Nov. 3, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Tigers On TV/Radio/Web
Television: None
Radio: WREC 600 AM (Dave Woloshin, play-by-play; Matt Dillon, color analyst; Forrest Goodman, studio host)
Web: Game to be streamed live on Memphis athletics web site at gotigersgo.com via All-Access (must register to view game)
TIGERS TO HOST LEMOYNE-OWEN COLLEGE IN EXHIBITION TUESDAY
The University of Memphis squad (0-0, 0-0 C-USA) opens its 2009-10 exhibition season with home contest versus LeMoyne-Owen College (0-0, 0-0 SIAC) on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Game time is 7 p.m. (CT) at FedExForum.
Memphis, picked to finish between second and fourth in Conference USA in most preseason polls, returns only one starter and six letterwinners from last year's squad that won 33 games (33-4 record) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament West Region semifinal (Sweet Sixteen). En route to the Sweet Sixteen, the Tigers swept the Conference USA regular season and tournament crowns.
Tuesday's exhibition is LeMoyne-Owen's first of 2009-10. The Magicians, the 2008-09 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Tournament champion, return two starters from last season's 17-14 team.
SCOUTING THE MAGICIANS
LeMoyne-Owen College, the 2008-09 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Tournament champion, return two starters from last season's 17-14 team. The Magicians got the hot hand in the SIAC Tournament, defeating Fort Valley State, Claflin and Lane en route to the tourney championship. As a result of winning the title, LeMoyne-Owen earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament. The Magicians lost in the first round to Florida Southern.
The backcourt tandem of LaDarius Johnson and Maurice Mickens returns to pace the LeMoyne-Owen offense. Mickens is the squad's top returning scorer at 12.5 ppg, while Johnson is second at 9.5 ppg. Johnson is the team's top returning rebounder at 5.5 rpg, and Mickens dished out a team-best 123 assists (4.0 apg) last year.
William Anderson is in his first year as head coach of the Magicians program. Anderson, who also serves as the school's athletics director, was hired as head coach on Apr. 9, 2009.
PASTNER IN FIRST YEAR AT HELM OF TIGER PROGRAM
Josh Pastner (Arizona, 1998) is in his first season as the head coach of the University of Memphis basketball program. The Kingwood, Texas, native was hired Apr. 7, 2009, after serving the 2008-09 season as an assistant on the Tiger staff.
Prior to joining the Memphis basketball family for the 2008-09 season, Pastner spent the previous 12 years of his college basketball life at Arizona as a player, staff member and assistant coach. While in Tucson, Pastner was a member of Wildcat squads that made 12-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and posted a 290-103 record (1997-2008). Pastner was a player on the 1996-97 Arizona team that won the NCAA title.
MEMPHIS REPRESENTIN'
The city of Memphis will be well represented in Tuesday's exhibition contest between the Tigers and Magicians. The two squads combine to have 13 players from the Memphis area on their rosters.
LeMoyne-Owen has seven players -- LaDarius Johnson, Maurice Mickens, Paxton Jackson, Jeremy Anderson, Taurean Moy, Arthur Johnson and Travis Thompson -- that call the Bluff City home.
On the Tigers' side, six players hail from the Memphis area. Pierre Henderson-Niles, James Harvey Jr., Elliot Williams and Preston Laird are from Memphis, while Drew Barham is from Cordova and Aaron Jacques from Bartlett.
FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACHES TO MEET TUESDAY
Memphis' Josh Pastner and LeMoyne-Owen's William Anderson both will be roaming the sidelines in their first game as head coaches when the Tigers and Magicians meet Tuesday. In fact, the two coaches were hired within two days of each other last April. Pastner was named Memphis' head coach on Apr. 7, 2009, while Anderson took over the LeMoyne-Owen program on Apr. 9, 2009.
PASTNER THIRD-YOUNGEST HEAD COACH IN NCAA DIVISION I IN 2009-10
If you ask Josh Pastner about his age, he just says it's a number. And it is. However, Pastner's age makes him one of the youngest head coaches in NCAA Division I in 2009-10. The following lists the youngest head coaches in NCAA Division I:
Coach, School Age Birthdate
Dane Fife, IPFW 30 July 26, 1979
Jason James, UT Martin 31 Oct. 10, 1977
Josh Pastner, Memphis 32 Sept. 26, 1977
Joe Pasternack, New Orleans 32 Apr. 15, 1977
Shaka Smart, VCU 32 Apr. 8, 1977
Brad Stevens, Butler 33 Oct. 22, 1976
MEMPHIS PICKED TO LOSE CROWN IN 2009-10
According to many preseason publications, the Tigers are picked to surrender their Conference USA crown in 2009-10. In most polls, Memphis is picked to finish the regular season between second and fourth.
The Tigers are predicted to place second by Athlon, The Sporting News, SportsXchange/CBSSports.com and Blue Ribbon; third by Lindy's; fourth by Basketball Times; and seventh by USA Today Sports Weekly. The only preseason poll to say Memphis will defend its title is collegehoopsvideo.com.
MEMPHIS LOOKING FOR TEN IN A ROW
When the 2009-10 season officially opens Nov. 13, the Tigers will be looking for a 10th-straight, 20-win season and a 10th-consecutive postseason berth. The last time Memphis put together a string of 10-consecutive, 20-win seasons was from 1984-93, including 31 wins in the 1984-85 NCAA Final Four campaign.
The 2009-10 Tigers will attempt to add to the program's current record of nine-straight postseason bids (6 NCAA, 3 NIT), as the 2008-09 Memphis squad went to the NCAA West Region semifinal (Sweet Sixteen).
Prior to this current record run of nine-straight postseason berths, Memphis had two six-year stretches in which it reached the postseason. The previous two six-year postseason spans were 1972-77 (2 NCAA, 4 NIT) and 1988-93 (4 NCAA, 2 NIT). The run from 1972-77 included the 1973 NCAA title game appearance. The 1988-93 postseason stretch included an NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearance in 1992.
TIGERS VYING FOR FIVE STRAIGHT
Despite most preseason publications picking against it happening, Memphis is looking for a fifth-straight sweep of the Conference USA regular season and tournament titles in 2009-10.
Last year, the Tigers posted their fourth-consecutive sweep of the C-USA regular season and tournament championships. Memphis is one of four schools in NCAA Division I history to record at least four-straight sweeps of conference regular season and tournament crowns.
The other schools to post four-consecutive league title sweeps are N.C. State (1945-50), UMass (1992-96) and Gonzaga (2004-07).
