The Memphis Tigers football team rolls on. The Tigers beat North Texas 52-44 in a wild one Saturday night at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, and Frank Bonner II and Tim Buckley were there covering the high-scoring affair. Memphis is back at Liberty Stadium Saturday at 11 a.m. kickoff when Charlotte is in town for homecoming. On the basketball front, Parth Upadhyaya wrote about a messy situation involving a transfer from SMU — Tyreek Smith — and the Tigers’ NIL program. After losing last Tuesday night to preseason No. 9 North Carolina in the Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic at FedExForum, coach Penny Hardaway’s unranked team is back in the gym before heading to Huntsville, Alabama, for its second and final preseason exhibition, this one against No. 2 Alabama at Monday night’s Rocket City Classic. Memphis’ women lost to defending national champion South Carolina in the same St. Jude charity event and must wait until Nov. 4 before opening its season against Mississippi Valley State at Elma Roane Fieldhouse. In the NBA world, the Memphis Grizzlies have played their final preseason game and will be in Salt Lake City on Wednesday night to open their 2024-25 season against the Utah Jazz. Drew Hill will be there. The Grizzlies don’t play their first regular-season game at FedExForum until Saturday against Orlando, one night after visiting the Rockets in Houston. Prior to the opener, Chris Herrington brought us his top 10 takeaways from the preseason along with predictions and a preview for the entire upcoming NBA season. Also last week, we covered the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 induction. Buckley wrote about a love for the city shared by two inductees, former Grizzlies star Zach Randolph and ex-Tigers defensive back/longtime local sports anchor Jarvis Greer, while Upadhyaya reported on a class that also included former Tigers and NBA point guard Andre Turner. Preps writer John Varlas was out and about, too, reporting on a Friday night slate of football games that included Munford’s victory against Lausanne behind Lucas Crowell’s final play 37-yard field goal and CBHS’ win against MUS behind Ethan Johnson’s 222 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Next up, as Varlas already has previewed: coverage of state tournament girls volleyball play in Murfreesboro and girls soccer play in Chattanooga. 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 Frank Bonner II
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