Men's Basketball Opens Tubby Smith Era with First Practice

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Men's Basketball Opens Tubby Smith Era with First Practice

Oct 05, 2016 | Men's Basketball

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Tubby Smith era of Memphis men's basketball opened on Wednesday (October 5) afternoon with the first practice of the season.

The Tigers open their 2016-17 season on November 14 when the squad hosts UTRGV at 7 p.m. at FedExForum.

Memphis returns six players who started at least one game last year, including Dedric Lawson, who was recently named to the Preseason All-America Team from College Sports Madness. Lawson averaged 15.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game - both of which led the team.

K.J. Lawson returns after playing 10 games - starting twice - and averaging 8.8 points and 3.5 rebounds over those ten contests. Rising junior Markel Crawford played in 33 games, starting 25 times, and averaged 5.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, while grabbing 28 steals. Also back for the Tigers is Jeremiah Martin (29 games played with five starts), Craig Randall II (24 games played with five starts), and Jake McDowell (24 games played with one start).

Newcomers to the squad include Christian Kessee, who averaged 14.6 points per game for Coppin State, former three-star center Chad Rykhoek, junior college transfer Jimario Rivers, and freshman Keon Clergeot.

The Tigers are at home for a large portion of the early schedule, as 11 of the first 15 games of the season are played at FedExForum, including the first two American Athletic Conference games.