Memphis Tigers men's basketball

Memphis Tigers
2017–18 Memphis Tigers men's basketball team
University	University of Memphis
First season	1920
All-time record	1,406–820–1 (.632)
Head coach	Tubby Smith (2nd season)
Conference	The American
Location	Memphis, Tennessee
Arena	FedExForum (Capacity: 18,119)
Nickname	Tigers
Colors	Blue and Gray[1]
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate
NCAA Tournament runner-up
1973, 2008*
NCAA Tournament Final Four
1973, 1985*, 2008*
NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
1973, 1985*, 1992, 2006, 2007, 2008*
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1973, 1982*, 1983*, 1984*, 1985*, 1992, 1995, 2006, 2007, 2008*, 2009
NCAA Tournament appearances
1955, 1956, 1962, 1973, 1976, 1982*, 1983*, 1984*, 1985*, 1986*, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008*, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 *vacated by NCAA
Conference tournament champions
Metro: 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987 C-USA: 2006, 2007, 2008*, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013
Conference regular season champions
MVC: 1972, 1973 Metro: 1982, 1984, 1985 GMWC: 1995 C-USA: 1996, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008*, 2009, 2012, 2013 *vacated by NCAA

The Memphis Tigers men's basketball team represents the University of Memphis in NCAA Division I men's college basketball. The Tigers have competed in the American Athletic Conference since 2013. As of 2011, the Tigers had the 29th highest winning percentage in NCAA history.^[2] They play home games at the FedExForum. ESPN Stats and Information Department ranked Memphis as the 19th most successful basketball program from 1962 to 2012 in their annual 50 in 50 list.^[3]

History

Early years

The predecessor of the University of Memphis, West Tennessee State Normal School, first fielded a basketball team in 1920. Zach Curlin began coaching the team in 1924. The Tigers joined the Mississippi Valley Conference in 1928. The team played its early home games at a local high school gym, a local YMCA, and in a room on campus called the "Normal Cage" which allowed only six inches from the court lines to the walls. In 1929, a $100,000 facility on campus named Memorial Gym became the Tigers' home.^[4]

Curlin's last season coaching the Tigers was in 1948, by which time the school had been renamed Memphis State College; it would become Memphis State University in 1957. His successor was McCoy Tarry. In 1951, the new $700,000 Fieldhouse gym was opened for Tiger home games. In 1952, John Wallesea became the first Memphis State player to be drafted by the NBA. Forest Arnold became the school's first All-American in 1954. The Tigers made the NCAA tournament for the first time, in 1955, under coach Eugene Lambert. Bob Vanatta became the team's coach in 1956 and took the Tigers to the NIT final. Win Wilfong became the team's second All-American in 1957.^[4]

In 1962, Dean Ehlers took over coaching duties. The Tigers began playing its home games at the Mid-South Coliseum in 1964. Moe Iba became the team's coach in 1966, the same year the team joined the Missouri Valley Conference.^[4] Iba's four years running the program are considered the low point in the history of Memphis basketball, with the team suffering 19 and 20 loss seasons before Iba's dismissal. However, the Tigers did not remain down for long.

1970s

In 1970, Gene Bartow was named head coach. The 1970 season also saw the first games of Larry Finch and Ronnie Robinson, two all-time greats. Larry Finch scored 24 points in his first appearance as a freshman. In 1971, the Tigers led by Finch and Robinson upset conference rival Louisville. At 11-2, they were ranked #19 after not reaching the Top 20 in a decade. Early in the 1971–1972 season, Memphis State fell in a heart breaker to No. 2 Marquette after leading by five points with five minutes to go. After defeating Louisville in Freedom Hall, the Tigers shared the Missouri Valley Conference title in 1972 with Louisville. Louisville won a playoff to represent the MVC in the NCAA Tournament while the Tigers went to the NIT for their fifth time.

During the 1972–1973 season, seniors Finch and Robinson led the Tigers to one of their most successful seasons. Memphis State won the MVC outright in 1972 after winning 14 straight games. They went to the NCAA tournament where they handily beat South Carolina and Kansas State after a first round bye to reach the Final Four. After beating Providence, the Tigers went to play for the national championship against the UCLA Bruins led by legendary coach John Wooden and led by star Bill Walton. Keeping it close in the first half, the Tigers were overwhelmed in the second half eventually losing by nineteen, 87-66. Bartow won the NABC National Coach of the Year award that season and Larry Finch was named a consensus All-American. Also on the Finals team was Larry Kenon who went on to be a 2-time All-Star in the NBA. He remains one of the most successful NBA players in Memphis history. Wayne Yates took over for Bartow in 1974 when Bartow left for Illinois. Yates led Memphis State to three straight 20-win seasons, including an NCAA Tournament berth in 1976. The Tigers left the Missouri Valley Conference to become one of the inaugural members of the Metro Conference in 1976. Dana Kirk became head coach in 1979.^[5]

1980s

In the 1980s, the Tigers made seven NCAA tournaments and won three Metro Conference titles, amassing a record of 230-87 (.726). Keith Lee began playing for the Tigers in 1982, and Memphis was ranked number one in both major national polls for the first time the same year. However, that same night they were knocked off by Virginia Tech 69-56 in Blacksburg.^[6] In the 1983 NCAA Tournament, the Tigers beat Georgetown led by Patrick Ewing, whom Lee dominated in the paint. They lost their next game to top-seed Houston led by Akeem Olajuwon.^[5]

After finishing 24-3 in the regular season, the 1984–1985 season proved to be another memorable one in Tiger history. Lee eventually led the team to another NCAA Tournament in 1985. Memphis State beat Penn, UAB, Boston College and Oklahoma to reach the school's second Final Four. They were defeated by eventual champion Villanova and finished the season 31-4. All but one of the 12 players on this team were from Memphis or Shelby County.^[7] Lee was named a consensus All-American for the third time in his four-year career. In 1986, Kirk was forced out after becoming the subject of a criminal investigation. He was also found to have committed many NCAA violations as well. The Tigers were forced to sit out the 1987 NCAA Tournament and were stripped of all of their NCAA tournament appearances from 1982 to 1986, including the 1985 Final Four run. Kirk's top assistant, Larry Finch, one of the leaders of the fabled 1972-73 team, took over head coaching duties in 1986. One of Finch's first recruits, Elliot Perry, began playing for the team in 1987. Perry led Memphis State to the 1988 and 1989 NCAA Tournaments and was drafted to the NBA where he became a successful player. In the 1988-89 season, the Tigers set a school record by starting the game against arch-rival Louisville with a 24-0 run.^[5]

1990s

In 1990, Finch landed the country's highest rated high school recruit, Anfenee "Penny" Hardaway. The Tigers also moved to the Great Midwest Conference and began playing their home games at the new Pyramid Arena (affectionately known as the "Tomb of Doom") in 1991. Stand-out Hardaway led Memphis State to the 1992 NCAA Tournament, where the Tigers were defeated in the Elite Eight by rival Cincinnati. The following summer, Hardaway was named All-American and earned a chance to train with the Dream Team before the Barcelona Olympics. During the 1992–1993 season, Hardaway earned Memphis State's first triple-double and then the first back-to-back triple-doubles in wins over Georgia State and Vanderbilt. On February 6, 1993, the school achieved its 1,000th all-time basketball victory in an upset over No. 4 Cincinnati. After the season, Penny Hardaway left for the NBA Draft where he was selected third overall by the Golden State Warriors. He became the most successful NBA player in history to matriculate from the Memphis basketball program. In 1994, Memphis State changed its name to the University of Memphis.^[5]

In 1995, the Memphis team included future NBA players David Vaughn, Cedric Henderson, and Lorenzen Wright, and they made it to the 1995 NCAA Tournament where they lost in the Sweet Sixteen. Memphis joined Conference USA in 1995 as a founding member with long-time rivals Louisville and Cincinnati. Finch stepped down as head coach in 1997 and Tic Price took over thereafter. Price's three years were one of the Tigers' least successful since the 1960s. He was forced to resign just days before the start of the 1999-2000 season after school officials discovered he was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a student at the university.^[8] Johnny Jones spent one year as interim head coach while the school looked for a replacement.^[5]

2000s

John Calipari was named Memphis' head coach in 2000. Under his leadership, the Tigers won the 2002 NIT championship, then made the NCAA tournament in 2003 and 2004. The Tigers left The Pyramid to play home games in the FedExForum in 2004. The 2005–06 Tigers were led by Darius Washington, Shawne Williams and Rodney Carney and set a school record by going 30–3 and reaching a No. 3 ranking during a regular season that was capped by a Conference USA championship. In the 2006 NCAA tournament, the Tigers received a number one seed, and they advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to eventual tournament runner-up UCLA.

Despite losing their top three scorers from the prior season to the NBA and graduation, the 2006–07 Tigers duplicated the previous year's regular season record of 30–3, were ranked as high as No. 5, and again won the Conference USA championship, going undefeated in conference play. The Tigers earned a number two seed in the 2007 NCAA tournament. The Tigers defeated 15 seed North Texas in the first round, 7 seed Nevada in the second round, and 3 seed Texas A&M in the Sweet Sixteen, and lost to 1 seed and eventual tournament runner-up Ohio State in the Elite Eight.

The 2007–08 Memphis Tigers men's basketball team achieved a No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press basketball poll in January 2008, the school's first No. 1 ranking in the poll since 1982, and went on to win their third straight Conference USA title on March 15, 2008. After a month, they lost this ranking when they were defeated by in-state rival and No. 2-ranked Tennessee at home. Led by First-Team All-American Chris Douglas-Roberts and future No. 1 overall pick Derrick Rose, the team received a No. 1 seed in the 2008 NCAA tournament and defeated No. 16 seed Texas-Arlington in round one, No. 8 seed Mississippi State in round two, and No. 5 seed Michigan State in the Sweet Sixteen. Memphis convincingly defeated No. 2 seed Texas in the Elite Eight round to advance to the school's first Final Four since 1985. Following this win, Memphis went on to beat No. 1 seed UCLA on April 5, 2008, advancing to the National Championship game on April 7, 2008. With this win, Memphis became the first team in NCAA history to achieve 38 wins in a single season.^[9] After holding a nine-point lead with two minutes and twelve seconds left in regulation, the Tigers lost to Kansas in the National Championship in overtime by the final score of 75–68, becoming the second NCAA runner-up team in Memphis history.^[10]

The 2008–09 Tigers, led by another freshman guard. Tyreke Evans. again went undefeated in Conference USA and earned a two seed in the 2009 NCAA tournament. The Tigers were defeated by the No. 3-seed University of Missouri Tigers in the Sweet Sixteen. Evans left after one year and was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 2010, the second straight Tiger to do so after Rose. On March 31, 2009, Calipari resigned to become the head coach at the University of Kentucky. In the months following Calipari's departure, nearly all of the incoming recruits who had committed to play basketball for the University of Memphis decommitted from Memphis and committed to Kentucky or other schools. The recruits included Xavier Henry, DeMarcus Cousins, Nolan Dennis, and Darnell Dodson.

On May 28, 2009, the NCAA formally accused the Tigers of allowing an ineligible player to participate in their games during the 2007–08 season.^[11] On August 20, 2009, the NCAA Committee on Infractions announced that Memphis must vacate all 38 wins for that season as well as their appearance in the NCAA tournament and spend three years on probation. The NCAA alleged that Derrick Rose, a Chicago native, had obtained a fraudulent SAT score when another person took the test for him in Detroit, Michigan and his brother Reggie Rose was provided nearly $1,700 in free travel and lodging with the Memphis team.^[12] The University of Memphis was not charged with knowingly fielding an ineligible player given that Rose had originally been cleared by the testing company and the NCAA. Rather, the NCAA imposed the penalty on a "strict liability" standard which held that Memphis must vacate their wins regardless of whether the school had any knowledge of wrongdoing by Rose and regardless of the NCAA's original clearance of Rose.^[13]

2010s

On April 7, 2009, Josh Pastner was named the team's head coach. Pastner was hired as an assistant at Memphis in 2008 after serving as an assistant coach under Lute Olson at Arizona for six years. Pastner gained a reputation as a strong recruiter during his tenure at Arizona.^[14] In his first year as coach at Memphis, Pastner brought in Elliot Williams, a transfer from Duke, who led the team in scoring and was drafted to the NBA. Williams was permitted to play his first season after departing Calipari took with him Memphis' top-ranked recruiting class.^[15] In 2011 Pastner led the Tigers back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in his coaching career, though they lost in the first round to his former team, Arizona.

During the 2011–12 season, the Tigers announced they were leaving Conference USA to join the Big East Conference starting in 2013 (later renamed the American Athletic Conference).^[16] They began the season strong, moving as high to No. 13 in the country before falling out of the rankings (a phenomenon which would become a recurrent theme of the Pastner era). In the last game of the season, Josh Pastner's victory over Tulsa gave him 72 career victories, the most by a Memphis head coach over his first three seasons.^[17] Memphis made its second straight NCAA Tournament after winning the Conference USA tournament. An 8-seed, the Tigers lost in the first round to 9-seeded Saint Louis. After the season, sophomore star Will Barton left for the NBA.

In 2012–13, the Tigers, led by CUSA player of the year Joe Jackson, won the Conference USA regular season and tournament titles in their last season in CUSA.^[18] The Tigers began competition in the then newly formed American Athletic Conference in 2013. AAC competition was not as kind to the Pastner-led Tigers, as they earned an NCAA tournament berth in only 1 of the team's first 3 seasons in the AAC.

On April 8, 2016, facing mounting criticism in Memphis, Pastner took the job of head men's basketball coach at Georgia Tech.^[19] A few days later, the Tigers hired Tubby Smith to take over the head coaching job.^[20] Smith had just won the Big 12 coach of the year award as well as some national coaching awards for his season at Texas Tech.

Seasons

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Frederick Graham (Independent) (1920–1921)
1920–21	Graham	22–7–1
W.H. DePriest (Independent) (1921–1922)
1921–22	DePriest	1–7
Lester Barnhard (Independent) (1922–1924)
1922–23	Barnhard	6–4
1923–24	Barnhard	4–9
Zach Curlin (Independent) (1924–1927)
1924–25	Curlin	3–5
1925–26	Curlin	4–5
1926–27	Curlin	5–7
Zach Curlin (Mississippi Valley Conference) (1927–1934)
1927–28	Curlin	10–11	5–3
1928–29	Curlin	15–3	8–0
1929–30	Curlin	16–8	12–2
1930–31	Curlin	14–2	11–1
1931–32	Curlin	11–10	9–5
1932–33	Curlin	7–6	5–3
1933–34	Curlin	5–14	2–4
Zach Curlin (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1934–1942)
1934–35	Curlin	5–15	3–7
1935–36	Curlin	7–7	3–7
1936–37	Curlin	5–7	3–7
1937–38	Curlin	0–14	0–10
1938–39	Curlin	2–13	1–9
1939–40	Curlin	7–9	5–5
1940–41	Curlin	9–8	4–5
1941–42	Curlin	7–9	3–7
Zach Curlin (Independent) (1942–1948)
1942–43	Curlin	7–4
1943–44	No team (WWII)
1944–45	Curlin	3–6
1945–46	Curlin	7–4
1946–47	Curlin	11–7
1947–48	Curlin	13–10
McCoy Tarry (Independent) (1948–1951)
1948–49	Tarry	11–10
1949–50	Tarry	12–9
1950–51	Tarry	17–8			NAIA Elite Eight
Eugene Lambert (Independent) (1951–1956)
1951–52	Lambert	25–10			NAIA 2nd Round
1952–53	Lambert	10–14
1953–54	Lambert	15–9
1954–55	Lambert	17–5			NCAA First Round
1955–56	Lambert	20–7			NCAA First Round
Bob Vanatta (Independent) (1957–1962)
1956–57	Vanatta	24–6			NIT Finals
1957–58	Vanatta	15–7
1958–59	Vanatta	17–6
1959–60	Vanatta	18–5			NIT First Round
1960–61	Vanatta	20–3			NIT Quarterfinals
1961–62	Vanatta	15–7			NCAA First Round
Dean Ehlers (Independent) (1962–1966)
1962–63	Ehlers	19–7			NIT Quarterfinals
1963–64	Ehlers	14–11
1964–65	Ehlers	10–14
1965–66	Ehlers	10–15
Moe Iba (Independent) (1966–1967)
1966–67	Iba	17–9			NIT First Round
Moe Iba (Missouri Valley Conference) (1967–1970)
1967–68	Iba	8–17	2–14	9th
1968–69	Iba	6–19	0–16	9th
1969–70	Iba	6–20	1–15	9th
Gene Bartow (Missouri Valley Conference) (1970–1973)
1970–71	Bartow	18–8	8–6	4th
1971–72	Bartow	21–7	12–2	T-1st	NIT First Round
1972–73	Bartow	25–6	12–2	1st	NCAA Finals
Gene Bartow (Independent) (1973–1974)
1973–74	Bartow	19–11			NIT Quarterfinals
Wayne Yates (Independent) (1974–1975)
1974–75	Yates	20–7			NIT First Round
Wayne Yates (Metro Conference) (1975–1979)
1975–76	Yates	21–9	1–1	4th	NCAA First Round
1976–77	Yates	20–9	2–4	T-5th	NIT First Round
1977–78	Yates	19–9	7–5	3rd
1978–79	Yates	13–15	5–5	3rd
Dana Kirk (Metro Conference) (1979–1986)
1979–80	Kirk	13–14	5–7	4th
1980–81	Kirk	13–14	5–7	5th
1981–82	Kirk	24–5	10–2	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen[a]
1982–83	Kirk	23–8	6–6	4th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen[a]
1983–84	Kirk	26–7	11–3	T-1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen[a]
1984–85	Kirk	31–4	13–1	1st	NCAA Final Four[a]
1985–86	Kirk	28–6	9–3	2nd	NCAA Second Round[a]
Larry Finch (Metro Conference) (1986–1991)
1986–87	Finch	26–8	8–4	2nd	[b]
1987–88	Finch	20–12	6–6	T-3rd	NCAA Second Round
1988–89	Finch	21–11	8–4	T-2nd	NCAA First Round
1989–90	Finch	18–12	8–6	4th	NIT First Round
1990–91	Finch	17–15	7–7	T-4th	NIT Second Round
Larry Finch (Great Midwest Conference) (1991–1995)
1991–92	Finch	23–11	5–5	T-3rd	NCAA Elite Eight
1992–93	Finch	20–12	7–3	2nd	NCAA First Round
1993–94	Finch	13–16	4–8	T-5th
1994–95	Finch	24–10	9–3	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
Larry Finch (Conference USA) (1995–1997)
1995–96	Finch	22–8	11–3	1st (White)	NCAA First Round
1996–97	Finch	16–15	10–4	T-1st (White)	NIT First Round
Tic Price (Conference USA) (1997–1999)
1997–98	Price	17–12	12–4	1st (National)	NIT Second Round
1998–99	Price	13–15	6–10	T-2nd (National)
Johnny Jones (Conference USA) (1999–2000)
1999–00	Jones	15–16	7–9	T-3rd (National)
Johnny Jones:		15–16 (.366)	7–9 (.438)
John Calipari (Conference USA) (2000–2009)
2000–01	Calipari	21–15	10–6	T-2nd (National)	NIT 3rd Place
2001–02	Calipari	27–9	12–4	1st (National)	NIT Champions
2002–03	Calipari	23–7	13–3	1st (National)	NCAA First Round
2003–04	Calipari	22–8	12–4	T-1st	NCAA Second Round
2004–05	Calipari	22–16	9–7	T-6th	NIT Semifinals
2005–06	Calipari	33–4	13–1	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
2006–07	Calipari	33–4	16–0	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
2007–08	Calipari	38–2[c]	16–0	1st	NCAA Final
2008–09	Calipari	33–4	16–0	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
John Calipari:		252–69 (.785)	117–25 (.824)
Josh Pastner (Conference USA) (2009–2013)
2009–10	Pastner	24–10	13–3	2nd	NIT Second Round
2010–11	Pastner	25–10	10–6	4th	NCAA Second Round
2011–12	Pastner	26–9	13–3	1st	NCAA Second Round
2012–13	Pastner	30–4	16–0	1st	NCAA Third Round
Josh Pastner (American Athletic Conference) (2013–2016)
2013–14	Pastner	24-10	12-6	T-3	NCAA Third Round
2014–15	Pastner	18-14	10-8	T-5
2015–16	Pastner	19-15	8-10	7th
Josh Pastner:		167–73 (.696)	82–36 (.695)
Tubby Smith (American Athletic Conference) (2016–present)
2016-17	Smith	19-13	9-9	T-5
Total:
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

• ^a The 1982–1986 NCAA tournament records were vacated by the NCAA.
• ^b Memphis was banned from the 1987 postseason by the NCAA.
• ^c The 2007–08 season was vacated by the NCAA.

^[21]

NCAA Tournament results

The Tigers have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 26 times. Their overall record is 34–26. However, wins in 1982–1986 and 2008 have been vacated.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result/Score
1955	-	First Round	Penn State	L 55–59
1956	-	First Round	Oklahoma City	L 81–97
1962	-	First Round	Creighton	L 83–87
1973	-	Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship Game	South Carolina Kansas State Providence UCLA	W 90–76 W 92–72 W 98–85 L 66–87
1976	-	First Round	Pepperdine	L 77–87
1982*	#2	Second Round Sweet Sixteen	Wake Forest Villanova	W 56–55 L 66–70
1983*	#4	Second Round Sweet Sixteen	Georgetown Houston	W 66–57 L 63–70
1984*	#6	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	Oral Roberts Purdue Houston	W 92–83 W 66–48 L 71–78
1985*	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	Penn UAB Boston College Oklahoma Villanova	W 67–55 W 67–66 OT W 59–57 W 63–61 L 45–52
1986*	#3	First Round Second Round	Ball State LSU	W 95–63 L 81–83
1988	#9	First Round Second Round	Baylor Purdue	W 75–60 L 73–100
1989	#5	First Round	DePaul	L 63–66
1992	#6	First Round Second Rounc Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	Pepperdine Arkansas Georgia Tech Cincinnati	W 80–70 W 82–80 W 83–79 L 57–88
1993	#10	First Round	Western Kentucky	L 52–55
1995	#6	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	Louisville Purdue Arkansas	W 77–56 W 75–73 L 91–96 OT
1996	#5	First Round	Drexel	L 63–75
2003	#7	First Round	Arizona State	L 71–84
2004	#7	First Round Second Round	South Carolina Oklahoma State	W 59–43 L 53–70
2006	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	Oral Roberts Bucknell Bradley UCLA	W 94–78 W 72–56 W 80–64 L 45–50
2007	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	North Texas Nevada Texas A&M Ohio State	W 73–58 W 78–62 W 65–64 L 76–92
2008*	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship Game	Texas–Arlington Mississippi State Michigan State Texas UCLA Kansas	W 87–63 W 77–74 W 92–74 W 85–66 W 78–63 L 75–68 OT
2009	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	Cal State Northridge Maryland Missouri	W 81–70 W 89–70 L 91–102
2011	#12	Second Round	Arizona	L 75–77
2012	#8	Second Round	Saint Louis	L 54–61
2013	#6	Second Round Third Round	Saint Mary's Michigan State	W 54–52 L 48–70
2014	#8	Second Round Third Round	George Washington Virginia	W 71–66 L 60–78

* = vacated by NCAA

NIT results

The Tigers have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 17 times. Their combined record is 20–16 and they were NIT champions in 2002.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result/Score
1957	First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	Utah Manhattan St. Bonaventure Bradley	W 77–75 W 85–73 W 80–78 L 83–84
1960	First Round	Providence	L 70–71
1961	Quarterfinals	Holy Cross	L 69–81
1963	First Round Quarterfinals	Fordham Canisius	W 70–49 L 67–76
1967	First Round	Providence	L 68–77
1972	First Round	Oral Roberts	L 74–94
1974	First Round Quarterfinals	Seton Hall Utah	W 73–72 L 78–92
1975	First Round	Oral Roberts	L 95–97
1977	First Round	Alabama	L 63–86
1990	First Round	Tennessee	L 71–73
1991	First Round Second Round	UAB Arkansas State	W 82–76 L 57–58
1997	First Round	UNLV	L 62–66
1998	First Round Second Round	Ball State Fresno State	W 90–67 L 80–83
2001	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Utah UTEP New Mexico Tulsa Detroit	W 71–62 W 90–65 W 81–63 L 64–72 W 86–71
2002	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	UNC Greensboro BYU Tennessee Tech Temple South Carolina	W 82–62 W 80–69 W 79–72 W 79–77 W 72–62
2005	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals	Northeastern Virginia Tech Vanderbilt Saint Joseph's	W 90–65 W 83–62 W 81–68 L 58–70
2010	First Round Second Round	St. John's Mississippi	W 73–71 L 81–90

All-Time coaches list

All-Time Coaches List
Tenure	Coach	Seasons	W	L	T	Pct.
1920–1921	Fredrick Grantham	1	22	7	1	.750
1921–1922	W. H. Depriest	1	1	7	-	.125
1922–1924	Lester Barhard	2	10	13	-	.435
1924–1948	Zach Curlin	23	173	184	-	.485
1948–1951	McCoy Tarry	3	40	27	-	.597
1951–1956	Eugene Lambert	5	87	45	-	.659
1956–1962	Bob Vanatta	6	109	34	-	.762
1962–1966	Dean Ehlers	4	53	47	-	.530
1966–1970	Moe Iba	4	37	65	-	.363
1970–1974	Gene Bartow	4	83	32	-	.722
1974–1979	Wayne Yates	5	93	49	-	.655
1979–1986	Dana Kirk	7	158	58	-	.731
1986–1997	Larry Finch	11	220	130	-	.629
1997–1999	Tic Price	2	30	27	-	.526
1999–2000	Johnny Jones*	1	15	16	-	.484
2000–2009	John Calipari**	9	214	69	-	.756
2009–2016	Josh Pastner	7	167	73	-	.696
2016–present	Tubby Smith	1	19	13	-	.594

Source:^[22]
* Denotes interim coach
** 38 victories from 2007 to 2008 vacated by NCAA ^[23]

All-Americans

NCAA recognized

Memphis has had 8 players chosen as All-Americans by the four sources used by the NCAA to determine consensus teams, the Associated Press, the United States Basketball Writers Association, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and The Sporting News (which replaced the United Press International in 1998). Three players have been unanimous first team selections (Keith Lee, Anfernee Hardaway, and Chris Douglas-Roberts). Keith Lee was the only Tiger to be selected more than once, eventually being selected three of his four years at Memphis.

NCAA Recognized All-Americans
Year	Player	Consensus	Points [a]	AP	USBWA	NABC	UPI/TSN
1973	Larry Finch	2nd	3[b]	-	1st	-	-
1983	Keith Lee	1st	10[b]	2nd	1st	2nd	1st
1984	Keith Lee	2nd	7	3rd	2nd	2nd	2nd
1985	Keith Lee	1st	12	1st	1st	1st	1st
1986	William Bedford	-	1	3rd	-	4th	-
1993	Anfernee Hardaway	1st	12	1st	1st	1st	1st
1996	Lorenzen Wright	2nd	5	2nd	-	3rd	2nd
2006	Rodney Carney	2nd	6	2nd	2nd	2nd	-
2008	Chris Douglas-Roberts	1st	12	1st	1st	1st	1st
2008	Derrick Rose	-	2	3rd	-	3rd	-

• ^a The NCAA uses points to determine consensus teams, awarding 3 points for a 1st team selection, 2 points for 2nd team, and 1 point for 3rd team.
• ^b The NCAA began calculating points to determine consensus in 1984. Point totals are shown before 1984 for comparative purposes.

Source:^[24]

School recognized

According to the program's records, the school recognizes the following bodies for their selection of All-America teams: UPI, Converse, ESPN, Associated Press, Basketball Times, Basketball Weekly, USBWA, The Sporting News, Scripps-Howard, Wooden Award, CBSSports.com, FOXSports.com, Collegehoops.net, Rivals.com, NBC, NABC, College Sports, Collegeinsider.com, Sports Illustrated, NaismithLives.com and Rupp Trophy. They recognize all levels including honorable mentions and freshman teams.

The University of Memphis currently recognizes 38 players as All-Americans:

• Forest Arnold (1954, 1955, 1956)
• Orby Arnold (1958)
• Sean Banks (2004)
• Will Barton (2012)
• Hunter Beckman (1962)
• William Bedford (1986)
• James Bradley (1977, 1978, 1979)
• Antonio Burks (2004)
• Mike Butler (1968)
• Rodney Carney (2006)
• Bill Cook (1974, 1975, 1976)
• James Douglas (1971)
• Chris Douglas-Roberts (2007, 2008)
• Tyreke Evans (2009)
• Larry Finch (1972, 1973)
• Sylvester Gray (1987)
• Anfernee Hardaway (1992, 1993)
• Cedric Henderson (1994)
• Marion Hillard (1975, 1976)
• Otis Jackson (1982)
• Rich Jones (1969)
• Larry Kenon (1973)
• George Kirk (1963, 1964)
• Keith Lee (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
• Todd Mundt (1990)
• Bobby Parks (1983)
• Elliot Perry (1988, 1989, 1990)
• Dexter Reed (1977)
• Ronnie Robinson (1972, 1973)
• Derrick Rose (2008)
• Andre Turner (1983, 1986)
• David Vaughn III (1992)
• Dajuan Wagner (2002)
• Darius Washington, Jr. (2005, 2006)
• Win Wilfong (1956, 1957)
• Shawne Williams (2006)
• Lorenzen Wright (1995, 1996)
• Wayne Yates (1961)

NBA players who attended Memphis

Since the NBA Draft began in 1947, 50 players from Memphis have been drafted, with an additional four signed as undrafted free agents. Of the 50 drafted players, 28 played in at least one NBA (or ABA) game. Memphis has produced 13 first-round picks, including 8 top-ten picks and one number-one pick (Derrick Rose). Three former Tigers have been named NBA All Stars: Larry Kenon (two times), Anfernee Hardaway (4 times), and Derrick Rose (3 times). Three have gone on to win the NBA Championship: Win Wilfong with the St. Louis Hawks in 1958, William Bedford with the Detroit Pistons in 1990, and Earl Barron with the Miami Heat in 2006. In 2010, Memphis became the second college to produce two consecutive NBA Rookie of the Year winners: Derrick Rose in 2009 and Tyreke Evans in 2010 (the first being North Carolina with winners Walter Davis in 1978 and Phil Ford in 1979). In 2011, Rose became the first former Tiger to be named the NBA Most Valuable Player. Many players since the late 1990s that have either gone undrafted or had unsuccessful NBA careers have played professionally for foreign teams in Europe or Asia.

NBA players who attended Memphis (incl. ABA)
Player	Draft year	Round	Pick	Team	Achievements
Win Wilfong	1957	1	4th	St. Louis Hawks	1958 NBA Champion
Wayne Yates	1961	1	5th	Los Angeles Lakers
Mike Butler[a]	1968	10	121st	San Diego Rockets	1971 ABA Champion
Rich Jones[a][b]	1969	5	58th	Phoenix Suns	2x ABA All Star, 1976 ABA Champion
Ronnie Robinson[a]	1973	4	60th	Phoenix Suns
Larry Kenon[a][c]	1973	3	50th	Detroit Pistons	2x NBA All Star, 3x ABA All Star, 1974 ABA Champion
Larry Finch[a]	1973	4	68th	Los Angeles Lakers
Hank McDowell	1981	5	102nd	Golden State Warriors
Keith Lee	1985	1	11th	Chicago Bulls
Andre Turner	1986	3	69th	Los Angeles Lakers
William Bedford	1986	1	6th	Phoenix Suns	1990 NBA Champion
Vincent Askew	1987	2	39th	Philadelphia 76ers
Sylvester Gray	1988	2	35th	Miami Heat
Elliot Perry	1991	2	37th	Los Angeles Clippers
Anfernee Hardaway	1993	1	3rd	Golden State Warriors	4x NBA All Star
Todd Mundt	1995	-	-	Boston Celtics
David Vaughn III	1995	1	25th	Orlando Magic
Lorenzen Wright	1996	1	7th	Los Angeles Clippers
Cedric Henderson	1997	2	44th	Cleveland Cavaliers
Chris Garner	1997	-	-	Toronto Raptors
Dajuan Wagner	2002	1	6th	Cleveland Cavaliers
Antonio Burks	2004	2	37th	Orlando Magic
Earl Barron	2005	-	-	Miami Heat	2006 NBA Champion
Shawne Williams	2006	1	17th	Indiana Pacers
Rodney Carney	2006	1	16th	Chicago Bulls
Darius Washington, Jr.	2007	–	–	San Antonio Spurs
Chris Douglas-Roberts	2008	2	40th	New Jersey Nets
Joey Dorsey	2008	2	33rd	Portland Trail Blazers
Derrick Rose	2008	1	1st	Chicago Bulls	3x NBA All Star, 2011 NBA MVP, NBA Rookie of the Year
Tyreke Evans	2009	1	4th	Sacramento Kings	NBA Rookie of the Year
Antonio Anderson	2009	–	–	Oklahoma City Thunder
Elliot Williams	2010	1	22nd	Portland Trail Blazers
Will Barton	2012	2	40th	Portland Trail Blazers
D.J. Stephens	2013	-	-	Milwaukee Bucks
Tarik Black[d]	2014	-	-	Houston Rockets

currently active players are in bold

• ^a Player chose to play professionally in the American Basketball Association (ABA), which existed from 1967 to 1976.
• ^b Rich Jones was originally drafted by the Phoenix Suns in 1968 in the fourth round as the 49th pick, but opted not to play. In 1969, he was drafted again by the Suns but chose instead to play in the ABA for the Dallas Chaparrals. He would eventually play in the NBA in 1976 when the New Jersey Nets joined as part of the NBA-ABA merger.
• ^c Larry Kenon moved to the NBA after the San Antonio Spurs joined the NBA in 1976, as part of the NBA-ABA merger.
• ^d Tarik Black transferred to Kansas for his senior season. He played at Memphis from 2010 to 2013.

Players drafted but never played
Player	Draft year	Round	Pick	Team
Jim Hackaday	1959	3	17th	Philadelphia Warriors
Orby Arnold	1959	7	53rd	St. Louis Hawks
George Price	1960	8	58th	New York Knicks
Lowery Kirk	1961	4	34th	Cincinnati Royals
Hunter Beckman	1963	7	58th	Cincinnati Royals
George Kirk	1964	5	42nd	Cincinnati Royals
Bob Neumann	1964	10	83rd	Cincinnati Royals
James Douglas	1971	16	226th	Buffalo Braves
Doug Holcomb	1972	6	94th	Boston Celtics
Bill Cook	1976	3	49th	Washington Bullets
Marion Hillard	1976	4	65th	Washington Bullets
James Bradley	1979	2	35th	Atlanta Hawks
Rodney Lee	1979	8	150th	Detroit Pistons
Dennis Isbell	1981	5	100th	San Diego Clippers
Otis Jackson	1982	8	174th	New Jersey Nets
Chris Faggi	1982	8	179th	San Antonio Spurs
Bobby Parks	1984	3	58th	Atlanta Hawks
Phillip Haynes	1984	6	121st	Los Angeles Clippers
Baskerville Holmes	1986	3	68th	Milwaukee Bucks
Dwight Boyd	1988	3	66th	Denver Nuggets
Robert Dozier	2009	2	60th	Miami Heat

Source:^[25]

Memphis Tigers in International Competition

Memphis Tigers in International Competition
Player	Country	Year	Competition	Location	Medal
Elliot Perry	USA	1989	FIBA Americas Championship	Mexico City	Silver
Anfernee Hardaway[a]	USA	1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta	Gold
Darius Washington, Jr.[b]	Macedonia	2009	Eurobasket	Poland	none
Derrick Rose[a]	USA	2010	FIBA World Championship	Turkey	Gold
Derrick Rose[a]	USA	2014	FIBA World Championship	Spain	Gold

• ^a competed internationally as NBA players
• ^b Though American by birth, Washington is a naturalized citizen of Macedonia where he is known as Darius Vašington (Дариус Вашингтон).^[26]

Retired jerseys

The University of Memphis has retired nine jerseys.

Retired basketball jerseys
Number	Player	Years played
13	Forest Arnold	1952–56
22	Win Wilfong	1955–57
44	John Gunn[1]	1974–76
21	Larry Finch	1970-73
33	Ronnie Robinson	1970–73
35	Larry Kenon	1972–73
24	Keith Lee	1981–85
34	Elliot Perry	1987-91
25	Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway	1991-93

• ¹ John Gunn succumbed to Stevens-Johnson syndrome on 21 December 1976. He had been diagnosed with the rare disease only three games into the 1976 season.^[5]

Source:^[27]

Notes and references

External links

• Official website