Before last season began, the student body of The University of Memphis was buying into the men’s basketball team’s high expectations.
The team boasted a top 15 preseason national ranking, had an All-Conference USA big man in Kelly Wise and a McDonald’s All-American in Dajuan Wagner.
Now students must find new motivations to head to the Pyramid and watch basketball since Wise, Wagner and a national ranking are things of the past.
Head coach John Calipari said students don’t have to look far to find a reason to support the 2002-03 Tigers.
“What we have tried to do is let the students know this is their team,” Calipari said. “(The players) play and have The University of Memphis across their chest. They are proud of that and work hard for the students.”
The third year coach said he would like to see students take more pride in the basketball program.
Calipari said although he noticed a turnaround in student attendance last season, U of M students could still fill up more seats.
“We should be getting two to three thousand students per game,” Calipari said. “That should be what we get at every game no matter who we play. They should cheer on their fellow students.”
When students and other spectators fill up the Pyramid they will see five new faces and nine familiar ones.
Three Memphians joined the squad for this year.
Freshman guard Clyde Wade of Kingsbury, freshman forward Jeremy Hunt of Craigmont and sophomore guard Billy Richmond of Hamilton will all play on this year’s team.
The other two newcomers did a little traveling. One hails from the Midwest while the other arrives from Mali in West Africa.
Rodney Carney is from Indianapolis, and a graduate of Northwest High School.
Almamy Thiero has followed in the footsteps of fellow West African and junior center Modibo Diarra to join the Tigers.
Though a game hasn’t been played, Calipari said he has been impressed with the way his newcomers have been practicing.
“They have all been looking good,” Calipari said. “Rodney and Jeremy are playing really well.”
Calipari said Wade has some tweaking to do with his game.
“Clyde is a typical freshman point guard, it takes time to develop them.”
While the 6-foot Wade develops, Calipari has the experience of junior Antonio Burks to run his offense.
Burks said he wants to push all the buttons that make the machine work when he’s on the floor.
“I feel like I’m the leader for my team,” Burks said. “I’m ready to step up and take control.”
In his first year as a Tiger, the 6-foot, 200-pound guard led C-USA with a 2.33-to-1 assist/turnover ratio. Burks also led the Tigers in assists with 5.06 a game while playing over 30 minutes a contest.
Calipari hopes to get a similar performance from his point guard this season. He said Burks’ abilities are some of the best he has seen in his coaching career.
“He is the fastest, quickest guard I ever coached,” Calipari said. “He is the best defensive point guard I ever coached.”
With Burks on the outside, senior Earl Barron will be expected to lead the charge in the paint.
When we last saw the 7-foot, 268-pound center, Barron was shooting 79 percent from the field scoring a career high 25 points in a 72-62 win over South Carolina for the NIT championship.
Barron said he feels he can produce like that every game this season.
“If I want to, I’m capable of putting up numbers like that every night,” Barron said. “I have to go out there and leave it out on the court. I’m going to go out there every night like it is my last and try to help my team win.”
Barron said it will take things other than scoring to help the Tigers be successful this season.
“I have to do the little things,” Barron said. “I have to rebound, defend well and dive on the floor for loose balls in order to help us win.”
Calipari said with a solid corps of returning players like Anthony Rice, Chris Massie, Duane Erwin, John Grice and Nathaniel Root assisting the coaching staff, Memphis will use practices to incorporate the new players into the system.
“It will take time but it’s all about how we play,” Calipari said. “We have to play unselfishly and at a high level. It all just takes some time.”
