The Early Word: Say bye to St. George’s Memphis, Smart and LaRavia
Hope your Friday, Feb. 7, is off to a sweet start. But if it’s not, it’ll certainly get sweeter if you head over to First Fridays on Broad tonight. Dessert is the theme for the Broad Avenue Arts District’s first open-house night of the year.
On Saturday, peruse the racks for sweet, retro finds at the grand reopening for Blue Suede Vintage, which just moved from Crosstown to Broad Avenue. And later, buy some artwork for your Valentine’s sweetie (are you sensing a theme here?) at the annual Works of Heart art auction.
Also hoping for some sweet (last one, I swear) home court wins this weekend. On Saturday, the Memphis Grizzlies play the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Memphis Tigers women’s basketball team plays Florida Atlantic — both at home. And on SuperBowl Sunday, the Tigers men play Temple at FedExForum. (It’s early enough that you can still catch the big football game though.) For more weekend fun, check out The To-Do List.
St. George’s Independent School will close its elementary school in Sherwood Forest at the end of the year, leaving the private school system with only one elementary campus in Germantown. The Memphis campus opened 20 years ago with a goal of serving more Black students since the school was located inside the city limits. The St. George’s board says the decision to close reflects a changing education landscape, including donors prioritizing investments away from private education. The building may see new life though: It could become a public school under the new University of Memphis campus-school district.
Just ahead of Wednesday’s NBA trade deadline, news broke that the Memphis Grizzlies will send out Jake LaRavia, Marcus Smart and a 2025 first-round pick as part of a three-team deal with the Washington Wizards and the Sacramento Kings. The Grizzlies will receive multiple second-round selections, as well as Washington Wizards players Marvin Bagley III and Johnny Davis. Plenty of fans are sad to see Smart go, but the injury-plagued player only appeared in 39 of 133 games. As for LaRavia, well, as our own Chris Herrington says, he was a “good young player on a team full of better ones.” Here’s hoping LaRavia doesn’t regret all the money he spent on that iced-out Grizzlies chain. For more thoughts on the trade moves, see Herrington’s column today.
Plus, the Shelby County Jail is packed, and Greater Memphis is getting more hot pot, more seafood and more burgers.
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Bianca Phillips
Bianca Phillips is a Northeast Arkansas native and longtime Memphian who’s worked in local journalism and PR for more than 20 years. She’s a diehard morning person who spends her free time running marathons and ultras. She’s the author of “Cookin Crunk: Eatin’ Vegan in the Dirty South.”
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