The Memphis Tigers represent the University of Memphis in Division I of the NCAA. They are members of C-USA and currently feature nine women's sports and nine men's sports.

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Name

When the Memphis State University first fielded a football team in the fall of 1912, no one had selected a nickname for the squad. Early references to the football team tabbed them only as the Blue and Gray Warriors.

After the final game of the 1914 season, there was a student parade. During this event, several University students shouted, "We fight like Tigers!" The nickname was born. As time passed, the nickname "Tigers" was increasingly used, particularly in campus publications, but did not catch on with the newspapers downtown. They continued to use "the Blue and Gray" when referring to the University.

Under Coach Lester Barnard in 1922, Memphis's football team gave a ring of truth to that old student yell about Tigers. The team adopted a motto - "Every Man a Tiger" - and went on to score 174 points while allowing its opponents just 29 points. The Tiger nickname continued on with students and alumni, eventually being adopted as the official nickname for the University of Memphis in 1939.

Men's basketball

The Memphis Tigers basketball program first gained national prominence when it reached the 1973 NCAA Division I basketball championship game. The Tigers, led by Larry Finch, Larry Kenon, Ronnie Robinson, Bill Cook and others, eventually lost to John Wooden's UCLA Bruins, led by Bill Walton.

The Tigers continued an era of excellence throughout the 1980s and went to the Final Four in 1985 losing to Villanova, the ultimate winner of the tournament. Success continued through much of the 1990s. Under head coach John Calipari, the Tigers reached the Elite Eight three years in a row (2006-2008) and those same years won the conference championship, going undefeated in conference play in 2007 and 2008. Their record for those three seasons is 106-9. In 2007, the team was ranked #1 in ESPN's and CBSSports.com Pre-Season Polls and for the first time in 25 years, earned a #1 ranking on Jan. 21, 2008 in the both the AP Poll and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll. The 2008 season took the Tigers to the Final Four where Memphis lost the championship game to the Kansas Jayhawks in overtime. In 2009, the Tigers entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 2 seed. However, they lost in the Sweet Sixteen to Missouri, 102-91. In April of 2009, Josh Pastner was named head coach of the Tigers.

Perennial rivals include UAB, the University of Southern Mississippi, in-state rival University of Tennessee, and former Conference USA members University of Cincinnati and University of Louisville. The world record holder for the highest slam dunk (12 feet from floor to rim) is a former University of Memphis basketball forward, and current Harlem Globetrotter Michael Wilson. At home, the Tigers play on Beale Street in the state-of-the-art FedExForum.

On May 28, 2009, the NCAA formally accused former Tiger star Derrick Rose of knowingly allowing another person to take his SAT college entrance exam. These accusations, though denied by Rose, could force the University of Memphis' basketball team to forfeit their 38 wins during 2007-2008 season as well as their appearance in the Final Four. ^[1]

Football

The University of Memphis football program dates back to 1912.

After decades of independence, the Memphis football program currently competes in Conference USA and is coached by Tommy West. The Tigers' home field is 62,380 seat Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. The U of M played in five bowl games in six seasons from 2003 to 2008. In 2005, the Tigers football team was led in the Motor City Bowl by DeAngelo Williams, a then-senior All-American running back and eventual first-round draft pick by the Carolina Panthers of the NFL.

Alumni

Recent professional athletes from the University of Memphis include: Tyreke Evans (Guard, Sacramento Kings), Derrick Rose (Guard, Chicago Bulls), Chris Douglas-Roberts (Guard, New Jersey Nets), Joey Dorsey (Forward, Houston Rockets), DeAngelo Williams (Carolina Panthers), Dan Uggla (second baseman, Florida Marlins), Stephen Gostkowski (kicker, New England Patriots), Tony Brown (Tennessee Titans), Isaac Bruce (San Francisco 49ers), Rodney Carney (guard/forward, Minnesota Timberwolves), Shawne Williams (forward, Dallas Mavericks), Lorenzen Wright (forward/center, Atlanta Hawks), Sean Banks, former NBA players Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, Keith Lee, Dajuan Wagner, Elliot Perry and Cedric Henderson, Danny Wimprine (quarterback, New Orleans VooDoo, Calgary Stampeders), Larry Finch (former Memphis Tams player), Antonio Burks (guard, KK Crvena Zvezda), Darius Washington Jr. (guard, San Antonio Spurs) and Earl Barron, (center, Miami Heat).

On August 21, 2008, it was announced that Penny Hardaway had donated one million dollars to the Athletic Department to construct a Sports Hall of Fame.

References

1. http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/may/27/ncaa-alleges-major-violations-memphis-basketball-p/