14. Joe Jackson (tie), basketball

With 7.8 seconds left in the 2011 Conference USA championship game, Jackson stepped to the foul line to try to clinch the win.

He hit the first free throw. Then he hit the second. 

Memphis had somehow rallied from 12 points down with 6:13 left to play to beat UTEP and send Memphis to the NCAA Tournament. 

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Jackson — the greatest player to play for the Tigers since the John Calipari era — had either scored or assisted on 11 points in the closing stretch.

Indeed, Jackson led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament in each of his four years at Memphis and is one of only two players in program history (Elliot Perry is the other) to have more than 1,500 points, 500 assists and 175 steals. 

If there is a lingering sense that Jackson’s career was disappointing — and there seems to be, right? — that may only be because of the outsized expectations that followed his legendary career at White Station High School. Jackson is the second-leading scorer in the history of Shelby County (trailing only Bobby “Bingo” Smith). He carried White Station to the state title game three consecutive years. He became known as the “King of Memphis” — and had the nickname tattooed across his chest.

That’s a hard name to live up to. And Jackson’s college career had its ups and downs. But he was Conference Player of the Year as a junior — and MVP of the conference tournament the two years before that. During his four years at Memphis, the Tigers averaged 26.5 wins. That’s the sort of disappointment Memphis fans would love to have back. 

The greatest Memphis athletes of the century: Nos. 21-25

14. Rachel Heck (tie), golf

Heck burst onto the national scene at the age of 15 when she qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open, made the cut and finished tied for 33rd.

In the years since, she became the greatest high school golfer — and one of the greatest high school athletes, period — in the history of Shelby County.

She was a five-time junior golf All-American. She was the USA Today High School Golfer of the Year in 2017 and 2018. She sank the putt that clinched the 2018 U.S. Junior Ryder Cup. 

You getting the general idea?

Then Heck went to Stanford, where all she did as a freshman was win the national title (with a scoring average of 69.72 over 25 rounds, which was then the lowest in the history of NCAA women’s golf) and collect the Honda Award and the Annika Award for being the top collegiate golfer.

Whew.

The greatest Memphis athletes of the century: Nos. 16-20

It seemed like Heck was destined to be one of the best players in the history of her sport. Then injuries intervened. She had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome and, earlier this year, wrote an essay in the golf publication No Laying Up announcing that she would forgo a professional golf career.

“I do not want a life on the road and in the public eye,” she wrote. “I no longer dream of the U.S. Open Trophies and the Hall of Fame. And I realize now that these dreams were never what my dad intended when he first put a club in my hand. He pushed me when I was young so that I could find myself in the position I am right now: Stepping into the future with the skills to tackle any challenge and the courage to pave my own path.”

It was a graceful, emotional way for Heck to end her career. Except, being Heck, it was not exactly the end. After sitting out most of the spring season with her injuries — and practicing only intermittently, when her health would allow — Heck returned for the NCAA Championship and earned the point that lifted Stanford to the title over UCLA.

“That’s Rachel Heck for you,” said Anne Walker, the Stanford coach. “It’s like it was scripted that way.”

13. Chris Douglas-Roberts, basketball

Douglas-Roberts cut in along the baseline, took the slick pass from Antonio Anderson, soared in for his customary layup and thought, “You know, why not dunk?”

So he dunked.

And that dunk — over Kevin Love, as the Memphis Tigers rolled over UCLA in the 2008 Final Four — is one of the most iconic moments in the history of the program.

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So of course Douglas-Roberts belongs on this list. The only question is whether he belongs higher than No. 13.

Derrick Rose was the signature athlete on that dominant team. But Douglas-Roberts was the leading scorer (18.1 points per game) and the first-team All-American.

He shot 54.1% from the field that year and 41.3% from deep. He scored 28 points in that semifinal win over UCLA. And he was cool, too, with his long arms and his easy smile and the tattoo of his mom’s name — Judy — on his neck. Maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised when, after he went to the NBA, he changed his name to Supreme Bey.

But he’ll always be CDR to Memphians. He’ll always be one of the greats. If he had just been able to hit the front end of that one-and-one with 1:15 against Kansas in the national championship game ...

It still stings, doesn’t it? Even greatness can sometimes miss.

Harrison Williams makes US Olympic decathlon team

12. Harrison Williams, track and field

True story. When Williams was in the ninth grade, Bobby Alston — who was then the football and track coach at Memphis University School — suggested he take up the decathlon.

“We literally laughed,” Williams’ father, Jay, once told me. “He was this tall, skinny kid, and he had literally never done six of the 10 events.”

Turns out, he was a fast learner. Williams eventually set nine — yes, nine — state records in track and field, many of which still stand. He went on to become the 2023 U.S. Champion in the decathlon. Now he’s competing for the U.S. at the Paris Olympics.

The decathlon champion is considered the world’s greatest athlete, right? So for now, Williams is No. 12 on our list. But depending on what happens in Paris, that could soon change.

Former Grizzlies guard Mike Conley finally goes to All-Star Game

11. Mike Conley, basketball

Conley was the booby prize.

Maybe you remember the 2007 NBA Draft. The Grizzlies had the worst record in the league that year. They had hopes of getting Ohio State center Greg Oden with the first pick.

Instead, the Grizzlies fell all the way down to the No. 4 pick. And they wound up selecting a slim point guard who would go on to become the franchise’s all-time leader in points (11,733), assists (4,509), steals (1,161) and class.

Conley was the first of the Core Four to arrive and the last to leave. At the age of 36, he is still leading teams into the playoffs. But Conley will never have a finer moment than Game 2 of the 2015 playoff series against the Golden State Warriors, when he defied the recommendation of his parents and friends and suited up to play eight days after he had surgery to insert a titanium plate in his face.

“I’m just like, ‘I’m going to sacrifice and do what I can for the team,’” Conley said.

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He played 27 minutes and scored 22 points. He lifted the Grizzlies to a win over a team that was celebrating Steph Curry’s MVP award and had a 42-2 record at home. 

“He got good looks,” said Marc Gasol, deadpan. “Out of one eye.”

Said Tony Allen: “His face is caved in and he comes out here and fights through it and plays lights out. That guy is a beast.”

Conley recently signed another two-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He’s a Grizzlies rival, for now. But when he retires he’ll come back to Memphis to have his number retired. And then the Core Four will once again be complete.