With the college basketball season just days away, there's only one word to sum up the 2010-2011 season for The University of Memphis: attitude.
It's simple, yet effective.
This is the season that U of M fans have been waiting for. This is the season that they feel they finally deserve.
The 2007-'08 season was great, with a national championship appearance, but it was effectively tainted after the Derrick Rose and John Calipari fiasco. And according to the NCAA record books, it never actually happened.
So after putting up with a stripped record, a recruiting class basically stolen right from their hands and the keys to their most precious possession - the Memphis Tigers - being given to a 31-year-old, rookie head coach, Tigers fans believe this is the year that their hardships may finally pay off. In fact, they're almost cocky about it.
Memphians have no problem with attitude when it comes to their basketball team, but now it's up to the Tigers to adopt that same mentality.
Will Coleman guaranteed an NCAA title following last year's NIT loss to Ole Miss, and Wesley Witherspoon has no trouble speaking his mind. But they account for just two of the team's 16 players - eight of whom are newcomers.
How are the team's seven freshmen, one of the top recruiting classes in the country, going to react once the season gets here?
If it's any indication, Chris Crawford said he would win the three-point contest at Memphis Madness. Will Barton said he would win the dunk contest, and he did.
But attitude isn't just about words.
Joe Jackson, who finished his prep career as the second-leading scorer in the history of Shelby-Metro area high school basketball and the fourth-leading scorer in state history, lets his actions do the speaking for him.
Tarik Black, standing at 6-foot-8 and weighing 252 pounds, doesn't need to say a word to let those around him know of his intentions.
Throw in Jelan Kendrick, and the freshman class alone sports three McDonald's All-Americans.
They're one of the most confident freshman classes in the country, bordering on arrogant. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially considering they have the firepower to back it up.
They don't say much, but it's obvious that they're better than many of the opponents they'll face this season - and they know it.
But if they want to win, their attitude has to stay about winning, and it has to stay about teamwork.
In years past, each of the seven freshmen were able to, in the words of Josh Pastner, "flip the switch and take over ballgames." That won't be the case on the collegiate level, and they need to realize it quickly.
It's one of the most talented freshmen classes in the country, but their attitude will determine how the season plays out.
Too cocky, and they fizzle out. Not confident enough, and they fall short. It's a fine line between success and failure, and it's Pastner's job to make sure they don't fall to one side or the other.
Attitude means everything, and in this city, attitude is necessary.
