Derrick Rose brought down the house with a preposterous dunk. Rapper Rick Ross canceled on his first Madness visit but made it for the next. Gary Parrish won a chicken-wing eating contest, Larry Finch returned (after he was fired) to coach an alumni game and D.J. Stephens paid tribute to one of the greatest Memphis players ever by wearing his jersey for a dunk contest. All these things happened at Memphis Madness, which is what John Calipari renamed it sometime along the way. So here’s the complete and colorful history of the event, drawn from my notes, columns, memories and newspaper archives. 

The final dance contestant was Yuta Watanabe.

Let’s see if we have the list.

Jaren Jackson Jr. was hanging out in the Grizzlies locker room. This was not long ago, before an informal workout. Marc Gasol walked in, looking sharp.

The first official practice of the Penny Hardaway era ended the way you might expect.

Paris London, the former Memphis Tiger, is standing in a crowd, holding his phone up to capture his son on video, and it’s possible he has never been happier.

Brady White handed the ball to Darrell Henderson who then flipped the ball to Tony Pollard who headed back around left end and into the end zone. 

Welcome, Memphis Express!