Rick Ross saved the University of Memphis Athletic Department on Saturday night.
I never expected to write that sentence, but it is absolutely true.
It was the annual Memphis Madness – a hyped up event that usually falls short of expectations. I understand it is a tough task to entertain a fan base with mostly people over 35 and a bunch of teenage recruits, but Saturday was especially rough.
Other than “the Boss,” the most exciting element from Saturday was a hot wing eating contest featuring Memphis Grizzly Quincy Pondexter and local radio host Gary Parrish – Parrish won in a blowout.
The night also featured a bed-making contest, but one of the contestants was more concerned with taking selfies with Vince Carter and five-star recruit Skal Labissiere. Then, several former Tigers and current Tigers teamed up for an unorganized shooting competition, and everyone yawned.
Oh by the way, the 2014-15 Tigers were introduced for the first time at some point in the middle, but only Austin Nichols and Markel Crawford danced.
Needless to say, there was not a whole lot of energy in the building. I don’t know; maybe everyone was just so spent from the exhilarating bed-making contest.
The recruits looked more interested in their phones than watching the Tigers do “basketball-related activities,” if you want to call it that.
The point is: no one cared until Ricky Rozay strutted out of the tunnel rapping his hit song “B.M.F.”, and some Tigers fans were still disinterested.
The athletic department desperately needs to inject some life into the event.
It does not help that the Tigers had an underwhelming season last year. Had they made a run into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, the excitement level may have been a little bit higher on Saturday.
Memphis Madness is supposed to be Memphis fans’ first look at their team. It would be nice if the Tigers, you know, gave them a look at the team. Saturday’s shooting competition and dunk contest looked like an afternoon on the court at a local YMCA.
Why not have an organized dunk and 3-point shooting contest?
Why not have a short scrimmage to show some of what the team can do?
I’m not the only one. Austin Nichols said he would like to see some of these things added next year.
“My way would be to have a 3-point contest, dunk contest and then a performance,” Nichols, who entertained the crowd with his rendition of the “Nae-Nae dance, said afterwards. “It was a pretty good success, though. I had fun, and I hope the fans had fun.”
I don’t know about the fans, but the event, mainly Ross, made an impact on the recruits. Abdul Ado, a five-star center from the class of 2016, told 247Sports he has Memphis in his top five after his visit to Memphis Madness.
The Tigers even got a commitment from Randall Broddie, a 2016 point guard.
By all accounts the recruits had a good time, so I’m not suggesting the event is meaningless. It would just work better with a little more basketball, and maybe even more Rick Ross because that is never a bad thing.
