Tag: Memphis

Memphis cites millions of dollars of economic impact from Nike EYBL

Nike EYBL tournament resulted in millions of dollars of economic impact to Memphis, a city official told the Commercial Appeal.

The new Memphis Sports and Events Center is already paying dividends toward the city with Nike EYBL in the rearview mirror. Memphis Tourism director of sports and events J.J. Greer told the Commercial Appeal that the economic impact from the elite youth basketball event is “in the millions of dollars.”

“Events like this are exactly why this facility was built. Every event is great, but events like this, we’re really proud to host. It’s extremely encouraging,” Greer said.

Thousands of people gathered at the facility to watch some of the best 16- and 17-year-old basketball prospects participate in Session 4 of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League season. The games, which started as early as 8 a.m. and went as long as 9 p.m., were played on 16 courts at the center.

Like major sporting events at every level, the economic impact comes not simply from ticket sales and concession stands but from jobs created to staff the events, hotels and transportation capacity, and increased sales for local businesses and restaurants, all of which also contribute to the city’s tax revenue.

[lawrence-related id=101510479,101510450,101509142]

Nike EYBL draws the attention of NBA players, some of whom attended the games. In Memphis, Carmelo Anthony watched his son Kiyan play on Team Melo, which the NBA legend sponsors. According to the Commercial Appeal, Grizzlies player Desmond Bane was in the audience, as was Thaddeus Young, a Mitchel High School (Memphis) alumnus and a sponsor of Team Thad.

“Memphis would’ve never been a candidate for this before this facility (was built),” said Antonio Perez, Liberty Park facility’s general manager, in an interview with the Commercial Appeal. “That’s just the game-changer status it provides. Cities lobby every year to be chosen for these tournaments, so there’s some prestige involved in that.”

The Memphis Sports and Events Center continues to construct additions, including a ninja course, esports studio and weightlifting area, according to the Commercial Appeal.

Read the full story at the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Catching up with the Boston Celtics’ 2023 NBA draft workouts Part IV

Let’s dive into who the Celtics might be targeting at No. 35.

Even with the offseason here in earnest, the Boston Celtics have plenty on their plate regarding their future as they continue to work out prospects projected to go in the second round of the ’23 NBA draft.

With the Celtics likely to need cheap depth in the future, look for prospects who are either polished enough to get some real minutes in their rookie campaign or who might be okay with a season or two stashed abroad while the team makes decisions about how it will use the new two way player slot added to rosters in the latest collective bargaining agreement recently adopted by the league.

Adding to our previous reporting of the team’s known workouts comes a new wave of prospects Boston has been working out — let’s dive into who the Celtics might be targeting at No. 35.

Former Vols’ defensive back, wide receiver transfers to Memphis

Former Vols’ defensive back and wide receiver transfers to Memphis.

Former Tennessee defensive back and wide receiver Cameron Miller is transferring to Memphis.

The 6-foot-1, 206-pound defensive back played one season for the Vols. He redshirted in 2022, playing one game for Tennessee as a true freshman.

Miller signed with the Vols as a four-star wide receiver from Memphis Academy of Health Sciences in Memphis, Tennessee.

Miller signed with Tennessee as a wide receiver on Dec. 15, 2021 during the early signing period. He enrolled at Tennessee in January 2022 and participated in spring practices as a wide receiver.

Miller entered the NCAA transfer portal on May 1.

NCAA transfer portal: Where former Vols are playing in 2023

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1134]

A Memphis player shockingly appeared to punch a Bowling Green guard in a WNIT handshake line

This is just awful.

What a horrible scene that developed after Bowing Green defeated Memphis in the Women’s NIT on Thursday.

As the two teams went through a handshake line, it looks like Jamirah Shutes from the Tigers stops to say something to Falcons counterpart Elissa Brett. Then? Video shows Shutes appeared to throw a bunch that knocked Brett down near the scorer’s table.

What caused this to happen? No official word, but per Toledo Blade writer Michael Burwell — as you’ll see below — Shutes hit Brett with an elbow during the game. And per a Bowling Green statement, campus police are looking into the incident:

This isn’t the first handshake line incident this year. We saw two players in Louisville and Texas confront each other after a women’s NCAA tournament game earlier this week.

Why Penny Hardaway tossed a water bottle across the court in Memphis’ loss to FAU

Penny Hardaway has to chill

Fairleigh Dickinson wasn’t the only school out there pulling off upsets on Friday in the men’s NCAA tournament. Florida Atlantic held things down against Penny Hardaway’s Memphis team, too.

Well, OK. Maybe this one isn’t really something we should categorize as an “upset” — Memphis was only an 8-seed and FAU was a 9-seed.

But, still, this was a pretty stunning loss when you consider the talent that Memphis has and the potential path the team had in front of it going to the Sweet 16.

FAU took all of that away on Friday with a win. Even before the final buzzer, though, Memphis coach Penny Hardaway was clearly pretty miffed about it.

He absolutely chucked a water bottle across the court after the loss.

This feels a bit out of character for Hardaway, who is normally very chill. He’s had his moments, to be sure, just as every coach does.

There’s a reason for this. The game actually came with a bit of controversy. Hardaway tried to call a timeout after the Tigers scooped up a loose ball with about five seconds left on the clock. Memphis had a one-point lead in the moment.

Officials didn’t award the timeout, though, and it led to a jump ball with the possession arrow going to FAU. The Owls had one last possession and it led to this game-winning layup from Nicholas Boyd. 

So, yeah. It’s easy to see why Hardaway was so upset. He still shouldn’t have thrown that bottle, though. Hopefully, it didn’t hit anyone.

Ranking 10 possible Pac-12 expansion candidates in men’s basketball

Here is a look at ten schools the Pac-12 could consider for conference expansion, ranked in order of men’s basketball success.

At this point it is basically impossible to know what the Pac-12 will look like in 2024. UCLA and USC will be gone, we know that much, but will the conference add two new members by then? Will the Big-12 pick off the four corner schools? Will Oregon and Washington find a way into the Big Ten? Will an agreement be in place with the ACC to create a coast-to-coast super conference?

While we wait to see if the conference of champions can find a creative way to stay afloat in an era dominated by television dollars, let’s take a look at ten of the most likely options for the Pac-12 to add via expansion – and specifically how those additions would impact things on the men’s basketball side.

It’s no secret football, and market size, are the two biggest factors when evaluating individual programs and their viability in the Pac-12. However, losing UCLA is a tremendous blow for a conference that has very little footprint in men’s basketball right now, and making an addition (or two) that helps the Pac-12 make more noise in March wouldn’t be the worst thing.

Here is a look at 10 programs to consider for expansion; eight which were mentioned in this article as expansion options, as well as two more dark-horse candidates should Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff try to get a little spicy.

Former Vol Justin Hunter joins Memphis’ coaching staff

Former Tennessee wide receiver Justin Hunter joins Memphis’ coaching staff.

Former Tennessee wide receiver Justin Hunter will serve as an offensive quality control coach at Memphis.

“First step,” Hunter announced. “Thanks Memphis football for the opportunity!”

Hunter played for the Vols from 2010-12. He appeared in 28 games, recording 106 receptions, 1,812 yards and 18 touchdowns. Hunter also recorded four punt returns for 21 yards at Tennessee.

He was selected in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft (No. 34 overall) by the Titans. Hunter played for Tennessee (2013-15), Miami (2016), Buffalo (2016) and Pittsburgh (2017-18).

In 59 NFL games, the former Vol totaled 85 receptions (187 targets), 1,348 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Memphis will kick off its 2023 season on Sept. 2 versus Bethune-Cookman at Simmons Bank Liberty Bowl. The Tigers will play at Arkansas State on Sept. 9 versus former Vols’ head coach Butch Jones.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz9dkec01s6y18 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

[vertical-gallery id=66363]

Panthers greats Luke Kuechly, DeAngelo Williams named to College Football Hall of Fame

Panthers greats Luke Kuechly and DeAngelo Williams have been named to the College Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2023.

We might not be seeing Steve Smith Sr. in Canton, Ohio, this year, but there are two other Carolina Panthers greats that will be going into a hall of fame in 2023.

As announced by the National Football Foundation on Monday, Luke Kuechly and DeAngelo Williams are set to be inducted as part of the College Football Hall of Fame’s 2023 class. The pair will be joined by 16 other first-team All-America players and four coaches during the 65th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 5.

Kuechly played linebacker for three years at Boston College, where he totaled 532 tackles (35.5 for a loss), 2.5 sacks, seven interceptions and two touchdowns. That helped him earn two Consensus All-America nods, three first-team All-ACC nods and a bunch of hardware in 2011, including the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Lombardi Award, the Lott Trophy, the Butkus Award and the Jack Lambert Trophy.

Williams ran wild at Memphis from 2002 to 2005. He was a three-time Conference-USA Offensive Player of the Year, accumulating 6,014 yards from scrimmage and 55 total touchdowns.

[lawrence-related id=656219,664204]

[listicle id=666093]

Memphis vs Utah State SERVPRO First Responder Bowl Prediction Game Preview

Memphis vs Utah State game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl on Tuesday, December 27

Memphis vs Utah State prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch. SERVPRO First Responder Bowl, Tuesday, December 27

Memphis vs Utah State SERVPRO First Responder Bowl Prediction Game Preview

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f1343a1wt7q817p7 player_id=none image=https://collegefootballnews.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Memphis vs Utah State How To Watch

Date: Tuesday, December 27
Game Time: 3:15 ET
Venue: Gerald J. Ford Stadium, Dallas, TX
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: Memphis (6-6), Utah State (6-6)
– Sign up and live stream college football on ESPN+

Memphis vs Utah State SERVPRO First Responder Bowl 5 Things To Know

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History

– Memphis crashed down the stretch with a four game losing streak against the tough teams on the AAC slate, and it didn’t help to close the regular season with a loss to SMU. Basically, the Tigers beat the bad teams and lost to the good ones. Even so, it’s a fun offensive team, there’s enough explosion to hit a slew of big plays, and now it’s here and as close to intact as reasonable, unlike …

– Utah State isn’t exactly a mess, but it’s missing a bunch. It’s going to be very, very thin at the skill spots with the loss of 1,043-yard rusher Calvin Tyler to the NFL world a big hit.

The Aggies started out 1-4, pulled up out of the nosedive to go 5-1 as the offense got sharper and the turnovers slowed, and close with a blowout loss to Boise State. They’re not the Mountain West Champion-level team of last year, but they’re dangerous enough to make this a fight.

– Utah State was one of the surprises of the 2021 bowl season, dropping Oregon State with relative ease in a 24-13 LA Bowl win. It won two of its last three bowls, but the program has been hit-or-miss going just 2-3 since 2014.

– Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield was on a bit of a hot seat at the end of the year. He’s expected to be back, but it would be a big positive to pull off this win. His Tigers rolled by Florida Atlantic in last year’s Montgomery Bowl, breaking the run of five straight bowl losses and a rough 1-7 run since 2005 for the program. It was supposed to play in the Hawaii Bowl last year, but it got canceled.

– The SERVPRO First Responder Bowl was sacked in 2018 because it was stormy, and apparently there weren’t any indoor football stadiums in the greater Dallas metropolitan area to play in. The bowl gods made up for it with three straight good battles all decided by a touchdown or less. Four of the last five First Responders have been one score games.

CFN Experts Dec 20-27 | CFP NY6, Dec 28-Jan 2

Why Memphis Will Win The SERVPRO First Responder Bowl

The Tigers know how to throw the ball and should have enough success to push for 250 yards. They’ve got the veteran quarterback in Seth Henigan, they have the weapons to keep the offense moving, and they should be able to own third downs.

This is hardly a rock-solid Memphis team, but it’s able to get the chains moving. On the flip side, Utah State is awful on third converting just 32% of its chances. If this is any sort of a back-and-forth shootout, even a little bit of a blink will be big.

On the other side, the Memphis defense is hardly a rock, but it should be able to hold up. Teams are able to throw against it, but the run defense has held up fine. Utah State is 0-4 when it doesn’t get to 130 yards on the ground, and Memphis has only allowed that many yards four times.

However …

Why Utah State Will Win The SERVPRO First Responder Bowl

With all the lost pieces in the Utah State backfield, getting time to work will mean everything. That’s not a problem against a Memphis defense that doesn’t generate a pass rush and fails to produce enough tackles for loss.

It might be ugly at the Utah State skill spots when it comes to depth and veterans, but the offensive line should be okay. The game has to be about blasting away for the ground game, keeping the mistakes to a minimum, and getting a huge performance out of a defense that needs to generate at least two takeaways.

Utah State had a problem this year in turnover margin, but it’s 4-1 when forcing multiple takeaways. Memphis is 1-3 when turning it over two times or more.

But …

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History

NEXT: What’s Going To Happen, Memphis vs Utah State Prediction, SERVPRO First Responder Bowl History

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Memphis vs SMU Prediction Game Preview

Memphis vs SMU game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the Week 13 game on Saturday, November 26

Memphis vs SMU prediction, game preview, how to watch. Week 13, Saturday, November 26

Memphis vs SMU Prediction Game Preview

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f1343a1wt7q817p7 player_id=none image=https://collegefootballnews.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Memphis vs SMU How To Watch

Date: Saturday, November 26
Game Time: 3:30 ET
Venue: Gerald J Ford Stadium, Dallas, TX
How To Watch: ESPN2
Record: Memphis (6-5), SMU (6-5)
– Sign up and live stream college football on ESPN+

Why Memphis Will Win

The passing attack is about as consistent as it gets.

It might not be quite as dominant or explosive as the SMU version, but Seth Henigan will complete over 60% of his passes, the O will come up with over 400 yards with more than 250 through the air, and it’ll keep on coming.

Combine the solid offense with a slew of takeaways – two ore more in six games – and there should be enough stops to hang around with the high-powered Mustangs.

But …

– Bowl Projections | Bowl Bubble: Who’s Bowl Eligible?

Why SMU Will Win

Memphis can’t enter the stadium without planning on hanging at least 30 on the board, but this isn’t the type of team that puts up 50 – that’s what it might have to do.

Again, this is a consistent attack that does a little of everything right, but it hasn’t put up a ton of points against the decent defenses.

Granted, SMU isn’t a brick wall defensively, but it’s not awful on third downs and it’s decent at coming up with sacks and generating pressure.

As long as the D can keep Memphis dominating the tempo, the offense that’s hitting close to 500 yards per game should be able to do the rest.

– Week 13 College Football Schedule, Game Previews

What’s Going To Happen

This won’t be the wild and crazy 77-63 shootout the Houston-SMU game was, but it’ll be a back-and-forth fight with both offenses putting up yards in chunks.

The SMU O won’t roll at will, but it’ll take the lead early and keep answering every Tiger score.

– Expert Picks College Week 12 | NFL Week 11

Memphis vs SMU Prediction, Line

SMU 40, Memphis 35
Line: SMU -4.5, o/u: 69.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
Memphis vs SMU Must See Rating (out of 5): 3

CFN 1-131 Rankings | Rankings by Conference
Path to the Playoff: 7 teams still in the race 

[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]

– Bowl Projections | Rankings