This year’s University of Memphis men’s basketball team is full of new faces and question marks. However, the sports staff at The Daily Helmsman made their best bold predictions in several different categories for the upcoming season, ranging from the team’s record to the biggest question plaguing coach Josh Pastner and the Tigers.
J.T. Mullen – Sports Reporter
Regular Season Record: 24-7
Leading Scorer: Nick King
Assist Leader: Kedren Johnson
Leading Rebounder: Shaq Goodwin
Breakout Player: Chris Hawkins
Player Most Likely to be on an NBA Roster in 5 years: Austin Nichols
AAC Regular Season Placing: Third
AAC Regular Season Champ: SMU
AAC Tournament Champ: UConn
NCAA Tourney Prediction: Memphis makes tournament as a 7 seed, going to the round of 32
AAC Schools in the NCAA Tourney: UConn, SMU, Memphis and Cincinnati
Big Question: Can this inexperienced Memphis team get through adversity and keep their chemistry up?
Omer Yusuf – Sports Reporter
Regular Season Record: 24-7
Leading Scorer: Austin Nichols
Assist Leader: Kedren Johnson
Leading Rebounder: Shaq Goodwin
Breakout Player: Pookie Powell
Player Most Likely to be on an NBA Roster in 5 years: Austin Nichols
AAC Regular Season Placing: Third
AAC Regular Season Champ: UConn
AAC Tournament Champ: SMU
NCAA Tourney Prediction: Memphis makes tournament as a 9 seed, going to the Sweet 16
AAC Schools in the NCAA Tourney: UConn, SMU, and Memphis
Big Question: How important were the senior guards last year?
Austin Reynolds – Sports Reporter
Regular Season Record: 23-8
Leading Scorer: Kedren Johnson
Assist Leader: Kedren Johnson
Leading Rebounder: Shaq Goodwin
Breakout Player: Pookie Powell
Player Most Likely to be on an NBA Roster in 5 years: Austin Nichols
AAC Regular Season Placing: Third
AAC Regular Season Champ: SMU
AAC Tournament Champ: UConn
NCAA Tourney Prediction: Memphis will miss the tournament
AAC Schools in the NCAA Tourney: SMU and UConn
Big Question: The guards, the Tigers return zero backcourt players that played meaningful minutes a season ago. The play of the new group of freshman guards and transfer Kedren Johnson will ultimately determine how good this team really is.
Hunter Field – Sports Editor
Regular Season Record: 23-8
Leading Scorer: Nick King
Assist Leader: Kedren Johnson
Leading Rebounder: Nick King
Breakout Player: Chris Hawkins
Player Most Likely to be on an NBA Roster in 5 years: Austin Nichols
AAC Regular Season Placing: Third
AAC Regular Season Champ: SMU
AAC Tournament Champ: SMU
NCAA Tourney Prediction: Memphis makes tournament as a 9 seed, falling in the round of 64
AAC Schools in the NCAA Tourney: UConn, SMU, and Memphis
Big Question: Can Nick King defend on the perimeter well enough to play small forward? He and Austin Nichols are probably the most talented players offensively, but King struggled on the defensive end a season ago. He has to defend well for Memphis to be successful.
Patrick Lantrip – Managing Editor
Regular Season Record: 25-6
Leading Scorer: Shaq Goodwin
Assist Leader: Kedren Johnson
Leading Rebounder: Shaq Goodwin
Breakout Player: Pookie Powell
Player Most Likely to be on an NBA Roster in 5 years: Shaq Goodwin
AAC Regular Season Placing: Third
AAC Regular Season Champ: SMU
AAC Tournament Champ: Memphis
NCAA Tourney Prediction: Memphis makes tournament as a 12 seed, making the Sweet 16
AAC Schools in the NCAA Tourney: UConn, SMU, and Memphis
Big Question: How will the Tigers respond to losing so many seniors from last season?
