2020-21 TIGERS Basketball Athletics Communicationsemphis Contact/Info: Chuck Gallina (interim) Cell: (901) 232-6136 Office: (901) 678-1756 Email: [email protected] Tigers On TV/Radio/Web GMS 1-3: BAD BOY MOWERS CROSSOVER CLASSIC Television: ESPN/2/U NOV. 25-27 • SANFORD PENTAGON (3,250) • SIOUX FALLS, S.D. Radio: 102.7 FM/NewsRadio 600AM WREC (Dave Woloshin, play-by-play; Matt Dillon, color SETTING THE SCENE analyst; Jeff Brightwell, studio host) By The Numbers... • The (RV) Memphis Tigers open the 2020-21 campaign, their 100th season of basketball, in WatchESPN.com (provider authenticated) Percent of minutes played return- the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic Nov. 25- Web: ing from the 2019-20 squad, led 27 in Sioux Falls, S.D. by Lester Quinones' 766 logged a • One of the premiere early-season tournaments 69.4 season ago (29.5 mpg) this year, the Crossover Classic field boasts a combined 131 NCAA Tournament appearances, Schedule/Results 39 Sweet Sixteen trips, and six Final Fours. (0-0, 0-0 American) Percent of last season's point total • Seven of the eight teams in the tournament won that returns this year, including at least 20 games last season, and the eighth, November (0-0) double-digit scorers D.J. Jeffries Western Kentucky, won 19. 25 (1) Saint Mary's (ESPN2) 1:00 p.m. 59.3 (10.8 ppg) and Lester Quinones • Five teams were in the top-50 of the NCAA's 26 (1) RV Western Kentucky/ (10.7 ppg) NET rankings in 2019-20 (West Virginia, 17; RV Northern Iowa (ESPN/2) 11 a.m./4 p.m. 27 (1) #15 West Virginia/South Dakota State/ Saint Mary's, 31; Utah State, 40; Wichita State, Utah State/Wichita State (ESPN/2/U) TBD 41; Northern Iowa, 48), Memphis was ranked Memphis’ all-time record against 59th, WKU was at 123, and South Dakota State December (0-0) the other seven teams in the Bad checked in at 126. 2 ARKANSAS STATE TBD 28-22 Boy Mowers Crossover Classic • The Tigers' first game comes Wednesday af- 5 at Ole Miss Canceled ternoon at 1:00 (CT) against Saint Mary's, and 8 MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE TBD Memphis will also play on Thursday and Friday 12 (2) vs. Auburn TBD Record for Memphis in in-season before returning to The Bluff City for the home 16 at Tulane* TBD tournaments, including a 4-0 mark opener against Arkansas State Dec. 2. 21 TULSA* TBD 112- 29 USF* TBD last season in games in the Bar- • Memphis has won both of its previous matchups 70 clays Center Classic with Saint Mary's, with the most recent coming January (0-0) 54-52 in the second round of the 2013 NCAA 2 at Temple* TBD 5 at UCF* TBD 14 SMU* TBD 2020-21 MEMPHIS NUMERICAL ROSTER 17 at Tulsa* TBD No. Name Pos Ht Wt Yr Hometown/High School/Last School 21 WICHITA STATE* TBD 0 D.J. Jeffries F 6-7 215 So. Olive Branch, Miss./Olive Branch HS 24 at East Carolina* TBD 1 Jayden Hardaway G 6-5 195 r-So. Memphis, Tenn./East HS/IMG Academy (Fla.) 27 at SMU* TBD 2 Alex Lomax G 6-0 190 Jr. Memphis, Tenn./East HS 3 Landers Nolley II G 6-7 220 r-So. Fairburn, Ga./Langston Hughes HS/Virginia Tech February (0-0) 5 Boogie Ellis G 6-3 180 So. San Diego, Calif./Mission Bay HS 3 UCF* TBD 10 Damion Baugh G 6-3 185 So. Nashville, Tenn./Cane Ridge HS/ 6 EAST CAROLINA* TBD Tennessee Prep Academy (Memphis) 11 CINCINNATI* TBD 14 at Houston* TBD 11 Lester Quinones G 6-5 205 So. Brentwood, N.Y./St. Benedict’s/IMG Academy (Fla.) 18 at Wichita State* TBD 12 DeAndre Williams F 6-9 190 Jr. Houston, Texas/Klein Forest HS/Nation Wide Academy/Evansville 21 TEMPLE* TBD 15 Lance Thomas F 6-9 224 r-Jr. Norcross, Ga./Norcross HS/Louisville 24 TULANE* TBD 20 Ahmad Rand F 6-8 185 Jr. Lincolnton, Ga./Lincoln County HS/USC Salkehatchie 28 at Cincinnati* TBD 23 Malcolm Dandridge C 6-9 232 So. Memphis, Tenn./East HS 30 Conor Glennon G 5-10 165 Fr. Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice HS MARCH (0-0) 3 at USF* TBD 32 Moussa Cisse C 6-10 220 Fr. Conakry, Guinea (West Africa)/Lausanne Collegiate School 6/7 HOUSTON* TBD COACHING STAFF 11-14 (3) AAC Men's Basketball Championship TBD Head Coach ....Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway (3rd Season) Dir. Basketball Operations .Rodney Hamilton Assistant Coach ..................... Tony Madlock (3rd Season) Dir. Player Personnel ................. Dwight Boyd Home games in blue CAPS All times CT * American Athletic Conference game Assistant Coach ..................... Cody Toppert (2nd Season) Athletic Trainer ...................... Chris Simmons (1) Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic (Sanford Penta- Assistant Coach ............... Jermaine Johnson (1st Season) Strength Coach..............................Darby Rich gon; Sioux Falls, S.D.) (2) Holiday Hoopsgiving (State Farm Arena; Atlanta, PRONUNCIATION GUIDE Ga.) Damion BAUGH ..................................... BAW Lester QUINONES ................kin — YO — ness (3) Dickies Arena (Fort Worth, Texas) MOUSSA CISSE .... MOOSE — uh SEE — say GMS 1-3/BAD BOY MOWERS CROSSOVER CLASSIC Tournament in Auburn Hills, Mich. on March 21. • The Tigers received two first-place votes and 90 • Matthew Dellavedova's three-pointer from the total voting points. AWARDS & HONORS right wing sailed long as time expired to seal the • Houston is picked to win the conference with Memphis victory. nine first-place votes and 99 total points. 2020-21 • Joe Jackson had 14 points, seven assists, and six • Following Houston and Memphis, SMU, Cincin- PRESEASON rebounds to lead the Tigers, and Adonis Thomas nati, and USF rounded out the top five. Moussa Cisse added 12 points in a team-high 39 minutes. • In addition to the predicted order of finish, Ti- • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List • After beating 11th-seeded Saint Mary's, the gers sophomores D.J. Jeffries and Landers Nol- sixth-seeded Tigers lost to No. 3 seed Michigan ley II were selected to the preseason All-AAC D.J. Jeffries State in the third round, 70-48. Second Team, and freshman Moussa Cisse was • Julius Erving Award Watch List • Memphis' other win against the Gaels came on voted the league's Preseason Rookie of the Year. Nov. 18, 2004 in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic 2019-20 in New York, 81-66. JEFFRIES AND JULIUS POSTSEASON • Memphis' second game in the Crossover Classic • Sophomore D.J. Jeffries is one of 20 players na- Precious Achiuwa will come against either (RV) Western Kentucky tionally on the watch list for the 2021 Julius Erv- • American Athletic Conference Player of the Year or (RV) Northern Iowa. ing Award, which is presented annually by the • American Athletic Conference Freshman of the • A matchup with WKU, who is receiving votes in Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to Year the preseason Coaches Poll, would feature two the top small forward in Division I basketball. • All-American Athletic Conference First Team of the best big men in the country. • Jeffries appeared in 19 games as a freshman • American Athletic Conference All-Freshman • Memphis' and WKU's with 13 starts, averaging 10.8 points and 4.3 re- Moussa Cisse Charles Team Bassey are two of the 20 players on the 2021 bounds. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award • The watch list for the award will be reduced to Lester Quinones watch list. 10 players in January and five finalists in Febru- • American Athletic Conference All-Freshman • The Tigers and Northern Iowa previously ary, with the winner announced on April 9. Team squared off in an in-season tournament, with • A season ago, Memphis' Precious Achiuwa was Memphis winning in the 2012 Battle 4 Atlantis, also on the preseason watch list for the award MID-SEASON 52-47. and was named a finalist at the season's mid- Precious Achiuwa • The Tigers are receiving votes in both the pre- season point. • John R. Wooden Award List season Associated Press and Coaches polls. • Julius Erving Award List (Finalist) THE GLUE GUY • Sporting News All-America Team (third) WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES • No player on the Memphis roster has appeared • Eight of the 13 players on Memphis' roster have in more games for the Tigers than junior Alex IN-SEASON started at least 13 games at the Division I level. Lomax CBSSports.com/USBWA • That list includes (25), • The Memphis native played in all 31 games last Damion Baugh Boogie El- Freshman of the Week lis (27), D.J. Jeffries (13), Alex Lomax (15), Land- season and in 35 of Memphis' 36 games as a Jan. 6 — Precious Achiuwa ers Nolley II (29), Lester Quinones (23), Lance freshman in 2018-19. Jan. 13 — Precious Achiuwa Thomas (13), and DeAndre Williams (15). • He led the Tigers in assists (132, 4.3 per game) • A season ago, the Tigers roster featured seven and steals (46, 1.5 per game) last season. American Athletic Conference new signees, two redshirt-freshmen, and one Player of the Week transfer who was eligible. LOMAX DISHIN' IT OUT Nov. 25 — Precious Achiuwa • According to KenPom.com, Memphis had the • Junior Alex Lomax is one of The American’s as- youngest team in NCAA Division I basketball in sists leaders, but he also climbed the charts for American Athletic Conference 2019-20. most assists by a sophomore in program history. Freshman of the Week • The following is the top-10 list for most assists Nov. 11 — James Wiseman SUPER SOPHOMORES by a sophomore in Tigers history: Nov. 18 — Lester Quinones • In a stark contrast to last season's wealth of Dec.