What do you know about Memphis

[BigTime]

Pastner was a hot name after Capel crumbled. They really have underachieved the past few years. I know they lost their big man via transfer but they still have some talent.

Should be a great first test and thank goodness the Sooner backcourt has a bunch of experience.

 

[StatGeek]

Uncle Lou's Chicken is the spot, thats what I know about Memphis.

 

[DenverSooner]

Horrible city. These people make people from Missouri look like they have values and ethics. Lots of poverty. Lots of crime. The weather isn't all that great. Reading is challengeing for many in that state. The university is a freaking joke. The should call it a community college. At one point hey had a good basketball program but not so much anymore. Good news is they hired a fine young man from Tulsa to run their pathetic football program and he has turned it into a winner. He absolutely whipped Ole Miss out scoring them 37-10 in the final 55 minutes of the game. They Really demonstrated tat the SEC West is a joke.

 

[StatGeek]

Horrible city. These people make people from Missouri look like they have values and ethics. Lots of poverty. Lots of crime. The weather isn't all that great. Reading is challengeing for many in that state. The university is a freaking joke. The should call it a community college. At one point hey had a good basketball program but not so much anymore. Good news is they hired a fine young man from Tulsa to run their pathetic football program and he has turned it into a winner. He absolutely whipped Ole Miss out scoring them 37-10 in the final 55 minutes of the game. They Really demonstrated tat the SEC West is a joke.

Dont hold back, what did the city of Memphis do to you?

 

[DenverSooner]

Dont hold back, what did the city of Memphis do to you?

I have actually never really been to Memphis (only driven through).

 

[StatGeek]

I have actually never really been to Memphis (only driven through).

Must have been a helluva ride.

 

[euphguy]

Horrible city. These people make people from Missouri look like they have values and ethics. Lots of poverty. Lots of crime. The weather isn't all that great. Reading is challengeing for many in that state. The university is a freaking joke. The should call it a community college. At one point hey had a good basketball program but not so much anymore. Good news is they hired a fine young man from Tulsa to run their pathetic football program and he has turned it into a winner. He absolutely whipped Ole Miss out scoring them 37-10 in the final 55 minutes of the game. They Really demonstrated tat the SEC West is a joke.

Deplorable. Oh, the irony. Speaking of a "freaking joke" ...

 

[MercedeSooner]

I have actually never really been to Memphis (only driven through).

Hope you had some ribs at the least.

 

[usedtobe1]

Memphis has had a rough preseason but has a solid team. Their returning PG has a shoulder injury that may require season ending surgery and their best returning player transferred to Virginia. They are the preseason pick to finish anywhere from 3rd to 5th in the 10 team AAC. They were 18-14 last year, and finished 10-8 in conference play (Tulsa was 14-4).

Memphis Basketball, Coach Josh Pastner

Top point producer, Austin Nichols, transferred to Virginia to play for Coach Tony Bennett. For whatever reason, he wanted out of Memphis! His final game was against SMU back in February. He missed the last four (4) games of the season due to injury and never returned. Nichols was the only player on the team to average double digits in scoring.

Small forward Nick King also announced his transfer at the end of the 2014-2015 season. King, the top bench producer on the team, transferred to Alabama to play for Coach Avery Johnson. He averaged 7.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

However, Memphis returned the favor and got a transfer from Alabama when PG Ricky Tarrant transferred to Memphis and is immediately eligible as a graduate. Tarrant was an explosive asset for the Crimson Tide, averaging 13.1 points and 1.4 steals per game. He could be exactly what this offense was missing last season and should fit into this side perfectly.

Seniors Shaquille Goodwin (6'9" 230 lb power forward and former McDonald's AA), Kedren Johnson (point guard) and Trahson Burrell are also returning. Goodwin was the second highest point producer, at 9.6 points per game and the teams top rebounder at 7.1 rebounds per game. Burrell was the third top point producer at 9.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

It is yet to be seen how well Coach Pastner manages their time with the new talent coming in. Memphis picked up four top 100 freshmen to fill the gaps and some. Top 50 Power forward Dedric Lawson is a big man who can get up and down the court. He is an immediate impact player. Small forward K.J. Lawson is going to help Memphis to put more points on the boards. Center Nick Marshall is a big bodied monster who can run the floor, block shots and rebound.

Returning PG Kedren Johnson is injured and could miss the season, the Ricky Tarrant may have taken his starting spot anyway.

Memphis senior Kedren Johnson is dealing with a shoulder injury that could require season-ending surgery, coach Josh Pastner told CBS Sports early Thursday.

Johnson is not currently practicing, Pastner said. His options, according to Pastner, are to keep trying to rehab the injury and just play through the pain or have surgery, at which point he'd definitely be sidelined for the season.

"He either has to have surgery or just try to deal with the pain," Pastner said. "But it is injured and really painful, and he might not be able to play through it."

Johnson started 17 games last season and averaged 6.7 points and 2.7 assists per game. The 6-foot-4 point guard is a projected starter for this season's team.

Losing Johnson for the season would qualify as the latest blow to a Memphis program that has had more bad news than good lately. In July, the team's top player, Austin Nichols, announced he was transferring and subsequently enrolled at Virginia. Then, this week, the city's top prospect, four-star guard Jaylen Fisher, picked UNLV over Memphis.

The Tigers open the season Nov. 14 against Southern Miss. They play Oklahoma three days later.

College basketball's most contentious transfer request finally has a resolution. Austin Nichols, a 6'9 junior forward who left Memphis earlier this month, is transferring to Virginia, according to ESPN's Jeff Goodman.

Memphis initially denied Nichols' transfer request in early July, but eventually relented with multiple stipulations. Virginia was among the schools Nichols was banned from transferring to, but his family hired a lawyer and eventually Memphis dropped the stipulations. Nichols reportedly wanted to transfer to Virginia all along.

Nichols will have to sit out the 2015-16 season, then have two years of eligibility remaining. A former five-star recruit, Nichols averaged 13.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore for Memphis last season.

Memphis added a quality transfer in Ricky Tarrant.

Alabama transfer student Ricky Tarrant will be playing for Memphis in the fall. Tarrant, who is immediately eligible to play since he's a graduate student, visited the campus Monday and committed to the school that afternoon.

“Man, it’s a basketball city,” Tarrant said, “It’s a great city. It’s a great place to play basketball. The teammates I’ll be playing with, they’re great players. We’re just a step away from the tournament. I feel like it was a great decision.”

Tarrant was Alabama's second-leading scorer last season at 13.1 points per game. Clemson and Purdue were other schools he considered .

“(Coach Josh Pastner) was invested in me,” said Tarrant, a 6-2 guard. “Great guy. They stood out to me and that was the main thing with this being my last year of school — having a great relationship.”

Tarrant spent his freshman year at Tulane, where he was named Conference USA Freshman of the Year for the 2011-12 season.

Recruiting: They signed 3 4-star recruits in their incoming freshman class. Pastner pulled an Ed Manning trick and hired the father of 2 of the recruits as an assistant coach

Pastner's decision to hire Keelon Lawson, the Memphis-based father of three highly-touted recruits, drew national attention for both its savvy and shamelessness, but an under-the-radar bit of housekeeping involving the Lawson family has the program set up to make a splash. The hiring of the eldest Lawson coincided with commitments from sons K.J. and Dedric, the former a top-50 player in 2015, the latter a top-15 player in 2016. Last week, Dedric announced he's reclassifying to 2015, giving Memphis a major recruit a year earlier.

The other 4-star recruit is 6'11" Nick Marshall who was ranked as the #9 center in the 2015 class.

They also signed 3 PG's, but with veterans Johnson and Tarrant, they may not get many minutes.

 

[oketex]

Denver I happen to live in Memphis and you don't your ass from your head. Yes we have high crime but a lot of big cities do. As for the University of Memphis its a very good university, the campus is not as big as OU's but it's nice. I graduate from OU in the late 60's and here it is 48 years later I'm working on my master's from the University of Memphis. The real problem with this university is - it's in the middle of Memphis and there is no place for the school to grow therefore it will always remain a small campus. The U of M has some outstanding professors, may not have everything OU has but it does a great job.

Now for the city, yes it has it's problems, there is a lot of poverty but there are a lot of educated people here who for your information can read and I happen to be one of them. I have grand children attending U of M on scholarships who by the way could have gone to several other schools but elected to stay close to home. The city is like all other big cities, has area you don't want to go into, now I will say that OKC use to be like Memphis but years ago OKC decided to clean up and its a great city. Memphis is just now taking those steps to clean of the city and bring people back to the downtown area. As for the weather, its not much different than OKC, we do get a little colder in the winter, not a lot of snow but a lot more rain.

Denver before you go off on a city why don't you stop off for a few days and visit that city and find out what the people are like, but the way most of the folks here will welcome you to Memphis. I will say don't buy the Bar B Q thing, here its pork and its good but beef Bar B Q is the best.

 

[garyeb2]

Denver I happen to live in Memphis and you don't your ass from your head. Yes we have high crime but a lot of big cities do. As for the University of Memphis its a very good university, the campus is not as big as OU's but it's nice. I graduate from OU in the late 60's and here it is 48 years later I'm working on my master's from the University of Memphis. The real problem with this university is - it's in the middle of Memphis and there is no place for the school to grow therefore it will always remain a small campus. The U of M has some outstanding professors, may not have everything OU has but it does a great job.

Now for the city, yes it has it's problems, there is a lot of poverty but there are a lot of educated people here who for your information can read and I happen to be one of them. I have grand children attending U of M on scholarships who by the way could have gone to several other schools but elected to stay close to home. The city is like all other big cities, has area you don't want to go into, now I will say that OKC use to be like Memphis but years ago OKC decided to clean up and its a great city. Memphis is just now taking those steps to clean of the city and bring people back to the downtown area. As for the weather, its not much different than OKC, we do get a little colder in the winter, not a lot of snow but a lot more rain.

Denver before you go off on a city why don't you stop off for a few days and visit that city and find out what the people are like, but the way most of the folks here will welcome you to Memphis. I will say don't buy the Bar B Q thing, here its pork and its good but beef Bar B Q is the best.

Memphis is a good town. I don't care much for the dry rub bar b q. But it is ok. Beal street is a lot of fun. Great music. First rate strip joints. Great basketball town. One of the really fine cities of the south.

 

[furge]

Memphis is a good town. I don't care much for the dry rub bar b q. But it is ok. Beal street is a lot of fun. Great music. First rate strip joints. Great basketball town. One of the really fine cities of the south.

Memphis is kind of like the Kansas City of the traditional South: it was successful against Prohibition, so its criminal element has an aura exceeding its reality. The BBQ isn't my favorite, but dry - rub ribs can be heavenly if smoked real low and real slow. Like KC, its best athletic talent doesn't usually stay at home.The previews of it the UM team provided by the rest of the board are fair. I just wanna put out there that Memphis has an outsize negative reputation on the order of Oakland, KC, and South Central LA that I, as one who's spent time in all three, do not think the cities ought to be known by.

 

[Northbase]

They have a pyramid. (is it still there?)

 

[Max Power]

They have a pyramid. (is it still there?)

Yes, it's now a bass pro shop