Just days after annoucing their first three player signings, Memphis 901 FC has added three more for the team's inaugural season in the United Soccer League.

Brand identity. A pro sports franchise can’t live without it.

In two years as manager of the Memphis Redbirds, Stubby Clapp won multiple championships and sent many players up to the St. Louis Cardinals. Now, it’s his turn.

They have a sporting director in Andrew Bell and a coach in Tim Mulqueen. And now the roster for Memphis 901 FC is taking shape as well.

With no real upsets to impact the top of The Daily Memphian's Power 12 rankings, there was no change in the top half of the list. But Briarcrest's shutout loss to MUS dropped the Saints from the rankings and gave ECS the opportunity to grab the last spot.

Stubby Clapp and the boys were still in the Memphis Redbirds’ clubhouse, spraying champagne like a bunch of kids with squirt guns at summer camp. Clapp had just led the team to a second straight Pacific Coast League title amid massive roster turnover that had robbed him of his starting rotation and the heart of his lineup.

Memphis Redbirds manager Stubby Clapp’s name emerged Tuesday afternoon as a possibility for major league positions with two organizations, including the parent St. Louis Cardinals.

When Memphis quarterback Brady White stepped to the UCF 40-yard line after a 10-second runoff late in Saturday’s game against UCF, the redshirt junior – in a perfect scenario – would have spiked the ball with 15 seconds left on the clock. 

There are different levels of NBA fandom. Some care about their team and some care about the entire league. There’s no right or wrong way to be a fan, but the following NBA-wide deep dive is for the latter kind.

In 2017, UCF had the most prolific offense in the land – leading the nation with 48.2 points per game. After that undefeated season, head coach Scott Frost was off to Nebraska. Josh Heupel, who had been offensive coordinator for the high-flying Missouri attack the previous two seasons, replaced Frost.

The UCF Knights might have become America’s latest college football darlings (see State, Boise, and the Jan. 1, 2007 overtime victory against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.)

Mid South Prep Academy started in Memphis as an effort to give local youths a second chance at reaching college. Their schedule includes a mix of prep schools and junior colleges. Mid South Prep CEO Eric “Cowboy” Robinson once ran the most successful AAU program in the Memphis area, and is now taking on the task of expanding the prep school scene in the Mid-South.

For most of the first half, Connecticut kept last weekend’s game with undefeated Cincinnati competitive. The Huskies trailed by a touchdown late in the first half and were driving. An apparent touchdown turned out to be merely a close call when the receiver was ruled to have touched the sideline.

Forward Kyvon Davenport was never better than in the Memphis Tigers’ first-round 79-77 victory over USF in the American Athletic Conference Tournament last March. Career-high 29 points, nine rebounds, 10-for-13 from the floor, 4-for-7 from 3-point range.

The peak and the valley arrived on a Thursday night in late February at FedExForum.

Truck racing. Mixed martial arts. College lacrosse. Rodeo. College hockey. Bull riding. And pro bowling.

The first FedEx St. Jude Invitational, a World Golf Championships event, is still almost 10 months away. But at TPC Southwind near the tournament office, a backhoe stands on a hill ready to be put to work.

Behind the counter at the Horseshoe Casino’s sportsbook in Tunica, employees wearing black-and-white striped shirts are taking wagers. The ghost of disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy apparently is not even a memory, bad karma having been cast out on these winds of change.

John Gibbons knew he would not be returning to Toronto as the Blue Jays manager and it didn’t take long for him to go to work on endorsing a successor.

Memphis 901 FC, the city’s new professional soccer team which begins play in March, will compete in the top tier of the United Soccer League, according to the re-branding of the league’s structure announced Tuesday. 

Memphis Tiger fans held their breath as sixth-year senior linebacker Jackson Dillon was helped off the field in the second quarter during the Tigers’ 52-35 win over the South Alabama Jaguars on Saturday.

Friday night at Crump Stadium, Fairley learned what other teams have learned this season. If Central's left hand doesn't get you then the right one will.

The Memphis Tigers enter their Week Four matchup with South Alabama wanting to build some consistency. 

When the final horn signals completion of the 25 periods comprising the day’s practice session, Ryan Silverfield exits the field with football still on his mind.

The American Athletic Conference announced the Memphis conference basketball schedule Wednesday with the Tigers opening against Gregg Marshall and the Wichita State on Jan. 3 in the first conference game of Penny Hardaway’s coaching career.