Memphis Tigers Basketball

Okay, okay, I admit it. I allowed my emotions to get the better of me, and in a previous article here on Bleacher Report, I might have resorted to hyperbole to describe the impact of John Calipari’s resignation would have on the University of Memphis basketball program.

Alright, “devastated” was too strong a term to use.

In all fairness, the article was factually accurate, but much too premature.

Typically, being wrong leads me into a set of histrionics that I prefer not to describe here. I mean, it doesn’t happen that often, so I don’t get a lot of practice at it.

However, this is one mea culpa that I am pleased to indulge in. Because three weeks after the disappointing announcement, the school is putting the pieces back together.

The future certainly isn’t as bright as it was before the Italian left—the best recruiting class this side of the Fab Five has been obliterated—but we Memphis fans feel pretty good right now.

This is where Josh Pastner comes in.

Pastner, who was only in Memphis to pack his belongings before heading up I-65 toward Lexington, Kentucky. He was about to sign on as Calipari’s lead recruiter and contribute to the rebuilding of the once proud Wildcat program.

That’s when Memphis Athletic Director R. C. Johnson stepped in and offered the job as Memphis head man to the 31-year-old wunderkind. The hire, though catching much of the Memphis fan base off guard, turned out to be absolutely brilliant.

Pastner’s first order of business was keeping as many of the players in Memphis as he could. That meant current scholarship players (all six of them), the walk-ons (one of whom had huge implications), and high-profile recruits.

So what does Josh do?

He encourages fourth-year junior Shawn Taggart to test the waters of the NBA draft.

Uhh, Coach Paz? That’s not quite what we Memphis fans had in mind. We were more thinking along the lines of keeping Taggart in town for his senior season. So just what was he trying to accomplish here?

He was showing his kids that he puts their interests first, that’s what he was doing. He knows that Taggart will probably go undrafted, but at least he has the chance to put himself more firmly on the radar of NBA teams, while also finding out what things he needs to work on if he wishes to take his game to the highest level.

Paz and his players rallied around each other, with Doneal Mack, Taggart and Wesley Witherspoon all publicly pronouncing that they intend to return next year. Roburt Sallie is mum, but it would only make sense for him to come back, as well.

One walk-on, Preston Laird, is a Memphis native. He will certainly be on the Memphis roster this fall. If he puts on strength and weight over the summer, he just might see the floor at times other than the last three minutes of blow-out victories.

However, walk-on C. J. Henry is heading to Kansas with his brother, consensus top-five high school senior Xavier Henry. That one stung, but it was expected; we can’t hold that one against Paz.

Already, however, he was up to seven roster players, six of whom will have scholarships. The configuration is favorable for the up-tempo style that Pastner says he wants to run: a center (Pierre Henderson-Niles), a power forward (Taggart), a small forward (Witherspoon), three shooting guards (Laird, Mack, and Sallie) and a point guard (Willie Kemp).

Henderson-Niles, though, continues to struggle with his weight; depending on him for extended minutes might not be the best of plans. I love the big lug, but what makes us think he’s going to lose enough weight this summer to be a factor, when he hasn’t done so over the past two off seasons?

Pastner was able to solve this quandary, too.

Will Coleman, a 6’9”, 260-pound low post monster at Miami-Dade Junior College, committed to Memphis last summer. Coach Paz was able to re-recruit him, and convinced him to honor the NLI that he signed.

Between Coleman, Henderson-Niles and Taggart, Memphis should be more than capable of scoring, defending, and rebounding on the block.

Pastner’s assistant coaching hires were particularly shrewd.

Willis Wilson, the long-suffering former head man at Rice University, has sent many of his players to the NBA, and is widely respected for his recruiting and teaching. He’s an exceptional addition.

Glynn Cyprien might be an even better acquisition.

The erstwhile Kentucky assistant and lead recruiter for Billy Gillispie, Cyprien has deep recruiting ties all over the Southeastern portion of the U. S. He has had successful stints at Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma State and UNLV.

He also happened to recruit two very important basketball players: point guard Eric Bledsoe and center Daniel Orton.

Bledsoe long has been seen as a potential Plan B for Memphis, in case John Wall went elsewhere. Given that Wall certainly will not make his way to the Bluff City, Bledsoe is now Plan A for the Tigers. Cyprien should be an asset in the recruitment.

Orton, meanwhile, has signed an NLI with Kentucky, but will face stiff competition for playing time in Lexington. Perhaps he could have a change of heart and think of playing elsewhere?

Regardless of what happens with those prospects, Pastner is making all the right moves. He has already increased his focus on recruiting Memphis student-athletes, which is a most welcome development to Tiger fans. He is making a huge push for long wing prospect Latavious Williams, from Memphis and by way of a prep school.

All things considered, the hiring of Pastner and his subsequent activities have invigorated a fan base that was (rightfully) distraught just three weeks ago. Far from “devastated,” the basketball program is alive and well.

And I have never been as happy to be wrong as I am today.

First, I'd like to say that I enjoyed the Memphis basketball program under former head coach John Calipari. The Tigers had great success, and we fans were able to watch some truly gifted athletes become great players and great men during his watch.

However, to help everyone process the change, I would like to start a list of the things that Cal did poorly. Hopefully this will get the public more optimistic about Coach Pastner and his new endeavor.

1. Cal did not recruit local (Memphis) talent successfully. The Tiger faithful had to follow Georgia Tech to see what Thaddeus Young did, and Wake just to see O'Kelley. We have always enjoyed watching "our" talent at the University, but under Cal, they went elsewhere.
2. He absolutely could not get the most out of the players he had. Bobby Knight once said "the chief want in everyone is for someone to bring out the best in them." Cal never understood this and gave up on a lot of players too early.
3. Calipari demanded a raise year after year. I don't mind people making what they are worth, but this led to ticket prices at the Forum reaching untouchable levels, even for fans that had been season ticket holders since the Coliseum. I find it hard to believe that revenue for tickets generates that much money compared with TV rights, apparel fees, and speaking engagements.
4. The whole "Worldwide Wes" association stinks. I know that college basketball is a competive business and that in order to get the players, you have to be relentless, but Cal always had an unpleasant aura. I don't know if he broke rules or not, but the perception of foul play is not just mine. I don't subsribe to the "win at all cost" mentality, and a major violation could be deadly for the athletic department at Memphis.
5. I heard John speak many times and was always amazed at how unprepared he was. I know everyone thinks he himself is the greatest PR man ever, but if you hear three Cal interviews, you've heard them all. From "it is what it is," "it takes a village," and "miserables," to "for sale signs in my yard," "blue hairs love me," and "us against them," it got old. And after a one seed and a two seed, he is still campaigning with "no respect." I think Dangerfield has been reincarnated.

Tiger Nation: Add your thoughts to my list; let's see just how much we will all miss Cal.

For all the Memphis fans developing ulcers worrying about next years team STOP panicking.  Sure the departure of Cal and possibly the best recruiting class since Michigan's "Fab Five" has alot of us singing the blues, but I say good riddance.

Memphis will never be a Kansas, Duke, Indiana, etc because we are Memphis.  All the perceived "elite" programs in the country have a common thread.  Their basketball programs all were developed by coaches and athletic directors that had ties to Naismith and Phogg Allen.  Those guys are dead. 

Why can't Memphis just be Memphis? Why does it matter how we are perceived by outsiders? Do you have to see your team on ESPN to be a fan?

Memphis has its own history; Finch, Kennon, Kirk, "tomb of doom", Lee, 1985, Bartow, Turner, the Coliseum, hating Huggins, hating Crum, hating Drexel (LOL) really I could do this all night.

Do we have to borrow Doc Browns' Delorian and go back 50 years and win a couple championships so we feel validated? I have been to hundreds of Tiger games, we one some and we lost some, but I enjoyed all the games. I would love to win a NC, but what happens the next day....nothing.

I'll still be jonesing for next season like i do every offseason. We have only one significant problem, conference affiliation. The power brokers at Memphis will not let another realignment chance pass by so all we can do is wait and continue to strengthen ALL aspects of the University. 

Moving on to next season there are a few things to consider before jumping from the top of Clark Tower.  Players. We already have extremely good talent.  Kemp was a highly recruited player out of Bolivar he just never reached his potential in Cal's system. 

For the most part Cal had a way a bringing out the worst in alot of players, Scooter, Snap, Barron, etc. Cal put his arm around his coveted recruits and let the rest fall where they may.

Remember fans until the DDM offense we were not on the national radar at all. Anyway Coach P will install a more traditional style run offense that has more set plays, fundamental passing and ball handling schemes, more off the ball player movement, and relentless team defence.

 I bet any coach in CUSA would trade their returning players for the players returning to Memphis.  All CP has to do is recruit a decent PG and a few combos, they dont have to be top 50 players. Anyone enjoy watching Rodney Carney?  Coach P is not a Calipari clone at all, he is a Lute Olsen man.

Olsen had solid players he developed in his offense and Arizona was a steady program for 20 years. Sure he had some one and done type recruits but that never defined Arizona and I think Pastner will do similar things at Memphis. 

What's wrong with having three to four years players anyway, wonder what Roy Williams thinks? So you take the current players ( tag will be back, reke is gone) throw in a couple a recruits and voila. Conference.

The knock has always been we are a giant among midgets right. We are still better than almost every CUSA team, so we go 12-4 and compete in the conference tourney ( not at FEDEX Forum next year). Non Conference schedule. 

Here is the dicey part. CP needs to try and get out of some commitments next year. The Memphis non-cof schedule is strong, maybe too strong.  Drop a big boy or two and get a couple of buy a win teams in here next year we go 10-6.

Boom 22 win season,maybe another CUSA Championship, NCAA bid, maybe a round of 32 or better. See Tigernation all will be fine.

This is an 11-part series taking a look back at the most memorable, important storylines of the 2008-09 college basketball season. For a list of storylines that didn't quite make a cut, check out the honorable mentions of the 2008-09 season.

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Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush, Darnell Jackson, Darrell Arthur, Russell Robinson, Sasha Kaun, and Rodrick Stewart; all gone from college basketball.

Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Joey Dorsey, and Andre Allen are also gone.

Graduation and defections to the NBA decimated the rosters of the 2008 NCAA Tournament Finalists. Kansas and Memphis looked like they'd be shades of themselves in 2009; few thought either school could be a legitimate Final Four threat .

But two very good recruiting classes, two great coaches, and enough stars-in-the-making returned to both schools to make them dangerous teams when the madness began.

Memphis returned more key players—senior lockdown guard Antonio Anderson and two behemoths in the paint—Shawn Taggart and Robert Dozier gave coach John Calipari a solid nucleus of players to not rebuild, but reload around. Pollsters still ranked the Tigers in the top 15 in the preseason polls.

Kansas lost its entire starting lineup, but did return the Big XII Sixth Man of the Year and budding superstar, Sherron Collins as well as center Cole Aldrich who gave Jayhawk fans a glimpse of his future greatness by scoring eight points and grabbing seven boards in a dominant first half performance off the bench against North Carolina in the 2008 Final Four.

Pundits penciled the Jayhawks in at 23rd in the preseason polls despite all the personnel losses.

But early on in the 2008-2009 season, Memphis and Kansas quickly lost their championship mojo.

The Tigers looked terrible in non-conference play, losing to Xavier, Syracuse, and Georgetown. The dribble-drive offense that Memphis has developed into one of the country's deadliest attacks looked out of sync.

Freshman star Tyreke Evans couldn't find his role in the offense, and no one in Western Tennessee could knock down a three-pointer.

In the College Basketball Experience Classic, Kansas uncharacteristically blew a 15 point second half lead to the 'Cuse and eventually lost in overtime. The Jayhawks followed that defeat with an embarrassing loss in Kansas City to a UMass team that finished in the bottom half of the Atlantic-10.

In all, KU lost four non-conference games, something the Jayhawks hadn't done since 2006.

Entering conference play Memphis finally looked vulnerable in Conference USA and Kansas appeared to only be the fourth or fifth best team in the Big XII.

But that all changed, and it changed very quickly.

After the Tigers lost on their homecourt to the Orange, Calipari made a critical lineup change. He allowed freshman guard Tyreke Evans to play the point. It was an ingenious move that suddenly made the Tigers go. The best penetrator on the team now had the ball in his hands to create.

The Tiger offense not only improved, but the defense reached levels never seen in the handful of years Ken Pomeroy has been keeping track of offensive and defensive efficiency.

And the Conference USA rout was on.

19 league games later, Memphis still owns a 61 game conference win streak.

For Kansas one particular change didn't spark a Big XII Title run in Lawrence, but rather a steep learning curve among its bevy of first-year players.

Freshmen twins Markieff and Marcus Morris, and Tyshawn Taylor became vital parts of the rotation. Sophomores Brandon Morningstar and Tyrel Reed emerged from almost non-existent roles on the championship team to become championship caliber role players. JUCO transfer Mario Little provided a spark once he returned from injury.

Suddenly Bill Self found himself with depth and talent that he could turn into an elite squad. The Jayhawks took off winning 13 of their first 14 conference games and took home the league's regular season title.

When the NCAA Tournament finally rolled around, Calipari and Self had molded two teams into squads built to win in March. The Tigers headed west as a No. 2 seed, while the Rock-Chalk headed to the east as a No. 3 seed.

But for both teams, playing six games in the tournament like each did in 2008 would not become a reality. In 2009, the two squads played just six tournament games combined.

Memphis ran into a Missouri team that played practically an identical style of basketball, but brought with it more experienced players and for once, more athleticism than Memphis. Missouri ran Calipari's club right out of Glendale.

Kansas received the unfortunate task of trying to beat Michigan State. The Spartans had already handled the Jayhawks earlier in the season and provided Kansas with several matchup problems. MSU's rebounding and superior depth eventually took its toll and like Memphis, Kansas' season ended in the Sweet 16.

But both teams made incredible strides, strides that can be measured in two conference titles, two trips to the Sweet 16, and one National Coach of the Year.

The above image is probably the most telling when it comes to Memphis Tigers basketball as of late.

Not only does the defeated demeanor depict the recent Tigers team, but the actual number of players shown does, too.

As of today, April 14, 2009, the Memphis Tigers have six—count 'em, six—players on scholarship.

Those players are Wesley Witherspoon, Willie Kemp, Pierre Henderson-Niles, Doneal Mack, Roburt Sallie, and Angel Garcia.

The status of Matt Simpkins, who was with the team for a miniscule portion of last season due to academic obstacles and a suspension, is undetermined at this point.

Shawn Taggart is testing the NBA waters. I've checked on numerous mock draft sites, including trusted DraftExpress, and his name is nowhere to be found. Unless he decides to play in Europe, Taggart should return.

From everything that I've heard, including from the horse's mouth (Witherspoon), everyone is staying put.

Witherspoon and Garcia apparently like it at Memphis. Kemp, Henderson-Niles, and Mack are all seniors, so it would be pretty pointless for them to transfer this late in their careers.

As far as Sallie goes, he seems to be the one who least likes it at Memphis. However, I think that the way he landed at Memphis and the events that transpired prior will, in the end, persuade him to remain here at Memphis. The guy really needs some continuity in his life.

That's the six players on scholarship that we know for a fact are staying put. Taggart and Simpkins could easily be added to this list down the road, but, as of today, those are the six.

CJ Henry—the brother of Xavier Henry, who walked on at Memphis last year—will likely get the appeal from the NCAA and follow his brother.

Now, onto the debacle that is the incoming recruit(s) status(es).

Xavier Henry is gone. He has been released from his NLI and will ultimately end up at Kansas, I believe.

Demarcus Cousins is gone. He de-committed and is on his way to Lexington.

John Wall, who was believed to be very close to committing to the Tigers, is likely going to end up at Baylor or Duke.

Nolan Dennis has been released from his NLI and is lobbying for a spot on the Kentucky roster.

(Wow. What a whirlwind of events, and we're not even finished.)

After all this, the Memphis Tigers were left with only two incoming recruits: Darnell Dodson and Will Coleman of Miami-Dade Community College.

And it looks like they'll be gone, too.

Reports are surfacing that Calipari has his hand in re-recruiting these guys and that they may potentially ask to be released from their NLIs, contrary to what the man said just this morning on the Dan Patrick Show. This interview can be found here.

(I think, at this point, Memphis fans have learned to take anything Calipari says with a grain of salt. The guy is clearly a walking fabrication.)

So, after being gutted like a fish, fans are imploring:

Where does that leave the 2009-10 Memphis Tigers?

The answer, in short:

In trouble.

Don't get me wrong, Memphis fans. There are still quality players out there who can help contribute to this team.

The only problem is that there aren't many players who are going to allow Pastner time to create a relationship and recruit them like it's the summer or early fall.

With each passing day, the window of time gets only more narrow.

In Pastner's defense, however, the guy is working as diligently as possible. And he'll get some guys. They won't be flashy, but he'll get some guys. I have a list of players who I think Pastner will actively pursue.

First and foremost, Latavious Williams. He's the No. 6 power forward in the country. Memphis is high on his list, as is Georgetown. However, he is having problems academically, and I don't know if Georgetown is the place to go if you're having problems in that field. Just saying. He also says that being close to home is important to him. Hailing from Starkville, Mississippi, he would only be a few hours away from home.

Another intriguing name that pops up is Ferrakohn Hall, out of hometown high school White Station. He is a three-star recruit, and at 6'7" and 210 pounds, Hall could immediately contribute to the Tigers. Pastner has openly stated that he wants to start from the inside out, and this would be the perfect time to do so.

Eric Bledsoe is reportedly interested in Memphis. I think that getting Bledsoe would be a long shot, but, of course, anything is possible. He would be a great complement to Willie Kemp and could learn the ropes behind a senior.

I have no idea, at this point, who will be on the Tiger roster next year besides the ones who are already on. These are just names that are surfacing and names that could ultimately land here. Who knows?

And, as it is a Memphis article, you know there has to be a jab at Calipari.

We have six scholarship players right now. That's less than what we had when Calipari arrived here nine years ago.

It's common courtesy to leave something off better than you found it.

I think Calipari skipped the ethics classes in school.

(Leroy Watson is reportedly mulling a scholarship offer from the University of Memphis. He's only 5'11", but he has a wingspan of 7'0" and a vertical leap of 38'. The only problem that is arising is his question of eligibility. He's been out of high school for quite a while...Just poking fun, Leroy!)

Let us face it Tiger fans. We are not a top ten coaching job in the country, plain and simple. We do not play in a powerhouse conference and we do not have a bunch of National Championship banners hanging on the rafters. Top coaches want that when they go to a new job and Memphis does not have that tradition or competition right now.  

This may not be a completely fair assumption, but this program’s fame and rise as a national power in the last five or so years is because of the ex-head coach, John Calipari. His ability to bring in top recruits from across the country is simply unmatched by most Division 1 coaches.

Do not get me wrong, I bashed Calipari as much as any other Memphis fan out there, but I will be the first to admit that our rise to a championship contender in the past five years was due mostly to him.

The days prior to Josh Pastner being hired as the new Tigers’ head coach was a huge head ache for most fans. Athletic Director R.C. Johnson went after a number of head coaches including Bruce Pearl from Tennessee,  Scott Drew from Baylor, Mike Anderson from Missouri, and Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton.

Other than Scott Drew, Memphis was not very close to contracting any of them, in fact, people joked that R.C. Johnson should be awarded the Athletic Director of the Year for getting all those coaches an extension in their respective teams.

Memphis had almost given up all hope in hiring the “wow” coach that R.C. Johnson promised. Thirty-one year old Memphisassistant, Josh Pastner, was packing his bags into his Toyota Corolla to join Calipari and the rest of the ex-Memphis staff in Lexington.

While he was packing, he received a phone call from R.C. Johnson asking him if he was interested in becoming the new University of Memphisbasketball coach. Pastner immediately said yes without any hesitation.

Collage basketball fans around the country were already starting to criticize the University of Memphis Athletic Department for hiring a 31-year-old assistant coach. At the time, Josh Pastner was the highest paid assistant coach in the country at a little over 200,000 dollars a year. To many, Pastner was considered the best assistant coach in the market.

This certainly was not the “wow” hire that Tiger fans were promised, but it was a better hire than the other coaches on the Memphis agenda.

 Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton was heavily gone after when Memphis failed to reach an agreement with Baylor’s Scott Drew. When I saw the news that Memphis was going after Hamilton I was stunned.

I asked myself why would Memphis try to hire a 61 year old coach who has only made the NCAA Tournament four times in his 20-year head-coaching career. Bringing in Hamilton would just be a glorified retirement for him.

Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl was also offered a contract to be the new head coach. Pearl has only made it to the Sweet 16 once and has only brought in one McDonald’s All-American to Tennessee. Like Hamilton, Pearl was not a great coach when the tournament came and he does not land the top name recruits.

After reading this, you are probably asking yourself how is it better to hire a young assistant coach who has never coached in the collage level as the head of a team and two proved collage coaches that just do not get it done in the NCAA Tournament. Simple answer, Pastner has been with winners.

He was the primary assistant coach and recruiter behind Arizona's run to a National Championship and Memphis loss to Kansas just two years ago in the National Championship.

Pastner is said to be one of the hardest working recruiters out there. In fact, the number one overall point guard, John Wall, still has Memphis in his top list of schools even after Calipari’s departure. This might not mean much right now, but it could be a small sign of things to come for the Memphis basketball program in terms of recruiting.

To many, the key to Calipari’s success at Memphis was his ability to bring in top players, including All-Americans. Now a days, if you are a great recruiter, but only a sub-par bench coach, you will probably win games. Calipari himself is a primary example of that concept.

Pastner brings energy and excitement to a down Memphis fan base. Memphisfans saw all the work of the past nine years gone in the blink of an eye.

Suddenly, many see Pastner as that little ray of hope that will bring Memphisback on top of the collage basketball world. The first thing a coach new to a team, especially new to the head coach position, is fan support and Tiger fans have been more than supportive of Pastner already.

Pastner brings a familiar face to players on the current roster. Although Memphishas lost two starters to graduation, possibly a third if Evans decides to go to the NBA Draft, there are still plenty of players returning next season.

A very talented bench from last season lead by Robert Sallie and Wesley Witherspoon along with the returning starters, Memphis still could be the favorite to win its fifth consecutive Conference USA title.

If Memphiswould have hired a head coach from another program that would mean the current players would have to adjust to a new system and a new set of team rules. Pastner has even said he plans to continue to use the Dribble-Drive system.

Pastner has the pressure of the entire city, but he certainly has their support. Only time will tell if Memphis ever comes back to be the National powerhouse it once was built by John Calipari. There is no doubt he has some huge shoes to fill.

After John Calipari fled the good ol' Memphis Tigers program, I was compelled to do a few emergency tests.

I checked my pulse.

Promptly at 4:30, I drove around Memphis.

I drove to the University of Memphis.

After completing these three tasks, I finalized a prognosis:

Contrary to my belief, I was still pulsating.

Memphis traffic was still insanely relentless, and yes, the majority of Memphis drivers are still stupid.

The last test's results really shocked me.

The doors were NOT chained shut, the windows were NOT boarded up, and—you won't believe this one—students still roamed around campus.

The University of Memphis was still up and running.

My God, can it be? Is life in Memphis really going on? Is the entire Memphis community not secluded in underground vaults bracing for the imminent apocalypse?

Impossible!

Why, Calipari was the lone man who could keep this city and basketball program relevant! He couldn't leave!

The Memphis media was making sure of it. They sent heavy-duty, armed choppers to hover around his palace. The fans and news were firmly positioned in front of his home, strapped with AK-47s and grenade launchers.

If we couldn't have him, nobody could; Calipari is OUR coach!

(No, the fans didn't have AKs or grenade launchers. There really was a chopper hovering over his home, though. You'd think the guy was a fugitive the way his every move was being tracked.)

Then, in true Calipari fashion, he slithered by the media.

Forgive the snake reference, but Kentucky fans, this is your guy.

With not so much as a word, Josh Pastner and Orlando Antigua led the caravan of vehicles. Calipari was ducking down in the middle of this pack.

Way to address the fans, coach!

The saga was over. The stand-off was done. Calipari took the job at Kentucky, and can you really blame him? But that's not the issue anymore. He's gone. And for a very, very long week, it felt that our program was going with him.

Alan Graf, a huge booster of the Tiger program and VP of FedEx, made the statement (which doesn't look too inaccurate now, although it did for a second) that we were going to make a "WOW" hire.

Several names were thrown into the mix. More than most, I believe, were fabricated and were pure conjecture. As unfair as it may have been, the media was making Memphis look like a desperate little high school girl who just lost her jock boyfriend and was willing to go with anyone to her senior prom.

We stooped as low as to begin CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS with the infamously accredited Scott Drew.

I'm a firm believer that Geoff Calkins is the sole reason that he was not introduced as our head coach yesterday. Thank you, Geoff. Seriously. The guy gets a lot of flack for his articles, but the Scott Drew article he wrote saved this program.

Leonard Hamilton was thrown out there. Consequently, he signed a five-year extension with Florida State. Nobody wanted him here, anyway. By the time he would've gotten down here, he would've been drawing social security.

It began to seem as if coaches were using the University of Memphis as leverage to lure more money out of their own programs. It looked bleaked for these Tigers.

Numerous sources were reporting that the Memphis brass was going to hold open auditions at the Larry Finch Center.

However, as they were preparing the concessions table for the auditions, R.C. Johnson had an idea. And if you're a Memphis fan, you know that when our A.D. has an idea, it's probably a good one.

"Hey, Alan, instead of this whole audition thing, why don't we just call that Pastner kid and see if he's interested? We don't have to shake the whole foundation, you know. He's never coached a day in his life, but something's telling me he's worth a shot."

"R.C, he just started shaving yesterday! He is cute, though."

And that was it. That was the encounter between Alan Graf and R.C. Johnson that set the stage for our new head coach, Joshua Pastner.

The guy was literally packing his bags for Kentucky. He had turned in his vehicle Memphis provided him.

And his phone rang.

Who would've thought that it would've been R.C. Johnson on the other line, not wishing him a safe flight to Kentucky, but welcoming him into the Memphis program once again ... just this time, with a promotion?

Not Josh. Not me. Not most of the Memphis fans.

But I think this move saved the Memphis Tigers. I think this moved saved the city. I think this move saved R.C. Johnson's job.

During his press conference yesterday, I noticed a few things:

He's already coining his signature phrases. I have a feeling we'll be hearing a lot of the "86,400 seconds in a day" and "Five P's" allusions in the coming years.

He's fiery. He wants to stay at the level that the Tigers have inhabited the last five years. And, with the guy's background (which includes two national championships at Arizona, one coaching AAU ball, and the other a global championship coaching AAU ball) how can you not believe the guy will continue where Cal left off?

Winning is all this guy knows.

He's got the support of our current players. He's going to get some recruits in here.

And last but not least, I noticed that the Memphis Tigers aren't going anywhere. It may take two or three years, but they're not going anywhere.

Speculate all you want, but the guy is smart, too. He got his degree in two-and-a-half years. Einstein didn't even do that!

Then again, Einstein didn't ever get to the Final Four.

Here's hoping that Josh Pastner, new head coach of the Memphis Tigers, can.

Nobody would deny that Josh Pastner walked into a tough situation yesterday when he was tabbed to follow John Calipari as basketball coach at Memphis. The fact that Coach Pastner GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL the year Coach Cal took UMass to the Final Four (1996) makes the task even more daunting.

As such I feel it's my duty as a Memphis Alum (and an UBER-knowledgeable amateur college basketball analyst) to offer my help SO I give you ("you" specifically referring to Coach Pastner but feel free to read along even if that's NOT your name) the five keys to success for Coach Pastner and Memphis Basketball

1. Recruiting- The most overused cutsy phrase in coaching today (matter of fact both Coach Cal and Coach Pastner used it at their introductory press conferences) is that the three keys to coaching are players, players, and players.

With very few exceptions (Tommy Amaker's tenure at Michigan comes to mind) the best way to put yourself in position to win basketball games is to have better players than the other guy.

Calipari built the Memphis program on his ability to recruit. He was able to get players from everywhere (Chicago's Derrick Rose, Philadelphia's Tyreke Evans, Camden, NJ's DaJaun Wagner, Orlando's Darius Washington, Jr, etc.).

Pastner comes with a rep as a top notch recruiter and he will need every bit of that to attract top players to a non-BCS school in a horrible conference.

The early returns are not looking great on this as Carl Henry came out yesterday and said he was not coming to Memphis as Director of Basketball Operations (which most probably means Memphis can kiss OKC phenom and Carl's son Xavier goodbye).

2. Coaching Staff Part One (This one's two-pronged)- First, Pastner is a 31-year-old first time head coach which makes it VITAL that he hire a older, seasoned former head coach as his assistant (think Larry Shyatt at Florida).

Fortunately he's got one right down the hall in Memphis assistant and former Youngstown State headman John Robic. Robic has been through the wars and is a top notch X's and O's guy.

Thus Pastner has to do whatever he can to keep Robic from following Cal to Kentucky (or, failing that, lure a similar candidate such as Seton Hall assistant Scott Adubato).

3. Coaching Staff Part Two- Pastner's never been a head coach before thus he has no staff in place to bring to Memphis with him. Thus he is free to hire anybody he likes as his assistant coaches. Anybody at all. Such as AAU coaches...with ties to recruits (see key No. 1 above). I'm just sayin'.

4. Ambassador for the City- Memphis is a deeply divided, broken city with deep racial issues. I've personally never seen a place with as big a civic inferiority complex. That said, the city loves their Basketball Tigers.

As such the head coach at the University of Memphis has a unique ability (I may even go so far as to say a civic duty) to bring the town together. Calipari embodied this like no one before him for nine years.

He was an apostle for every downtrodden Memphian, making us believe that if his team could beat Mighty Michigan State by roughly a zillion in the NCAA tournament maybe we could be successful, too.

(This also explains the civic outrage over Cal's departure; it's not easy when your Messiah sells you out for the pretty rich girl down the street.)

The job Pastner steps into is a LOT bigger than coaching basketball; he's got the morale of a city to restore. That said, if the opening press conference was any indicator, he will do just fine.

5. Athletic Department Support- In recent days it has become clear that Calipari was the Memphis Athletic Department over the last nine years. Athletic Director R. C. Johnson and School President Dr. Shirley Raines got out of Cal's way and let him be absolute Svengali.

Let me be very clear when I say this absolutely will not work with Pastner. Pastner is too young and inexperienced to be a de facto-athletic director (though he may well be able to fill that role admirably one day).

He MUST be fully backed by an athletic director with vision and intelligence (which quite honestly is NOT R C Johnson). Now that the coaching search is over Memphis needs to turn it's attention to fixing its' (by all accounts) miserably dysfunctional athletic department.

The school would be wise to turn to an up-and-coming Assistant AD somewhere that wants to move up (as Mississippi State has done just two-and-a-half hours down the road). Without a solid AD, the best Pastner can hope for is that a better job opens sooner rather than later.

But why did it take RC and the Gang over a week to discover the new Memphis Jewel?

Cal and the team landed in Memphis on the morning of Friday, March 27. Roughly 2.7 seconds later, Cal was in serious negotiations with the University of Kentucky.

RC should have begun contacting other coaching prospects immediately upon granting Kentucky permission to speak with Cal. Reasonably speaking, he should have put the feelers out a few hours after the team landed.

Instead, the people of Memphis were left with excruciating uncertainty until the next Tuesday... 5 whole days! The next day, Memphis fans were led to believe that the Tigers would be making a "WOW! hire" very soon to replace Calipari.

As a sidenote, I hate the term "WOW hire". It gives Memphis fans a doe-eyed, backwoods look. I fully expected the school to release their next statement rife with lines such as, "Well, gaaaaahw-lee! This coach-huntin' is mighty tough!" and "Aw, shucks! The NIT ain't so bad!" For future reference, if I write about anything that is ridiculous or stupid, it will be deemed a WOW! "X".

On the heels of the promise to bring in basketball royalty to replace Cal, names such as Rick Pitino, Bruce Pearl, even Bob Knight surfaced.

Really?! Pitino will leave his thoroughbred team, in a thoroughbred conference, in Louisville where he raises thoroughbreds to come back to the conference from which he bolted four years ago?

Really?! Bruce Pearl will leave a school that's embraced him, the city in which his kids live, the hotbed (you know it) of coeds, and free cut and color whenever he needs one?
Really?! Bob Knight? Really.

So the days dragged along. After the first line of defense has fallen, Memphis fans begin to recapture a sense of reason and begin discussing the possibilities of Scott Drew, Reggie Theus and Andy Kennedy.

While the Scott Drew experiment (thankfully) blew over and Kennedy was left in Oxford without a cabbie, the university was silent. Even my contacts in the athletic department were clamming up... Considering the chaos and possibly failures of the past few days, the silence was deafening.

None of the big names were coming. No under-the-radar, mid-major guru was sneaking in. No NBA coach was going to settle into the Tiger post.

Being the head coach of the Memphis Tigers is a hard job. Apart from selling the city and school, you have to sell the conference, which means you have to sell the lack of airtime, highlights and all-around media acknowledgement, much less attention.

When all seemed to be lost and Memphis seemed to be destined to dwell in the bottom of the CUSA barrel, lightning struck on Monday, April 6. Memphis has a coach. It's Josh "Pert Plus" Pastner, the 31 year old assistant of Cal for the previous year and Lute Olsen for six years before that.

This was definitely a WOW! hire and, initially, it seemed to fit my definition of a WOW! hire.

Pastner is a Cal guy. He's 31. He's only been an assistant, whose main jobs have been recruiting and making donut runs.

However, it didn't take long before the college basketball talking heads warmed to this hire.

Pastner is an excellent recruiter. He's assisted under two of the biggest names in the game over the past decade. He's an excellent PR guy. Chicks dig him. The current players like him. He pushes the up-tempo style that Memphis fans have grown to love. He is definitely an up-and-comer in the college game.

It didn't take long for the good to outweigh the bad in the minds of Tiger fans. On that fact alone, the hire has to be considered an initial success. Bringing any positive energy at all to the situation warrants a cautious pat on the back for RC and the Gang.

Nevertheless, my question remains... Why on God's green earth did it take 10 days to make this happen? Pastner was literally packing up his office to follow Cal to Kentucky when RC called him in and offered him the Tiger's head coaching job.

Was it Pastner's age? Was it his lack of head coaching experience? Could it have been that every other direction Memphis began to travel was closed off and they finally dropped to square one and took a leap of faith?

Who knows? The chance of RC and the Gang being transparent about the process is slim. RC may have simply consulted his trusty Magic 8-Ball for the final answer.

Regardless of the fact that the search was sloppy and hurried, the hire took gusto. As I've said before, Cal did so much, not only the Memphis Tigers basketball team, but for the school and the city of Memphis. Placing those reins in an unproven, 31-year old, former assistant coach's hands is either a recipe for disaster or sowing the seeds of an incredible story.

Either way, Memphis has its head coach... and not a moment to soon.

"Tireless Recruiter." 

"Superior work ethic."

Tim Floyd?  Mike Anderson? 

Negative.  Try Josh Pastner.

Talk about your "wow!" hire, indeed.   It's just that it's on the other end of the spectrum; more of a panicked "OMG!" than a confident "LOL." 

It very well could be that "who" is the new "wow." 

However, before the Tiger faithful become to disenfranchised with the one worded quotations of sophomoric sports writers, it would fare them well to take a more in depth look at this most intriguing of hires. 

There's a whole new world of pleasant pro's and conspicuous cons. 

Recruiting

In the first 24 hours of his hiring alone, this element of Pastner's nascent arsenal has already been beaten into the ground.  The ink has yet to dry on the man's contract and already folks are jaded. 

But is he a one-trick pony?  Or is it merely the tip of the talented ice burg? 

The dossier on him would suggest the former.  At the tender young age of 13, he had already written and published the Josh Pastner Scouting Report, a comprehensive guide to his native Houston's high school basketball scene. 

Roughly four years earlier, he already knew he wanted to be a coach.

His father, Hal, remains an area legend in Houston, having been a successful coach and promoter.  He founded Vision Sports, the organization that conducts AAU events across the country. 

Having viable inroads in the AAU circuit are crucial to successful NCAA basketball recruiting.  Big names and flashy experience aren't everything, which is why it could be argued that Memphis chose a young, up-and-comer as opposed to an NBA personality with free time on his hands (see: Reggie Theus).  

With only one week to go until the national signing period commences, his work is cut out for him.  However, it is significant that it was Pastner, not John Calipari, who was the key cog in the recruiting of DeMarcus Cousins and Xavier Henry. 

In fact, Pastner was on the way out of town to Kentucky—to be Calipari's lead recruiter, no less—when he got the call from Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson. 

"When an opportunity is given to you, you jump on it," he said at his introductory press conference Tuesday. 

The fact that the remaining Tiger players seem to be uniting behind their new coach is also encouraging.  

"We ain't going nowhere," said freshman Wesley Witherspoon, from the back of the room.  

The Proverbial "Tremendous Upside"

Given his already impressive coaching tree pedigree—when Hall of Famer Lute Olson digs you, you're doing OK--the flattering comparisons are being made aplenty.

From Oklahoma's hiring of Jeff Capel to Kansas' choosing Roy Williams, the kid certainly is in good company.  

Consider the similarities:

They all were hired in lieu of "the big name."

They all were expected to keep their respective programs rolling, in spite of the hard times, be it the loss of the previous coaches blue chip recruits (Capel, Pastner) or NCAA probation (Williams). 

And they all took on programs where losing is unacceptable.  Granted, being a rising star is not a bad place to be.  But to be placed in a situation with virtually no allowance for a learning curve nor margin of error almost proves to be insurmountable. 

Which is why for every Roy Williams, there are 50 Tic Prices and Matt Dohertys.  It all depends on if your athletic director and fan base have a patient, rebuilding mentality or a "win now!" one. 

Back to the Future?

Being a sports fan in this day and age of non loyalty is not that different from dating, really. 

Your heart gets crushed by who you thought was your life partner.  Yet oddly enough, you've found hope in the most unlikely of places.  Yet before you've sprayed that first bit of cologne or perfume before your first date, you and your jaded self are already shooting down the positives.

"They just want sex," you might say, downplaying your own, genuine suitability.

Or, "She's probably using me for a rebound situation until she can go after my fireman acquaintance, Blake." 

And so on.  Next thing you know, you've already had your first fight before you have so much as had a legitimate conversation.

In many pessimistic Memphis fan circles, there is such an analogous vibe.

After one "rah!rah!," feel-good press conference, folks around water coolers, message boards and sports bars all over are no doubt dissecting the "what ifs" of a successful Pastner tenure. 

You can almost hear it now:

"You know as soon as Arizona's (new coach Sean) Miller leaves, he's gonna bolt right back for the Wildcats."

"Like Kentucky, we'll just be a team waiting to be bought by those OTHER Wildcats, Arizona."

"If we are good, it will only be because he inherited Cal's team.  He'll be another Bill Callahan!" 

And thus, we assume we will find ourselves in the same situation that we were in for the past ten, tumultuous days. 

Brought up, only to be let down. 

Yet after viewing today's press conference, along with all the facts, one gets the feeling that Pastner wasn't merely dropping ear-pleasing sound bites.  He lent a genuine air of credibility and optimism. 

Of course, having your returning players vouch for you at the back of the room is also a good start. 

Tiger fans, the doorbell is ringing.

Your success story awaits.