When you first hear the backup plan of the Memphis basketball team's biggest recruit, you're not quite sure what to think.Just in case he never learns Coach John Calipari's intricate system, Joey Dorsey might just take a walk over to south campus and strap on some pads.
"The biggest thing for me is to have to learn all those plays Coach Cal wants us to learn," said Joey Dorsey, who at 6-8, 265 pounds is the Tiger's biggest recruit. "He showed us the Pistons playbook and it had about 46 plays and I was like, 'Oh man, I don't know if I can do this. I might have to go back to football.'"
But hoops fans can relax. The former tight end and linebacker was only joking.
His first joke may have come last week at Midnight Madness when the freshman's name was announced over the packed FedExForum as 'Joey' Dorsey.
Just about everybody in the stands had heard plenty of stuff over the summer about an athletic big man named Richard Dorsey, but who was Joey?
"Everybody's been calling me Joey since I was a little kid," he said, "But a lot of people still thought Richard Dorsey was a separate person."
The confusion came from Dorsey's high school days when he was listed in the lineup under his real name, Richard, and not his lifelong nickname. The Joey moniker came when he was just a bouncing baby, literally. He jumped around so much that his family began to call him joey -- the name of a baby kangaroo.
One thing that isn't confusing about Dorsey is his ambition."I think I can contribute a lot to this team by getting a lot of rebounds and scoring inside," Dorsey said. I'm going to try and dominate the paint."
Calipari said he doesn't want to change the freshman's game too much, but keep his job as simple as possible to get the most out of the Laurinberg (N.C.) Prep product.
"He's 265 to 270 pounds, he jumps 35 to 40 inches, so you're talking about a true athlete, and what we're trying to tell him is to just do what you do best," Calipari said. "(I want him) to run the court hard, rebound every ball above the rim, grab balls with two hands, sprint up and down the court, when you're around the basket dunk the ball. I'm trying to make it as easy as I can for him."
An imposing inside player like Dorsey may actually take longer to get acclimated to a college system than a guard would because they aren't always able to get by on sheer size and athleticism.
"He definitely has the potential to give us that post presence that we need, but he's still got a lot to learn," said assistant coach Ed Schilling. "He's coming from a situation where he's been able to physically manhandle people at his position, but now he's going to have to be able to play within a system, so it's going to be a major adjustment."
And remember that ambition, the drive and motivation that have Schilling and Calipari so excited? Dorsey definitely isn't lacking it."I'm looking at coming in and starting as a freshman and contribute a lot. I'm looking to lead the nation in rebounding this year." About 15 rebounds a game, two blocks and 12 points. I'm good with that."
