The trauma and heartbreak of the final moments of the 2008 national championship game were so dramatic, so shell-shocking, that they have simply become ingrained in the Memphis sports fan’s psyche.

But in the 15 years since, there’s been a more quiet, lingering pang from that mostly glorious season.

Rather than celebrate that team for what it is – the best that’s ever come through the University of Memphis – it’s been treated almost as a footnote. There’s never been a formal celebration. Individual members of the team have passed through a handful of times, but never have they had the chance to get the roaring ovation from the fans they so deserve.

Grizzlies podcast: Derrick Rose returns to Memphis

Until, perhaps, now.

Derrick Rose signed a two-year contract with the Memphis Grizzlies this month, a move that has nothing to do with his time as a Tiger. Let’s be clear about that. He’s back here to offer veteran leadership, to play spot minutes as a backup point guard during Ja Morant’s 25-game NBA suspension and to be a voice that resonates with Morant once he returns.

But if you know this city, then you know that Rose’s return could wind up being about so much more than a veteran minimum deal with the Grizzlies.

First, who would’ve ever thought he’d choose to come back to Memphis?

We know how sourly it ended, with the collapse against Kansas in the title game, the ridiculous ensuing NCAA punishment (vacating Memphis’ 2007-08 season) for the SAT, and the lawsuit from U of M boosters. Rose, initially ruled eligible by the NCAA Clearinghouse but retroactively ruled ineligible because of an allegedly invalid standardized test score, was never introduced in an NBA game as being from the University of Memphis. Other than a random flurry of tweets in 2012, Rose hasn’t said much at all about his time as a Tiger.

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He’d largely moved on, it seemed, and let’s be real: That hurt.

All these years later, though, he’s back. He may well end his basketball career in the same city it virtually began. He’s wearing No. 23, his college number, for the first time in his pro career. That’s a strong indication that Rose appears to be leaning into his Memphis Tiger days.

At some point, he’ll probably talk in-depth about them. He’ll get back over to campus and see the brand new Laurie-Walton basketball facility. He’ll snap a picture with Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway. It’ll be a glorious, long overdue reunion.

Rose’s return to Memphis accomplishes two things.

First, he could provide just the experience that the Grizzlies desperately need in the locker room. He’s obviously someone Morant looked up to as a gravity-defying dynamic point guard himself. As the youngest MVP in NBA history, Rose has traveled the roads Morant aspires to go down. Veteran point guard Isaiah Thomas predicted on Twitter that Morant is going to have the best season of his career with Rose by his side.

But it could also be the catalyst to help both Rose and Memphis basketball fans get some much-needed closure. Yes, that season ended in despair, but it’s foolish to ignore the hope of March 2008 in Memphis, Tennessee. Beating Texas in Houston. Thrashing Michigan State. Handling Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, and UCLA. All memories that Memphis basketball fans, young and old, hold closely.

Rose – and his other-worldly ascension – was an inextricable part of it all. Forget the handful of people who filed that ill-advised lawsuit; this city never stopped loving that soft-spoken 18-year-old kid from Chicago.

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Maybe Rose is the missing link for the Grizzlies to reach the next level, the way he was for the Tigers in 2007. Maybe Rose’s return finally moves the university to get the 2007-08 team back together in an official capacity. Time will tell. Nothing’s going to undo the final two minutes of that final game, but Rose’s return to Memphis may just mean healing for all parties involved.

That 18-year-old kid from Chicago deserves his flowers from Memphis.

All these years later, he’s finally going to get them.