The Memphis Tigers are the athletic teams that represent the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Ea ...

, located in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. The teams compete at the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) Division I level as a member of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

, except for the rifle team, which is a member of the single-sport

Great America Rifle Conference The Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rifle-only conference. The GARC was established for schools that sponsor rifle teams, but do not have rifle sponsored in their respective conferences. ...

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.

Mascot

The official

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

was TOM III, a live

bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...

. The university was one of a few schools in the country that kept a live tiger as a mascot, although the practice of live animals serving as university mascots is carried on by a number of other universities.

Varsity sports

Men's basketball

The Memphis Tigers men's basketball program first gained national prominence when it reached the 1973 NCAA Division I basketball championship game. The Tigers, led by

Larry Finch Larry O. Finch (February 16, 1951 – April 2, 2011) was a player and coach for the University of Memphis men's basketball team. He is perhaps most famous for leading the Memphis Tigers to the NCAA men's basketball championship game in 1973 in a ...

, Larry Kenon, Ronnie Robinson, Bill Cook and others, eventually lost to John Wooden's

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

, led by

Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is an American television sportscaster and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national ...

. 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. The 1985 Final Four trip has since been vacated by the NCAA due to several recruiting violations committed by head coach Dana Kirk and his staff. Success continued through much of the 1990s. Under head coach John Calipari, the Tigers reached the

Elite Eight In the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship or the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight teams, representing the regional finals, or national quarterfinals. In Division I and Divis ...

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 ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

's and CBSSports.com Pre-Season Polls and for the first time in 25 years, earned a #1 ranking on January 21, 2008, in both the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

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, but later the Tigers' season and NCAA tournament appearance were vacated. In 2009, the Tigers entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 2 seed. However, they lost in the Sweet Sixteen to

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, 102–91. In April 2009,

Josh Pastner Joshua Paul Pastner (born September 26, 1977) is an American college basketball coach, and the current head coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Pastner was a player on the 1997 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball national championship team, ...

was named head coach of the Tigers. He led the Tigers to four NCAA tournament appearances in his first five years, but never advanced past the round of 32 and missed the postseason entirely in his sixth and seventh seasons. In April 2016, a month after he had been named Sporting News Coach of the Year,

Tubby Smith Orlando Henry "Tubby" Smith (born June 30, 1951) is an American college basketball coach. He was the men's basketball coach at High Point University, his alma mater. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, the Univer ...

was hired as the new head coach of the Tigers. Perennial

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

include

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, American Athletic Conference foe

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Ole Miss, UAB, the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

, and in-state rival

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

. The world record holder for the highest

slam dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...

(12 feet from floor to rim) is a former University of Memphis basketball forward, and current

Harlem Globetrotter The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of ...

Michael Wilson. At home, the Tigers play on

Beale Street Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, t ...

in the state-of-the-art

FedExForum FedExForum is a multi-purpose arena located in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee. It is the home of the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA and the NCAA Division I men's basketball program of the University of Memphis, both of whom previously played home ...

Women's basketball

The Memphis Tigers women's basketball team competes in the

. They previously competed in Conference USA in which they have won two Conference USA conference tournament championships and, prior to that two Metro Conference tournament championships. They play home games at Elma Roane Fieldhouse

Men's soccer

Ever since 1982, the Memphis Men's soccer program has put together a competitive team. The program began in the Great Midwest Conference and then moved to Conference USA in 1995. In 2013, the Tiger's soccer team, and all of the tiger athletics, moved to the new American Athletic Conference. In this new conference, the soccer program and the entirety of the U of M athletics will be challenged by some of the best teams around the country. The Conference USA championship the Tiger's claimed in 2004 is a nice exclamation point for the program's different successes over the years.

Statistics

Coach Richie Grant

In 1999, Richie Grant took over the University of Memphis Soccer Program and has now been at the helm for 14 years. He is the most successful Memphis Soccer coach the university has had since the program started. Grant got his start in collegiate coaching in 1995, taking over the NAIA program at Lambuth University. During his four seasons at Lambuth, Grant won over 50 games and three conference championships. Coach Grant began his career at Memphis with a below average 7–11–1 record. However, the next season Coach Grant and his team won a then-program record 14 games and finished fourth in the C-USA regular season standings. That 14 win season resulted in Coach Grant receiving his first C-USA Coach of the Year honor in 2000. In 2004 Coach Grant received his second C-USA Coach of the Year award when Memphis won a school-record 16 games, made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1993 and had the program's first All-American selection in Daton O'Brien. As a player, Grant was a three-time NAIA All-America defender and was twice named the NAIA District V Player of the Year at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vt. Grant received his bachelor's degree in leisure resources and facilities management at Green Mountain College and in 1993 and went on to play one season for the a semi-pro team called the Minnesota Thunder. Coach Grant is married to Lady Tigers soccer assistant coach Jodi Grant and has one daughter and one son.

Stadium

The Tigers practice and play at the on-campus soccer and track stadium, beginning in 2019. They used to play at

Mike Rose Soccer Complex The Mike Rose Soccer Complex is a complex of 16 soccer fields and one 2,500-capacity stadium located in Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the stat ...

, which has multiple fields in addition to the 2,500-seat stadium, from 2001 to 2018.

Professional players

Over the course of Memphis Soccer, the program has developed some great players. Five of those players went on to play at the professional level. The players are as follows: * Andy Metcalf: 2006 19th Pick in MLS Supplemental Draft by D.C. United, D.C. United (MLS – 2006), Atlanta Silverbacks (2007) * Dayton O'Brien: 2006 Third Round (33rd Overall) Pick in the MLS SuperDraft by the Columbus Crew, Columbus Crew (MLS – 2006), Atlanta Silverbacks (2007) * Daniel Dobson: Kansas City Wizards (MLS – 2005), Chivas USA * Sean Fraser: Calgary Storm, Edmonton Aviators, Toronto Lynx, Edmonton Drillers * Michael Coburn: Dundalk FC, Shelbourne FC * Omar Jarun: Atlanta Silverbacks (2007), Otawwa Fury FC (2014),

Football

The University of Memphis football program dates back to 1912. After decades of independence, the Memphis football program competed in Conference USA until 2013. Then the football team joined the

. As of December 8, 2011, the team's head coach became

Justin Fuente Justin James Fuente (born July 30, 1976) is a former American football coach and player. He was the head football coach at Virginia Tech from 2016 to 2021. He was the 2016 ACC Coach of the Year. Fuente was the head football coach at the Universit ...

who replaced Larry Porter. The Tigers' home field is 62,380 seat

Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium (originally named Memphis Memorial Stadium, and later Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium) is a football stadium located at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds in the Midtown area of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The s ...

. 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 The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (known as the Motor City Bowl until 2009) was a post-season college football bowl game that was played annually from 1997 to 2013. The first five games (1997–2001) were played at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, ...

DeAngelo Williams DeAngelo Chondon Williams (born April 25, 1983) is a former American football running back and professional wrestler. He played college football at Memphis, and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He s ...

, a then-senior All-American running back and eventual first-round draft pick by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

of the NFL.

Men's golf

The men's golf team has won six conference championship: *

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

(1): 1967 * Metro Conference (2): 1976, 1988 *

Great Midwest Conference The Great Midwest Conference was an NCAA Division I athletics conference that existed from 1991 to 1995. History It was formed in 1990 with six members: Cincinnati and Memphis State (now Memphis) from the Metro Conference, UAB from the Sun Bel ...

(1): 1992 * Conference USA (1): 2012 *

(1): 2019 Hillman Robbins won the

NCAA Championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

in 1954.

Memphis Tigers Pom Squad

The Memphis Tigers

Pom Squad A dance squad or dance team, sometimes called a pom squad or song team, is a team of participants that participates in competitive dance. A dance squad can also include: a jazz squad, ballet squad, or any kind of religion dance squad. Dance squads ...

is recognized as one of the best collegiate dance squads in the country, having won national championships in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2011, and 2012.

Notable alumni

Recent professional athletes from the University of Memphis include:

Baseball

Dan Uggla Daniel Cooley Uggla (born March 11, 1980) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants, and Washington Nationals. In 2010, Uggl ...

(second baseman,

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

)

Basketball

* Elliot Williams (guard,

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

) *

Tyreke Evans Tyreke Jamir Evans (born September 19, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Indios de Mayagüez of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). After playing college basketball for the Memphis Tigers, he was selected with the f ...

(guard, Indiana Pacers) (2010

NBA Rookie of the Year The National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the top rookie(s) of the regular season. Initiated following the 1952–53 NBA season, it confers the Eddie Gottl ...

) * Derrick Rose (guard, New York Knicks) (2009

, 2011

NBA MVP The National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1955–56 season to the best performing player of the regular season. Starting with the 2022–23 ...

) *

Chris Douglas-Roberts Chris Douglas Roberts (born January 8, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Memphis. High school career Douglas-Roberts played high school basketball at Cass Technical Hig ...

(guard, Boston Celtics) *

Joey Dorsey Richard Elmer "Joey" Dorsey (born December 16, 1983) is an American professional basketball player for APOP Paphos B.C. of the Cyprus Basketball Division A. He played college basketball for the University of Memphis. College career During both h ...

(center, Olympiakos Piraeus) *

Earl Barron Earl Daniel Barron Jr. (born August 14, 1981) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is a video and player development assistant for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college bas ...

(center, Phoenix Suns) *

Rodney Carney Rodney Dion Carney (born April 15, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Memphis and was selected in the 2006 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls and shortly afterwards traded to ...

(guard/forward, Golden State Warriors) *

Sean Banks Sean Anthony Banks (born January 20, 1985) is a 6'8" American retired professional basketball forward. He attended the University of Memphis, where he was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Year in 2004 after leading all freshman in the co ...

* Antonio Burks (guard,

KK Crvena zvezda Košarkaški klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Црвена звезда, ), commonly referred to as KK Crvena zvezda mts for sponsorship reasons or simply Crvena zvezda, is a men's professional basketball club based i ...

) *

Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway Anfernee Deon "Penny" Hardaway (born July 18, 1971) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Memphis Tigers men's basketball team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hardaway pla ...

* Keith Lee * Dajuan Wagner *

Lorenzen Wright Lorenzen Vern-Gagne Wright (November 4, 1975 – July 19, 2010) was an American professional basketball player for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association. He was drafted seventh overall in the 1996 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers ...

* Shawne Williams (Forward,

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

) *

Elliot Perry Elliot Lamonte Perry (born March 28, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. The 6'0" (1.83 m) point guard from Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis), was selected with the tenth pick of the second round (3 ...

* Darius Washington Jr. * Cedric Henderson

Football

(

, Pittsburgh Steelers) *

Stephen Gostkowski Stephen Carroll Gostkowski ( ; born January 28, 1984) is an American football former placekicker who played for 15 years in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the New England Patriots. He was selected in the fourth round of th ...

( New England Patriots) *

Dontari Poe Dontari Poe (born August 18, 1990) is a former American football nose tackle. He played college football at Memphis and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs 11th overall in the 2012 NFL Draft. Though primarily a defensive lineman, at 6 ft ...

(

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

) * Tony Brown (

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, Amsterdam Admirals,

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

) *

Isaac Bruce Isaac Isidore Bruce (born November 10, 1972) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) and a member of the 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the second round o ...

( Los Angeles Rams,

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

) * Mike McKenzie ( Green Bay Packers,

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

) * Brandon McDonald (

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

, Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions)* Jerome Woods(Kansas City Chiefs) * Jake Elliott (

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

) *

Tony Pollard Tony Pollard may refer to: *Tony Pollard (archaeologist) (born 1965), British archaeologist *Tony Pollard (American football) Tony Randall Pollard (born April 30, 1997) is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the National ...

(

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

) * Antonio Gibson (

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

)

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Memphis Tigers, color=white , list = {{American Athletic Conference navbox {{Great America Rifle Conference navbox {{Tennessee Sports {{Tennessee College Sports

Name

Mascot

Varsity sports

Men's basketball

Women's basketball

Men's soccer

Statistics

Coach Richie Grant

Stadium

Professional players

Football

Men's golf

Memphis Tigers Pom Squad

Notable alumni

Baseball

Basketball

Football

See also

References

External links