans, with state assistance. But nothing’s set in stone.

Youth sports have a shiny new home in the Memphis Sports & Event Center (MSEC) at Liberty Park. At 227,000 square feet, the $60 million complex’s enormous footprint can accommodate young athletes for anything indoor sports related, from basketball to futsal to volleyball and so many others. While final construction won’t be complete until early next year, Liberty Park began showing off the new facilities in December, and it’s enough to get any sports fan excited.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Tigers Tip-Off Hardaway’s Fifth Season with New Roster

Penny Hardaway (photo by Larry Kuzniewski)

The pinnacle of the Coach Penny Hardaway era at the University of Memphis — now four years and counting — was halftime of the Tigers’ NCAA tournament game against Gonzaga on March 19, 2022. Playing in the program’s first “March Madness” since 2014, Memphis led the country’s top-ranked team by 10 points, a spot in the Sweet 16 (for the first time since 2009) there for the taking. Alas, Tiger shooting went cold, the Zags rallied, and another season ended for the U of M and its considerable fan base.

Among the 10 players who played in that game for Memphis, seven have moved on. And here’s the twist to that reality: All seven could have returned for another season in blue and gray. Everyone knew star freshman Jalen Duren was “one and done” and he was chosen by Charlotte with the 13th pick in the NBA draft (then traded to Detroit). Josh Minott went to Minnesota in the second round and Lester Quinones also found his way to the pros (Golden State, as an undrafted free agent). But also gone, via transfer, are Landers Nolley, Tyler Harris, Earl Timberlake, and last year’s recruiting sensation, Emoni Bates. Those seven players would make a rotation all but certain to qualify for another Big Dance. Instead, Hardaway was left to build his fifth roster virtually from scratch.

Such is life with the transfer portal in modern college hoops. Hardaway pivoted quickly and lured the 2022 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year — point guard Kendric Davis — from SMU. Davis led the AAC with 19.4 points per game last season and will be playing for this third program in five years (he spent the 2018-19 season at TCU). Two other transfers — both guards — may well find themselves in Hardaway’s starting lineup for the season opener at Vanderbilt (November 7th): Keonte Kennedy (late of UTEP) and Elijah McCadden (Georgia Southern). Kennedy averaged 14.1 points and pulled down 6.1 rebounds per game last season for the Miners while McCadden’s numbers with the Eagles were 11.7 and 4.6, good enough for the Sun Belt’s Sixth Man honors.

“We’re an older group,” acknowledges McCadden (a fifth-year senior), “so we’re gelling. We know what we’re here to do. We want to win. We have one main goal, and not a lot of years to grow together. We’ll make the most of the short time we have.”

There will, in fact, be a few familiar faces in uniform for the Tigers. Guard Alex Lomax has spent a full decade — since middle school — playing for Hardaway and returns for a fifth college season. (Remember, players were granted a bonus year of eligibility when the pandemic restricted play in 2020-21.) Then there’s forward DeAndre Williams, back for a third season with the Tigers at the tender age of 26. Williams was second to Duren on last year’s team in both scoring (11.1 points per game) and rebounds (5.8). Expect both figures to grow this season for Williams, named (along with Davis) to the AAC’s preseason all-conference team.

“As a unit, they have to do more than play basketball,” says Hardaway. “They have to hang together off the court. Understand each other on all levels. That carries over. They have to develop an identity early: Who do we want to be? And live up to that identity every single night. I want it to be about toughness. And defense.”

Even with the roster turnover, the offseason was good to Hardaway. The program is finally out from under a three-year cloud, an NCAA-mandated agency (IARP) all but absolving Hardaway from wrongdoing in the recruiting of James Wiseman. So no suspension and no exclusion from upcoming NCAA tournaments (should the Tigers qualify). Then in October, the U of M announced a six-year contract extension that should keep Hardaway on the Memphis bench at least until 2028. Plenty of time for this city’s most famous basketball son to win his first conference title (the Tigers were picked to finish second, behind Houston) and get his alma mater back to the Sweet 16 or, dare it be dreamed, the Final Four.

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Sports Tiger Blue

When the “Smoke” Clears

Emoni Bates (Photo by Larry Kuzniewski)

It appears the 2021-22 Memphis Tigers will leave their mark on the history books. Or maybe we should call it a scar. Unless they manage to win the American Athletic Conference tournament in March — and thus qualify for the program’s first NCAA tournament in eight years — these Tigers will lead conversations about the most disappointing teams in U of M history. A team that opened the season ranked 12th in the AP poll — and many felt that position wasn’t high enough — is currently 9-7 and nowhere near the Top 25. Worse, the Tigers are merely 3-3 in the AAC (despite wins over Wichita State and Cincinnati). Six AAC teams have fewer league losses, with Houston (4-0) at the top of the standings.

The Tigers’ latest face-plant occurred last Saturday at East Carolina, when Memphis blew a 10-point lead over the game’s final three minutes and lost by a single point on a buzzer-beater. The game came down to the Tigers defending an in-bounds play with a single second left on the clock. They didn’t. The ECU crowd stormed the court and the Tigers flew home, tail firmly tucked between their legs. Again.

These Tigers rarely play at full strength. Covid protocols and injuries have reduced coach Penny Hardaway’s once-too-deep roster to as few as six or seven scholarship players at times. Perhaps the Tigers beat the Pirates last weekend if DeAndre Williams and Landers Nolley had played. Surely they beat Tulane on December 29th had Williams and freshman sensation Emoni Bates not been sidelined. (They lost by a single point.)

But the limited roster isn’t an excuse, not as measured over the course of a full season. The Tigers faced Georgia with the Bulldogs down their top guard. The Bulldogs won the game. Good teams adjust their tactics and find ways to win. Even bad teams, like Georgia, must do this now and then. The first and most important skill in sports is being available. Staying healthy. Suiting up on game day. Players unable to perform when the lights glow should not be considered championship caliber.

How are we to measure Hardaway at this point? Since he took the job in March 2018, the best skill Hardaway and his players have displayed is swagger. He and they want “all the smoke.” It became a social-media rallying cry, a mantra of sorts for a program emerging from the lost chances of his predecessors, Josh Pastner and Tubby Smith. Pastner led the Tigers to the NCAA tournament four years in a row. But he was skewered for not doing more with the rosters he loaded with prime talent. Smith spent two awkward winters in Memphis, winning more games than he lost, but with junior college transfers leading the way. Penny Hardaway would erase all that disappointment. He would bring “pros” to Memphis, as John Calipari did for a glorious four-year run of late-March basketball. But swagger without results is merely posturing.

There’s one more disturbing variable to this season’s mess (so far): the Larry Brown factor. The Hall of Fame coach joined Hardaway’s staff as somewhat of a Yoda to Hardaway’s Luke Skywalker. He would bring wisdom and the attention to important details — be it development of players or in-game strategy — that should make Hardaway the best Division I coach he could be. Well, if Brown has been a positive factor, it means the Tigers would be worse than 9-7 without him. This is not math Penny Hardaway wants to calculate in quiet moments.

There are 12 regular-season games to play. Maybe DeAndre Williams is the difference, and when (if?) he returns, the Tigers will find a groove. Seven of those games are at FedExForum, where Memphis has secured big wins over 6th-ranked Alabama and Cincinnati. Should the Tigers go 10-2 the rest of the way, would a 19-9 record attract an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament? I wouldn’t bet on it, not with those losses at Tulane and East Carolina (and UCF). Hardaway, Brown and friends must treat the next six weeks like training for the AAC tournament (March 10-13 in Fort Worth). Hardaway has seen an under-performing group rally to win a tournament in Texas (the 2021 NIT). Why not win another one in 2022?

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Sports Tiger Blue

Tiger Trauma

Jalen Duren (Credit: Larry Kuzniewski)

Penny Hardaway had the table set for a winter of feasting on the hardwood. To take the metaphor further, the University of Memphis basketball coach had a pair of top-five recruits to serve as the meat and potatoes for his 2021-22 team, a healthy number of veterans to provide vitamins and minerals, and for dessert, a Hall of Fame assistant coach, here to sweeten Hardaway’s game-day tactical skills. Year four of the Coach Hardaway Era merely needed to seat the guests.

Then along came Iowa State. And Georgia. And Ole Miss. In a matter of nine days — and not yet officially winter — the Tiger table was toppled.

How bad are things, truly? How close to the panic button should Tiger fans have their fingers? There’s no getting around it: Losses to the Cyclones, Dawgs, and Rebels shouldn’t have happened, not if you look at the respective rosters “on paper.” If Memphis can’t beat teams like Georgia (2-5 and missing its point guard), the Tigers will not be playing on the second weekend of the NCAA tournament … the minimum expectation for this year’s team.

Forget tactics and strategy, though. Here are three intangibles the Memphis Tigers must confront and consider if their season is to be salvaged.

Ego. Every member of the Tigers’ rotation was the star of his high school (or AAU) team. And every member of the Tigers’ rotation is not as good at basketball as he thinks he is right now. Same goes for the head coach, or he wouldn’t be examining film from a three-game losing streak. Among this group of nine or 10 men, who can suppress his ego over the next three months for the better of his team’s mission? Can Emoni Bates and Jalen Duren forget their current NBA stock (it’s falling), and work at being more valuable to the Tigers’ cause when no one besides their teammates and coaches is watching? Can senior DeAndre Williams give up playing time for a freshman (Josh Minott)? Can fundamentals — crisp passing, floor spacing, moving without the ball — take priority over “highlight plays”? Can the city’s most popular basketball presence acknowledge shortcomings long enough to improve the atmosphere surrounding his team? These are big questions for the winter ahead.

Patience. This seems counterintuitive. A quarter of the Tigers’ regular season is history. If a 5-3 team aspires to play in the NCAA tournament, it needs to get better right now. But here’s the uncomfortable catch: Memphis will not play its best basketball of the season this Friday when Murray State visits FedExForum. And that shouldn’t be expected. The assignment from the coaching staff must be to play better basketball than they did in last Saturday’s loss at Ole Miss. Steady improvement will bring wins, not every game, but in several games … if the improvement is steady. And this is where the Tigers face their largest mental challenge. Young men are impatient. Teenagers like Bates and Duren don’t know how to spell the word. Performance equals reward … that’s the world young basketball stars know and understand. But that’s not reality for the Tiger team currently taking the floor. This is a group that must climb a ladder toward success, toward its best group effort. We won’t see it in December, but might we in March?

Resolve. The Tigers’ next three games — Murray State, Alabama, and Tennessee — will be more challenging than the last three. Yikes. Memphis could enter conference play (December 29th at Tulane) with a record at or below .500. The Tigers will not likely reappear in the Top 25 until they reel off a few wins against American Athletic Conference rivals. And this is the key to everything. If Memphis can win the AAC (regular season or tournament), the Tigers will play in the Big Dance. Coaches picked them to finish second (behind Houston). The way they’ve looked of late, a top-three finish would be a surprise. So surprise the world. No one relishes being overlooked — the dis, the snub — more than a Memphis Tiger. It’s part of the culture that sticks to this team, one season or coach after another. Can Penny Hardaway and his band of talented players keep their eyes on the AAC prize? The Tiger basketball program has yet to raise AAC hardware. However painful their last three games may feel, this Memphis team can still make history.

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Tiger Trials: Penny Hardaway’s Team Still Looking for the Smoke

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Let’s start with the positive. The 2019-20 Memphis Tigers will post a winning record, making it 20 consecutive such seasons, an unprecedented stretch for a program that has existed now for more than a century. The Tigers have beaten three teams from “Power Five” conferences (they beat none in Penny Hardaway’s first season as head coach), including regional villains Ole Miss and Tennessee (the latter in Knoxville). The Tigers have suited up arguably the finest freshman in the country, Precious Achiuwa having averaged 15.8 points and 10.8 rebounds on his way to all-league recognition in the American Athletic Conference.

Alas, having finished fifth in the American Athletic Conference (with a record of 21-10, the Tigers may need to reach the final of this week’s AAC tourney in Forth Worth to land a berth in the NCAA tournament. The Tigers hope to avoid a six-year Big Dance drought, one that would equal the longest (1997-2002) since the famed 1973 team played UCLA for the national championship.

Larry Kuzniewski

Penny Hardaway

While they’ve beaten the Rebels and Vols, these Tigers also have a 40-point loss to Tulsa on their record, along with a dispiriting home loss to USF in early February that seriously damaged any hopes of a run to the Big Dance.

And finally, while they may feature the finest freshman in the country, his name is not James Wiseman. The Wiseman Case, as it will forever be known, is now in the hands of something called the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP), a new agency tasked by the NCAA to measure and resolve infractions. Based on the Memphis program’s track record — two of three Final Four appearances vacated — the fan base should prepare itself for a hammer it didn’t know existed six months ago. All the more threatening, there is no appeal process with the IARP.

“We’ve been through everything you can go through. We’re fighting. These guys are scrapping. I’m proud of the effort.”

— Penny Hardaway after the Tigers beat UConn on February 1st

We asumed last summer the story of these Tigers would be told with Wiseman front and center. We didn’t know the story would actually be told with Wiseman as merely background, offstage. The acclaimed recruit — the centerpiece among seven jewels in Hardaway’s second class — made the kind of debut in November that had the most stoic of Tiger observers swooning: 28 points and 11 rebounds in just 22 minutes of playing time. It proved to be a cruel tease.

Wiseman played in two more games, even after learning he’d been ruled “likely ineligible” by the NCAA for his family having received $11,500 for moving expenses from Hardaway in 2017. It didn’t matter that Hardaway was merely a high school coach at the time. (He coached Wiseman and East High to a state title in 2018.) After some back-and-forth, the team accepted a 12-game suspension for Wiseman, only to have the player withdraw from the program to begin training for his pro career. (Wiseman is expected to be a top-three pick in June’s NBA draft.) This was removing Jagger from the Stones. It was killing off Rachel after the first season of Friends. Hardaway found himself tasked with driving a muscle car . . . minus the steering wheel.

Then in late January, as the Tigers were practicing before a clash with Connecticut, D.J. Jeffries suffered ligament damage in his left knee. The Tigers were 15-5 at the time, thanks in large part to the impact Jeffries had made since joining the starting lineup in late November: 10.8 points per game, 4.3 rebounds, and 51 percent shooting from the field. If Achiuwa was the second-best player in Hardaway’s ballyhooed recruiting class, it became clear the pride of Olive Branch High School was third. Now Jeffries would be as absent as Wiseman for the remainder of the season.

Larry Kuzniewski

Precious Achiuwa

“They’re learning on the fly. The pressure is different on this level than it’s ever been in high school.”

— Penny Hardaway after the Tigers beat Temple on February 5th

The Tigers have clearly lacked veteran leadership on the floor. You don’t get doubled up (80-40!) at Tulsa with the right captain in charge. You don’t surrender the final 15 points in a four-point loss to SMU at home without the right floor general shifting the game’s direction.

Why the leadership void? Five senior starters departed after the 2018-19 season. Four of them were junior-college transfers recruited by Tubby Smith to play but two seasons in blue and gray. Smith brought that quartet to Memphis, of course, thinking he’d be the guy tasked with replacing them. When Smith was fired — and Hardaway hired — at the end of the 2017-18 campaign, a “class gap” was all but certain, and the hurt has been compounded by Wiseman’s absence.

There’s been no superstar center — no “unicorn” — to hide or erase shortcomings among a talented-but-green rotation of players whose roles have changed not just from one game to another, but within games. When Achiuwa and Lance Thomas went down late in that home loss to USF on February 8th, the Tigers finished a tight game with no semblance of a frontcourt. The Bulls grabbed 41 rebounds, 12 more than the Tigers in a game decided by two points.

Larry Kuzniewski

Alex Lomax

Lomax has emerged as arguably the best point guard in what amounts to a committee system utilized by Hardaway. He’s near the top of the American Athletic Conference with an average of 4.3 assists per game. But veteran judgment? The 6’0″ sophomore chose to drive the lane as the clock wound down in a tie game at Cincinnati on February 13th. Instead of dishing to Achiuwa or another forward, Lomax put up a shot that was blocked from behind. The Tigers lost in overtime.

“This is life,” acknowledges Lomax, who has played for Hardaway since middle school. “People hold you to certain standards and expect you to be somewhere. You’re gonna have your ups and downs, no matter what. Stick to the same routine, trust the same people, and don’t let outsiders spread you with negativity. In the end, you’ll be fine.”

Having grown up in Memphis, Lomax knows the intensity of Tiger basketball culture as well as anyone his age. He also knows his coach personifies that culture, dating back to Hardaway’s All-America playing days (1991-93).

In some respects, Lomax has witnessed Hardaway’s development as much as vice versa. “He’s done a great job,” says Lomax. “All the punches thrown his way, he’s found a way to swing back. You lose a starter every three or four weeks, you have to adjust. You can’t play the same way. Players have to step up before you intended them to. You have to grow up faster. He’s trusted us to do our job. And he always reminds us that this is the city’s team. We have to do it for the city. Especially all the fans and boosters. He goes all out, 24/7. It’s been fun for me to be by his side, and see him develop from when I was so young.”

“Where we started, we had a very deep team. We had size, we had shooting, we had speed, we had length. Where we are now . . . we’re just scrapping.” — Penny Hardaway after the Tigers lost to USF on January 12th

Few would describe Achiuwa’s play as “scrapping.” Amid the team’s various stumbles and face-plants, the freshman from Queens has left an imprint unlike many rookies in Tiger history. His 18 double-doubles are a Memphis freshman record and one more than the great Keith Lee had in 1981-82. Achiuwa is only the fourth Memphis freshman to pull down 300 rebounds and he’s 11 points from becoming just the tenth to score 500. He’s a “specimen,” to borrow a description from Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall, the kind college basketball gets to enjoy but for a single season these days.

Larry Kuzniewski

Lester Quinones

Though not as consistent as Achiuwa, Lester Quinones (a fellow freshman and New Yorker) has made his own impression on the Tiger program, and beyond his uncomfortably high — for some — shorts and air-guitar celebrations after connecting on a three-pointer. His flamboyance doesn’t mean Quinones hasn’t felt the growing pains. (At times, literally. He missed five games after breaking his right hand in the Ole Miss game.)

“We’ve lost way more games than we expected to,” says Quinones. “[It’s been crucial] for us to stay together and not let outside distractions interfere with where we’re trying to get . . . the NCAA tournament. We’re buying in more — and coming closer together — as the year goes on. No separation, because it’s been tough. Being the youngest team in the country, I feel like we’ve dealt with it pretty well. It’s hard to find a leader with just one senior on the team. We’re going to live up to expectations. We’ll get it done.”

So, what awaits the Tigers for the 2020-21 season? It’s hard to imagine the honeymoon being over for a third-year coach. This city’s love affair with Penny Hardaway runs deeper than most relationships between a community and college coach. It’s a different kind of belief system: This is Memphis, and he’s Penny. But as Hardaway has begun to emphasize, growth is necessary. Graduate transfers — veteran leadership, even if new to town — has become part of the sport’s culture. Look for a transfer or two to provide next year’s team an actual senior class. Among the five current freshmen who may be back — Achiuwa will be a first-round pick in the NBA draft — how many will return? These are variables to consider after the current Tigers play their final game. For now, hope remains, even if but a sliver.

“The low points have been losing our brothers out there,” says Lomax in reflecting on Wiseman and Jeffries. “It’s a family thing with us. But you gotta keep going, bring it together. At the end of the day, you can’t focus on the low points. Make a quick decision, keep your head up.”

And like Quinones, Lomax relishes the expectations of a passionate, if embattled, fan base. Whether it’s internal bravado or the “smoke” of national attention, he wouldn’t have it any other way. “This program can be the highest level,” he emphasizes. “We want to be number-one in the country. It’s not just basketball. We want to be number-one in everything. Fans don’t want mediocrity. We don’t either.”

Could the 2020-21 Tigers — however that roster is shaped, whatever the IARP decides — be a better team for the trials of this winter? “We can be better, just for having been through a lot,” notes Lomax. “Guys who have been here can teach the young guys. But every year’s different. And we’re focused on this year, still have a goal to accomplish.”

Even with possible sanctions looming (a postseason ban? a scholarship reduction?), Tiger basketball will be back in the spotlight, sometimes more so when games are not being played. Such is life for a program built as much on the bruises it’s absorbed as the nets it’s cut down.

“With the amount of players returning, we should have way more experience,” adds Quinones. “And [we’ll be] working hard this summer, expecting things might go south, and how we’ll recover. We’ll have that experience next year. Bigger goals. Bigger accomplishments.”

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Sports Tiger Blue

41 in 20

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

I spent the better part of last weekend trying to process what I saw early Saturday when Memphis point guard Jeremiah Martin scored 41 points in one half of a basketball game at USF. It’s the rare athletic performance one knows will not be witnessed again. A player with a career average of less than 15 points per game, with a career-high — for an entire game — of 33 points does not score 41 points in 20 minutes. But that’s precisely what the pride of Mitchell High School did on Saturday in Tampa, Florida.
Larry Kuzniewski

Jeremiah Martin

How does Martin’s Groundhog Day measure historically in these parts? Consider that only five Tigers have scored more than 41 points in an entire game. (The program record is 48 points by Larry Finch  against St. Joseph’s on January 20, 1973.) No Memphis player had scored as many as 40 since December 13, 1997 (Marcus Moody). Martin almost won the American Athletic Conference scoring title as a junior last season . . . but with an average of 18.9 points per game. He had scored as many as 30 — in a game — only twice before. For him to score more than two points per minute for an entire half of basketball? I was looking for that Blood Wolf Moon days after the celestial phenomenon had passed.

But here’s the uncomfortable sidebar to Martin’s extraordinary scoring surge: Where was Martin in the first half? In falling behind 27-1 over the game’s first 10 minutes, the Tigers played 30 minutes of catch-up basketball that required something Herculean — from somebody, anybody — just to make the game interesting. And against a team projected to finish dead last in the AAC. (USF, now 15-6, is making a nice statement on the credibility of preseason coaches’ polls.) Martin is as guilty as all his teammates (particularly his fellow starters) and the entire Tiger coaching staff for serial somnolence at tip-off this season, particularly when Memphis is playing on the road. Providing an opponent a 10-point cushion before the first media timeout is a prescription for stressful play. There are Tiger fans who missed Martin’s outburst because they turned the game off before halftime. 27-1? It was a warm, sunny Saturday in the Mid-South. Game off.

I kept watching the game. Started counting the three-pointers Martin made: three … five … eventually seven. Watched a player who averaged 2.7 points and 13.8 minutes as a freshman heat up like no Tiger ever has before. Not Finch, not Keith Lee, not Martin’s acclaimed and decorated head coach. It was unforeseen and unnatural. Sadly, it was part of a Memphis loss, so it will be swept away in the cliche we know and love best: “Individual performances mean nothing if the team doesn’t win.”

For those of us who saw Jeremiah Martin score 41 points in 20 minutes, it does, in fact, mean something. A legitimate lightning strike on the hardwood, and generated by one of the most likable Tigers to suit up this century. Here’s hoping “Peso” can spread his impact a bit more evenly over the season’s final month. But for that one game — that one half — on Groundhog Day in Tampa? Thank you.

• The Cincinnati Bearcats are not the Louisville Cardinals, but there’s no greater Memphis rival in the American Athletic Conference. Thursday night at FedExForum, Penny Hardaway will coach for the first time against the program that beat his Tigers three times in the 1991-92 season, including a 31-point beatdown in the NCAA tournament’s Midwest Regional final. These teams have played 77 times since 1968 (Memphis has won 44). Long before the AAC formed in 2013, they competed as members of the Missouri Valley Conference, then later the Metro, Great Midwest, and Conference USA. Cincinnati has brought villains to the Bluff City (Nick Van Exel, Danny Fortson, and Steve Logan to name just three) and Bearcats have been on the floor for historic Tiger wins (Larry Finch’s last as Memphis coach in 1997).  The Bearcats (19-3 and 8-1 in the AAC) are playing at a level Hardaway and his team have yet to reach. As Thursday opens a new chapter in this 50-year rivalry, the Tigers hope their revitalized home-court advantage might close the gap, at least for one night.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Familiar Foes

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

The single most memorable Tiger basketball game at FedExForum since the building opened (in 2004) is the Tennessee game played on February 23, 2008. That Saturday night, downtown Memphis was the center of the college basketball universe as top-ranked  and undefeated Memphis — led by freshman sensation Derrick Rose — faced the second-ranked Vols, a program surging at the time under third-year coach Bruce Pearl. Alas, the visitors snuck away with a win (66-62), though the outcome wasn’t decided until the final minute. The four-year-old Forum almost blew its lid.

Penny Hardaway’s Tigers will host the Vols this Saturday, the first time in almost six years the cross-state sometimes-rivals have played. It will be the first time in almost seven years that the Big Orange — basketball chapter — has taken the floor in Memphis, and only the third time since that one-two tussle of 2008. Ranked third in the country and slayers last weekend of top-ranked Gonzaga, the Vols make the 2018-19 Tiger season stronger merely by being on the schedule. Should the Tigers pull off an upset Saturday, the game could be a definitive snapshot from Hardaway’s rookie season as coach.
Larry Kuzniewski

The Bartow Bash

So why aren’t the Vols on the Tigers’ schedule every year? And what about UAB? (Memphis beat the Blazers last Saturday at FedExForum.) The UAB program is a Memphis cousin, having been founded by the great Gene Bartow, the coach who led the Tigers to the brink of a national championship in 1973. As fellow members, first, of the Great Midwest Conference (Hardaway remembers those days well) and later Conference USA, Memphis and UAB played each other every season from 1990-91 through 2012-13, usually twice and, now and then, three times (when they met in a league tourney). This wasn’t 1980s Memphis State-Louisville, but it was a familiar foe, a regional rival, and it felt good to beat the Blazers, painful to lose to them.


Memphis has 13 nonconference games on its schedule this season. Three are determined somewhat by the luck (up or down) of a holiday tournament. This means Hardaway and Memphis athletic director Tom Bowen have 10 chances to make the kind of mark that 1) helps the Tiger program grow and 2) sells the Tiger program to the regional — better yet, national — market Memphis craves. Kentucky has been tossed around in casual conversation as a future Tiger opponent, and let’s hope that happens while John Calipari is still wearing Lexington blue. But gazing further ahead, Memphis needs to secure annual meetings that feed both the program and its fan base.

The Tigers should play Tennessee every year, just as Kentucky faces Louisville. I’ve yet to hear a counterpoint to this argument that holds water. Former Memphis coach Josh Pastner was said to fear losing recruits to Knoxville if the Tigers played the Vols. If Memphis becomes second-fiddle to the University of Tennessee in basketball, far more has been lost than a five-star forward.

In addition to Tennessee, Memphis should schedule two of the following three programs annually: UAB, Arkansas, and Ole Miss. The Bluff City centers a tri-state region and should build on its scattered history with the Razorbacks and Rebels. And UAB belongs in the mix for the Bartow connection alone. It’s a legacy worth keeping and cultivating. Call this annual meeting the “Bartow Bash” and two programs would be better for it.

Hardaway acknowledges the importance of familiar foes in college basketball. “It’s great for the city of Memphis,” he said after the UAB win. “To have UAB, Tennessee, and we can probably try to get Louisville back. We’re gonna have Ole Miss next year. It’s a beautiful thing. It gives siblings, family members, and friends bragging rights for the year. I’m really going to enjoy those games.”

You know that contempt bred by familiarity? It happens to also be an adrenaline booster, fuel for a Memphis program on the rise, but still climbing.

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Cover Feature News

Penny’s Worth

Anfernee Hardaway is home again. As if he ever left.

On a rainy March afternoon, inside the brand-new Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center on the University of Memphis’ south campus, Tiger athletic director Tom Bowen introduced the greatest living Tiger of them all as the program’s new basketball coach.

First gaining legend status at Treadwell High School, then later as a Tiger and an All-NBA guard with the Orlando Magic, Penny Hardaway approached the podium, and a region-wide family reunion ensued. “It’s great to see so many familiar faces from when I played, the people who have been so supportive,” said Hardaway who, at 47, is older today than his own college coach, Larry Finch, was when he coached his last Tiger game. “I want to see the Memphis flags waving from cars, see the T-shirts and hats.”

Those shirts and hats had grown scarce at FedExForum, where attendance hit a half-century low in 2017-18, despite Tubby Smith’s second team putting up a 21-13 record and junior point guard Jeremiah Martin nearly winning the American Athletic Conference scoring title. For the better part of those two years — since Josh Pastner left for Georgia Tech — community support for Hardaway taking over at his alma mater had grown — at first gentle rumbling, then later, outright public appeals. Hardaway’s ultimate hiring became the worst-kept secret in the Mid-South, with reports leaking before Smith had the chance to coach the Tigers in the AAC tournament (where they would lose in the semifinals).

Within 30 days of his hiring, Hardaway managed to convince the top two local recruits — Alex Lomax (who helped Hardaway win three state titles at East High School) and Tyler Harris (Cordova High) — to sign with Memphis. Hardaway announced Tennessee had been added to the schedule (the Tigers will host the Vols on December 15th) with the likes of Kentucky and Arkansas on the new coach’s radar. The reaction of ticket-buyers and sponsors has, in basketball terms, lit up the Memphis scoreboard ever since. Having sunk to a 48-year low in attendance last winter, the Tiger program may well set new highs in 2018-19, the program’s 15th season at FedExForum.

Guard Tyler Harris

Sharpshooter David Wingett (who scored more than 2,000 points as a prep player in Nebraska) joined the recruiting class to help fill an outside-scoring void the program has suffered for four seasons. The rookies will join Martin and four other holdovers — guard Kareem Brewton and forwards Kyvon Davenport, Raynere Thornton, and Mike Parks — to write the first chapter in a new volume of Hardaway history.

“Losing is not an option in my mind,” said Hardaway at that opening press conference. “I want to hit the ground running. People are telling me to be patient, do this or that first. But I’m not built that way. I’ll go for it all or none at all.”

Tigers Coach Penny Hardaway leads from the sidelines.

Even with a recruiting class that jumped into the nation’s top 30 when Lomax and Harris signed, the Tigers have been picked to finish as low as eighth in the 12-team American Athletic Conference. (AAC coaches picked Memphis to finish fourth — behind UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston — in their preseason poll.) This doesn’t sit well with the rookie coach, who needs extra motivation like he needed extra vertical leap as a player, which is to say — not! “It’s realistic that we will not finish eighth,” he says. “They were thinking the freshmen can’t carry us, and they’re really not respecting the staff or the guys coming back from last year, when they finished fifth.”

What — beyond himself — can Penny sell a Tiger fan-base that all but disappeared last winter? Hardaway suggests we’ll see a different brand of basketball from the season’s opening tip-off. “I think I’m a little more up-tempo than Coach [Smith],” he says. “We really want to run, fast break. There won’t be a lot of half-court [offense]. We want to get it out. Defensively, we might press more. We’ll be a high-energy team on defense, as well. I like to speed teams up, keep them off-balance. I want it to be a blur. By the first timeout, I want teams playing us to be gassed.”

For any team to accelerate pace as Hardaway envisions, guard play — and guard depth — will be critical. The new coach sees as many as five players who can handle point-guard duty, though in this era of “positionless” basketball (see the Golden State Warriors and count their trophies), the primary value a guard brings the Tigers will be his versatility.

Forward Kyvon Davenport

“You only go as far as your guards,” says Martin, a preseason all-conference selection who will be playing for his third coach in four years. The Mitchell High School alum averaged 18.9 points and 3.8 assists last season, though he missed the Tigers’ final six games with a fracture in his right foot. Martin had hernia surgery in August, but appears to be in game shape for a season of leadership. “I was never in bad spirits about my injury,” he says. “Everything happens for a reason. The team’s not just about me. It’s a process, but I sat out so long, now that I’m back, I’ve got to get back right. I’m gonna keep working hard to get there.”

Martin is prepared to attack with the ball in his hands or from the wing when the likes of Brewton (a fellow senior), Lomax, or Harris is handling the ball. If Hardaway’s vision is realized, the ball won’t be in anyone’s hands very long. “My whole life, I’ve been on the ball some, and off the ball,” stresses Martin. “I’m just a basketball player, to be honest.”

Lomax and Harris grew up as friendly rivals, Lomax playing for Hardaway with Team Penny on the AAU circuit while Harris developed with Team Thad. (Hardaway acknowledges that he tried to persuade Harris to join his team, but to no avail. Until now.) Harris is small (5’9″ and 150 pounds), but can light up a scoreboard. He averaged 30.3 points as a senior and was named Class AAA Mr. Basketball after becoming just the 12th Memphis high school player to score 2,500 career points. Lomax took home the Mr. Basketball award after both his sophomore and junior seasons at East. In his four years as a Mustang, the team went 122-18. Having played for Hardaway since he was in 5th grade, Lomax is more than comfortable in his role as a freshman, and he’s ready to join forces with Harris.

Guard Jeremiah Martin

“Coach teaches an NBA style, so it’s not all that different,” says Lomax. “He knows what it takes; he’s been through it. He relays the message, and it’s our job to go out and put it on the court. Playing with Tyler may be one of the best things that ever happened to me. We offset each other well. He does a lot of things I don’t do. If he’s open 10 times, I’ll find him 10 times. It’s a new friendship; we talk every day now.” If you doubt Hardaway’s influence on Lomax, ask him what he’d like to contribute as a freshman: “I hope I can make an impact defensively, and I just want to win games.”

Not to be lost in the guard shuffle are Brewton and another freshman, Antwann Jones. Brewton averaged 9.1 points as a junior and part-time starter last season. He was second only to Martin in assists and steals. “Everybody wants to play and get buckets,” notes Brewton, “but how are you gonna get buckets? You gotta play defense.” Already preaching the Hardaway philosophy, Brewton has embraced the program’s new culture. “There’s a lot of energy,” he stresses. “It’s a family atmosphere.”

Brewton and Hardaway each see something of themselves in Jones, the 6’6″ guard from Orlando and a third top-100 recruit Hardaway was able to capture. For Brewton, it’s Jones’ ability to score, his aggressiveness with the ball, even as a rookie. As for the comparisons with Hardaway the player, consider those a means of motivation for a player aiming to seize minutes on the floor.

A slimmed-down Mike Parks (he lost 20 pounds over the offseason) and Raynere Thornton will be counted on for muscle this season. The two combined for 8.4 rebounds per game last year, a number that needs to grow if the Tigers are to minimize opponent possessions. Junior transfer Isaiah Maurice brings additional size (he’s 6’10”) and athleticism to the Tigers’ frontcourt. With Parks sidelined by a back ailment, Maurice started the exhibition game against LeMoyne-Owen and contributed 18 points and 7 rebounds in 21 minutes.

Among Tiger big men, though, track the progress of Davenport. The Georgia native averaged 13.3 points and led the Tigers with 6.1 rebounds per game last season. He’ll be a focal point this winter, according to Hardaway. “We expect a lot from Kyvon,” says Hardaway. “There are going to be some wrinkles where we get shots specifically for him. Last year, he did it off the glass, didn’t get a lot of plays run for him. We’re going to have to get him the ball; we need him to score.”

Davenport’s length and ability to run the floor are ingredients for a difference-making finisher, one who can follow a break, receive and deliver lobs, or clean up missed shots. “[Coach Hardaway] lets everyone play their own game,” emphasizes Davenport. “It’s better for everybody. You’re gonna play your role, but you’re free. No restrictions.”

And Davenport loves the pace. “We’ve been killing ourselves in practice,” he says. “When we get to a game, it’s going to be easier for us, with the timeouts.” Davenport recognizes a sense of immediacy this season, his last as a Tiger. And he wants to make the kind of impression that lasts beyond his days in Memphis. “I want to be remembered as a great teammate,” he says, “one who helped develop the freshmen and led this team somewhere special.”

And what are we to expect from a rookie coach more famous than most of the seasoned counterparts he’ll confront? “For the most part,” says Hardaway, “coaching is understanding who you have on your team, understanding yourself, understanding situations.” As aggressively as he attacked defenders during his playing days, it shouldn’t surprise that Hardaway isn’t timid when it comes to the new gig. “My biggest strength is in-game adjustments,” he says. “We’ll have our team prepared. But every game doesn’t go as planned, and you may have to adjust. That’s where my strength comes into play. The culture we’re trying to build around here is multiple efforts, toughness, playing hard when you’re on the floor.”

If anything, Hardaway will have to resist the urge to don a game uniform when the lights are turned on and 17,000 fans pack FedExForum for a show we haven’t seen in these parts in some time. “I’m ready to get into the arena,” says the coach a fan base will continue to call by his famous nickname. “I’ve always prepared well, so practice is great. But to get into the arena . . . I want to feel the jitters. I’m anxious to get there.”

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Sports Tiger Blue

The Three Types of Tiger Basketball Fans

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

I moved to Memphis from New England in 1991, just in time for Penny Hardaway’s two brilliant seasons as a Tiger. I began covering Tiger basketball for the Flyer in 2001, just as John Calipari was getting acquainted with barbecue and the blues. (We launched “Tiger Blue” eight years later.) I’ve been around my share of Tiger players and coaches, but I’ve spent far more time — during basketball season or otherwise — with Tiger fans. At work, in restaurants, concerts, festivals, youth soccer games . . . Tiger hoop fans are everywhere.

And I’ve developed a theory. As attendance has dwindled to uncomfortably sparse crowds on game nights at FedExForum, three distinctive types of Memphis Tiger basketball fans have made their presence (or lack thereof) felt. The classifications can be defined by how each group sees the Tiger program in their lives.

A) “The Tigers are our team.”
These are the fans you see — with plenty of elbow room — on a Tuesday night in December when Samford is in town. They don’t miss the Siena game. And a late tipoff with 10-degree temperatures and slick Memphis streets? No problem. It’s the UConn game!
Larry Kuzniewski

Our February 28, 2008 cover.

The Tiger A fans consider the program part of their city’s functionality. They pay attention to the roster’s composition — many of them intensely — and they follow recruiting reports (and rumors). They obviously prefer the Tigers winning lots of games, reaching the NCAA tournament, and playing after St. Patrick’s Day. But winning isn’t the reason they follow the team or, importantly, why they attend games. Memphis Tiger basketball is how these fans see themselves. And this is an important component to remember. What makes any of us Memphians? The zip code on our mail? Our high school alma mater? The college we attended? What about the college basketball team we call our own?

B) “The Tigers are my team.”
For lack of a better (or kinder) term, Tiger B fans are selfish. They are passionate — many of them outwardly emotional — about the Tiger program. They are the most frequent voices you hear on local call-in radio shows. And they are extraordinarily hard to please. Whether it’s memories (or stories they’ve heard) about 1973, 1985, and 2008, or Penny Hardaway highlights, or John Calipari’s coming-and-going, Tiger B fans place the program’s standard of excellence beyond the reach of nearly every program between Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Tucson, Arizona.

Not that long ago, Memphis won an astonishing 64 consecutive conference games. Trouble was (for Tiger B fans), each of those games featured an opponent from Conference USA. So what’s the big deal? That level of play won’t help the Tigers come March. (Memphis reached the Sweet 16 four straight years during this stretch, the Elite Eight twice, and played for the national title in 2008.)

McDonald’s All-Americans are the desired recruits among this group of fans. (At least those left over when Duke is finished making calls.) And when a local talent chooses to play elsewhere (see Leron Black or Chris Chiozza), it’s verifiable proof that the Memphis program has “lost the city.” So get rid of the coach. Tiger B fans will boycott games, convinced their empty seats will somehow convince that McDonald’s All-American to sign with Memphis. Sign up, Tyler Harris!
Bless Tiger B fans for their visions and dreams. Sympathize for them as reality continues to unfold, one winter after another.

C) “The Tigers are a team.”
I’ve never witnessed a basketball crowd like the one I was part of on February 23, 2008, when an undefeated Memphis team — ranked first in the country — hosted second-ranked Tennessee (second-ranked Tennessee!) at FedExForum. There have been Grizzly playoff games (particularly in 2011 and 2013) when the building actually shook. But no more than it did during pregame introductions of that Tiger-Vol showdown, when — for two hours — FedExForum was the center of college basketball’s universe. The arena was packed that night, and the 17,000 inside the arena were boosted by a few thousand more watching in clubs on Beale Street.

Memphis Tiger basketball in 2008 was a happening. Games were events, particularly once the team topped the national rankings in late January. If you didn’t know the previous night’s score (and the team Memphis had beaten), you weren’t paying attention to Bluff City life. Happenings and events draw crowds. Tiger C fans stir when the games matter in a larger context. And games against Mercer, Samford, and Bryant in December don’t matter beyond a coaching staff’s mission to teach and develop players. Tiger C fans will return, and they’re critical to selling out FedExForum. But it will take the program becoming, once again, a happening. To the casual eye, this seems a long way to climb.

The Tigers will host Cincinnati — a Top-20 team, one of two in the AAC — this Saturday at FedExForum. With a 5 p.m. tipoff and no NFL playoffs on the air, I’m betting we’ll see the first crowd of 10,000 fans to cheer the Tigers this season. (Memphis ranks sixth in the AAC with an average announced attendance of 5,943.) A Memphis win would be a monumental upset, considering the Bearcats won by 34 points in the teams’ first meeting just four weeks ago. Should the Tigers pull off the victory, count on lots of B and C fans joining the As on Beale Street. Should form hold, listen to the Bs (they’re loud) try and persuade the Cs as they stroll back to their cars, March getting closer, but the madness miles and miles away.

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News News Feature

Tubby Time! Take Two.

This month marks the beginning of Tubby Smith’s 27th season as a college basketball coach. But only his second at the University of Memphis. His first on the Tiger bench ended with, at best, mixed reviews. The Tigers finished 19-13, good enough for fifth in the 11-team American Athletic Conference. (Smith will remind you this is precisely where the team was picked to finish.) But 19-win seasons that fall short of the NIT, let alone the NCAA tournament, are considered face-plants by much of the remaining Tiger fan base, a base that is dwindling if you count the empty seats at FedExForum on game nights.

Smith’s second season in Memphis will be very different. The departure of three starters with eligibility remaining — most notably brothers Dedric and K.J. Lawson (along with their father, Keelon, who served as Smith’s director of player development) — forced a significant transformation of the Tiger roster. A pair of junior-college All-Americans — guard Kareem Brewton and forward Kyvon Davenport — will be among the new faces counted upon to help the Memphis program regain national traction. (In the preseason AAC coaches poll, the Tigers were picked to finish ninth in the now-12-team league. Welcome aboard, Wichita State.)

Tiger guard Kareem Brewton Jr. (above) and forward Kyvon Davenport (below) are among a large group of rookies.

During a recent visit in his office on the U of M campus, Smith discussed his Tiger tenure to date, and what’s ahead for the embattled program.

Is it a relief for this season to arrive, for games to finally be played?

Changes are inevitable in every organization, but in sports more than anywhere else. From junior high on up. People are moving; our society is mobile. It’s good to have signed the class we did, the No. 1 class in the American Athletic Conference. That was a big relief, knowing we have talented players coming in.

You don’t want to lose anybody, but I can’t really pay attention to what people think or say. Everybody has an opinion. They don’t know the inner-workings. You may think you know about what’s going on at FedEx or with the Grizzlies. But you’re dealing with human beings, personalities. And then 17-to-20-year-olds, they’re being influenced by a lot of different stimuli.

Social media. People don’t know how to interpret. Look at our president. And young people simply don’t know how to digest [it all].

Aside from years you’ve changed jobs, was it the most turbulent offseason of your career?

It was the most changes, without any significant problems. It’s not like someone was arrested. We won 19 games. We weren’t expected to win the national championship. Every player’s stats improved, except one [in one area].

There was an exodus of players with eligibility remaining, most notably the Lawson brothers. With some months to reflect, how do you view this transition in the program?

We signed three good freshmen last November, players I feel will contribute a lot: [guard] Jamal Johnson, [swingman] David Nickelberry, and [forward] Victor Enoh. I’ve been pleased with them. Then in the late signing period, we simply signed better athletes, the junior-college players.

Is the Tiger program better off without the Lawson family?

I don’t want to comment about the Lawsons. It isn’t anyone in particular, because we had Markel [Crawford]. Think about Chad [Rykhoek]. We were going to try and get him a fifth year of eligibility. Sometimes you don’t know what the internal distractions are for players.

This is a bit personal, but are your feelings hurt when players choose to leave your program?

No. Never. I’m disappointed, because I wonder what we did wrong. Did we not try and do everything we said we’d try and do? They might be disappointed with playing time or that we didn’t go to the postseason. We held them accountable for the most part.

At your season-opening press conference (September 29th), you emphasized that members of the current team are “our players.” What do the players share in common?

By “our” I meant the community and the city and the university. They’re representing this city, this conference, and their families. I want players to believe in Tubby Smith. I believe in you [as a player]; that’s why we signed you to a scholarship. The relationship should continue to grow, and the experience will be wholesome, in a good environment. It’s not about being happy, but about achieving your dream. When you hear the negative stuff, they’re not part of our program. They may not be a fan of yours, may not be a fan of Tubby Smith’s.

Have Jeremiah Martin and Jimario Rivers — the team’s returning starters — emerged as the kind of leaders this team will need?

They’re trying. Jeremiah’s not one to be very vocal. But the best leaders lead by example. People would rather see a sermon than hear one. They want to see that your words and deeds match your responsibility. I’ve been impressed with Jeremiah, but I expect more, in all areas.

Jeremiah’s in a unique position as a veteran leader but younger than some of those he’s expected to lead.

People can lead at a young age. My son went to a [private academy], where 9th- and 10th-graders outranked him. I told him that’s the way it is. I’ve got younger people I have to answer to. Kareem Brewton was a leader for his team [Eastern Florida State College]. Malik Rhodes is a tough, hard-nosed guy. Mike Parks is big, physical. Karim Azab has been here a year now. These are mature men, and a lot bigger than we had last year.

Size and depth were ingredients your first Memphis team lacked. A glance at this year’s squad indicates it’s bigger. Will it be deeper too?

Last year we tried to put in two or three guys at a time, and we’d see a dip. I was disappointed. The rotation was disrupted when Chad went down. The depth this year … I don’t know who will start. It’s a great problem. When I meet with guys, one-on-one, I tell them what they have to do to earn minutes. Not start; just earn minutes. That will evolve and can catapult you into being a starter. It’s going to be competitive.

What style of basketball will this team play? You’ve said they’ll rebound well, play defense.

Last year may have been the first team I’ve coached that got outrebounded for the season. That was a real problem. We got outrebounded by 21 against Connecticut last year … and won the game.

This group includes guys who can rebound at every position. We’re bigger and taller at every position except point guard [where Martin returns]. Raynere Thornton [6’7″ and 235 pounds] will play multiple positions. Kyvon Davenport is taller than Raynere and has perimeter skills. Players have evolved; they want to be versatile. They all want to be LeBron James! It’s our job to come up with an offense, a system that will utilize their skill sets. Mike Parks is a big man [6’9″ and 270], but he can really shoot the ball.

You gotta define roles. This is the biggest challenge for any coach, and [players] have to accept the roles. A kid has to accept the truth.

Memphis basketball fans have a short fuse at times. Were you taken aback by the criticism when last season turned sour over the final month?

It didn’t bother me. We won 21 games at Minnesota and went to the NCAA tournament [in 2012-13] and they still question what you do.

Are you able to shut off the noise when you go home?

There’s nothing to shut off. It never enters. I’m too old for that. I’ve been around too long. It doesn’t help me to listen to it. The other day someone told me, “Someone wrote a nice article about you, Coach.” Oh, really? “Did you read it?” No.

I’m reading scouting reports. I’m on the phone. I’ve got my own homework to do. I tell my players about this — distractions. People tell me I need to tweet more. I’ve done okay without tweeting. I want to be informed, but that’s what I have a staff for. What’s happening with recruiting? Who do I need to call?

Has your wife, Donna, enjoyed Memphis?

She loves it. We live a pretty comfortable life. My dad used to tell me, “Don’t you ever think what you’re doing is work.”

I tell my guys: moderation. Everything in moderation. The great John Wooden talked about balance. My dad was a very proud man, a wise man. How did he raise 17 kids with a 9th-grade education? How did he build a Guffrie Smith legacy? If I can be half the man he was.

What should expectations be for the 2017-18 Tigers?

Sky’s the limit. I think we should win the national championship. That’s what every coach’s expectations should be. You’re not much of a coach if you don’t come in every day competing for championships. We have realistic goals. The league is going to be stronger than it’s been in a long time. We have six possible NCAA–tournament teams. There are so many good players back. Wichita State is going to increase everyone’s RPI. This league has that potential. We have to raise our level of play to be one of those postseason teams. I’m excited about this group.

Happy Anniversary Times Three

To borrow an expression from former Tiger (and current Georgia Tech) coach Josh Pastner, the collective mood around the U of M program has “gone negative” of late. The Tigers have not played a postseason game since March 2014. When you include missing out on the NIT, this is the longest drought Memphis has experienced since a four-year dry spell from 1977-78 through the 1980-81 season. But history tells us things will get better.

Courtesy U of M Athletics

Larry Finch

This season will culminate near the 45th anniversary of the Tiger program’s most famous team, the 1972-73 squad led by Larry Finch (above) that came one Bill Walton short of winning the national championship. It will also mark 25 years (this can’t be true) since Penny Hardaway delivered his last no-look pass in a Tiger uniform. Moving further along the Tiger-hoops timeline, this is the 10th-anniversary for the 2007-08 team, a group that reached No. 1 in the country and played for the national championship, banner or no banner.

The Tigers experienced losing seasons — actual losing seasons, with more losses than wins — between each of those seminal moments that have come to define the program. Whether or not Tubby Smith leads the next memory-making season for U of M basketball remains to be seen. But it will happen. So deep breaths, Tiger fans. Raise a glass for three special anniversaries this winter, and be ready to mark the next. — FM