Memphis (8-4, 5-3 American Athletic Conference) overcame a halftime deficit to clinch the AAC West Division over the Houston Cougars (8-4, 5-3 AAC).

The modern college football coach can put the happy shine on almost anything. Even a public sideline spat with a player over a jacket that, well, really wasn’t about a jacket at all.

Chris Herrington, Geoff Calkins, and Don Wade launch the Daily Memphian Grizzlies Podcast by discussing the Memphis Grizzlies’ surprising start and how sustainable it may be.

At the end of the night, they posed for photos. Malcolm Dandridge on the left, DJ Jeffries in the middle, James Wiseman on the right.

The biggest concern for West Memphis football coach Billy Elmore prior to last week's game against Pine Bluff may have been making sure his team wasn't overfed.

Memphis defensive coordinator Chris Ball sat down to watch film of the Houston-Tulane game a week ago and wondered if he would have to abandon his game plan – a strategy developed over months.

Penny Hardaway and his staff are attempting to top the short-notice recruiting job from the spring with their Class of 2019. Memphis has three commitments in the Class of 2019 with big targets still up on the board. Here’s who Hardaway is after and more.

Here are Monday's reported high school sports results, along with reported games from the weekend. For corrections, updates or to send in your team's results, please e-mail jvarlas@dailymemphian.com

As a rematch, Tuesday's game between defending Tennessee state champion East and defending Mississippi state champion Olive Branch at the Landers Center in Southaven left a little to be desired.

Here is this week's Daily Memphian high school honor roll, which recognizes the top individual performers over the last seven days.

Center James Wiseman committed Tuesday to play college basketball at the University of Memphis – among the biggest recruiting successes in the program’s history and a huge accomplishment for first-year coach Penny Hardaway.

Just before noon, James Wiseman looked into the ESPN cameras, and said “After long, thoughtful consideration, I will be attending the University of . . .”

Kentucky coach John Calipari acknowledged Tuesday he may be “overrated” as a recruiter after losing the battle with his former employer – the University of Memphis – to sign top prospect James Wiseman. 

After Monday night's 98-88 win over the Dallas Mavericks, the Memphis Grizzlies found themselves in a three-way tie for first place in the Western Conference. 

Memphis linebacker Jackson Dillon’s actions after a tackle and fumble of SMU tight end Ryan Becker during last Friday’s game in Dallas brought criticism from Mustangs coach Sonny Dykes, who called it a “pretty obvious non-football move.”

You know the best part?

The ESPN “College GameDay” crew set up at UCF last Saturday for the undefeated Knights’ American Athletic Conference showdown with Cincinnati. And with UCF ranked 11th in the Associated Press Poll and the Bearcats ranked 19th, it almost felt like a little slice of an SEC Saturday.

It’s not always so simple, but in the modern NBA the team with the best perimeter scorer and playmaker has a pretty big advantage, and it was advantage Grizzlies as Mike Conley scored 28 points to lead the team to its fourth straight win, 98-88, over the Dallas Mavericks (7-9).

James Wiseman, the nation’s top college basketball prospect, will announce his college decision Tuesday morning on ESPN's SportsCenter.

Mike Conley scored 28 points, Marc Gasol had 17 points and 15 rebounds and the Memphis Grizzlies broke open a close game in the fourth quarter to beat the Dallas Mavericks 98-88 on Monday night.

Memphis coach Mike Norvell stepped out of his pregame meetings last Thursday night, saw Houston beating Tulane 48-17 and knew it was paramount that his Tigers needed to defeat SMU the next day.

Head coach Penny Hardaway isn’t fooled by his 2-1 record. He sees too much gambling on defense or bad spacing on offense and knows his Tigers have a long way to go.

It’s got to be Memphis, right?

Tyler Harris stepped to the line with 2.9 seconds left needing to hit three straight free throws to tie the game and send it into overtime.

On a mid-November Saturday night inside FedExForum, it felt like mid-March and the first round of the NCAA Tournament. For 45 minutes – through regulation and the first overtime – Memphis and Yale competed, overcame, refused to blink.