No. 25: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., auto racing

Stenhouse had his moment of greatness in 2023 when he won the longest Daytona 500 in history. If you win the single most prestigious contest in your sport? That’s indisputably great. Stenhouse also made news this century by 1) dating Danica Patrick, 2) competing on America Ninja Warrior (he didn’t make it past the second obstacle) and 3) being fined $75,000 for getting into a fight with Kyle Busch earlier this year. That’s the largest fine NASCAR has ever handed down for fighting. So, not great! But he’ll always have Daytona, when Stenhouse steered his way past a series of wrecks to win the Great American Race. 

Memphis-born Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins Daytona 500

No. 24: Shaun Micheel, golf

That shot on 18. At the 2003 PGA Championship at Oak Hill. It will always be one of the great clutch shots in the history of golf. 

Micheel had a one-stroke lead over Chad Campbell heading into the final hole. He had 161 yards to the front of the green. 

“I was just concerned with hitting the ball solid,” he told me. “I certainly had a direction that I wanted the ball to go and where I wanted to end up, but it was not next to the hole. I can assure you of that.”

The ball rolled next to the hole — 2 inches from the pin. Micheel literally ran up to the green and tapped in to win his first PGA tournament and his first major, too.

Micheel never won a second event on the Tour. Maybe that would have kept him off your list. But when CBS announcer Bill Macatee handed Micheel the Wanamaker Trophy he said, “Your name is on that trophy forever.” To which Micheel responded: “I hope they spell it right.”

PGA Championship: Twenty years later, sweet swing thoughts remain vivid for Shaun Micheel

No. 23: Calvin Austin, football

If you challenged all 25 athletes on our list to a 100-meter race, Austin would win. 

Yes, you’ll eventually see Tony Pollard on the list. I don’t think I’m giving too much away by telling you that.

At the NFL Combine, Pollard ran the 40-yard dash in 4.52 seconds. Austin ran it in 4.32, which put him in the top three that year. He also was top three in the vertical jump (39 inches) and the broad jump (11-3). 

The dude is a truly great athlete. He won nine different state track titles at Harding Academy. He then walked on as a football player at Memphis, where he willed himself to consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. Austin was All-AAC both of those years and was a second-team All-American in track. Now he’s back in training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers where his new quarterback, Russell Wilson, had this reaction upon working out with his new teammate: “I didn’t know you were that fast.”

Calvin Austin, Rodrigues Clark may be Tigers’ next breakout stars

No. 22: Nina Davis, basketball

Credit John Varlas for this selection. Varlas is the longtime prep writer for The Daily Memphian. When asked if there were any athletes he covered in high school who might be overlooked, Varlas immediately went to bat for two athletes from Central: Jordan Ware in track and Davis in hoops. Ware didn’t ultimately make the Top 25 (we said this was difficult) but Varlas’ lobbying for Davis carried the day.

At Baylor, she was a first-team All-American. In this century, Memphis hasn’t produced many of those. Think about some of the players who have starred for the men’s basketball team at Memphis since 2000: Kendric Davis, Precious Achiuwa, Will Barton, Joe Jackson, Jeremiah Martin, Antonio Burks. None of them were first-team All-Americans at Memphis. The list begins and ends with Chris Douglas-Roberts. Oh, and Davis was the first player ever selected to the Big 12 All-Tournament team four consecutive years. That’s pretty darn great.

Central honors former basketball star Nina Davis

No. 21: Anthony Miller, football

Here’s another All-American. And another product of a Memphis high school. We didn’t give extra credit to athletes who actually grew up in Memphis, but isn’t it cool that so many did? All the athletes from 25-21 are from area high schools. Stenhouse graduated from DeSoto Central, Micheel graduated from Christian Brothers, Austin graduated from Harding, Davis graduated from Central and Miller is another who graduated from Christian Brothers.

Miller gives shout-out to 901 in celebrating first NFL touchdown

Like Austin, Miller walked on at Memphis. Like Austin, Miller blazed his way to a fabulous career. He had consecutive 1,400-yard receiving seasons in 2016 and 2017 and finished his career with 3,590 receiving yards and 37 touchdowns. Miller has struggled to find his way in the NFL so it’s easy to forget how dangerous he was at Memphis, but there’s a reason he won the Paul Warfield Award as the best receiver in college football as a senior. He’s the most dominant receiver in the history of the school.