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What a wild, eventful week it’s been for the Memphis Tigers athletics program — and The Daily Memphian sports staff has been busy keeping track of it all. Last Friday, FedEx Corp. announced a five-year, $25 million commitment to the Tigers’ NIL program. Three days later, Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch decided to leave the program after about four-and-a-half years in charge and take over at Missouri. On Saturday, as Parth Upadhyaya reported, David Jones — the Tigers basketball team’s top scorer this past season — announced he planned to enter the NBA while simultaneously maintaining his college eligibility, at least until deciding which path forward he wants to take next season. Also Saturday, the Tigers played their annual spring football game at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium — and a 17-year-old freshman quarterback, Arrington Maiden, conjured up memories of when current fourth-year starter Seth Henigan, now the program’s career passing yards leader, arrived at Memphis as a 17-year-old himself. On Monday, not long after news of Veatch’s departure broke, the Tigers secured commitments from two transfer point guards, Texas’ Tyrese Hunter and George Mason’s Baraka Okojie. Upadhyaya wrote an interesting weekend piece on Tigers walk-on guard Joe Cooper’s future and was there when Memphis women’s basketball coach Alex Simmons spoke Monday on NIL matters, while Frank Bonner II took a close look at Tigers football ticket sales trends. But the week wasn’t just about the Tigers. Chris Herrington delivered his annual postseason play-by-player breakdown of the Memphis Grizzlies’ roster, and Sam Hardiman reported on both the latest on the Ja Morant civil suit front and FedExForum renovation funding matters. John Varlas wrote about a couple of super Briarcrest Christian pitchers after covering a couple Memphis 901 FC matches, including last Wednesday night’s U.S. Cup win. And Tim Buckley profiled Luken Baker as the Memphis Redbirds slugger closes in on the franchise’s all-time home runs record. Upcoming over the next week? The 10-10 Redbirds have a six-game homestand against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp that opens Tuesday night and runs through Sunday at AutoZone Park, and 1-5 901 FC hits the road to play Birmingham Legion FC on Saturday night. The 1-3 Memphis Showboats (losers of three straight) face the Michigan Panthers in a UFL game Sunday afternoon at Liberty Stadium, and former Memphis running back Blake Watson has a shot at being selected in the 2024 NFL Draft. Plus, Tigers basketball coach Penny Hardaway continues his transfer portal plunge. Oh, and perhaps the biggest thing in Memphis over the next several days and perhaps weeks, the search for a new Tigers AD. Here’s a look at some of the staff’s top work from the week: — Deputy sports editor Tim Buckley
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By Parth Upadhyaya
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