Football Wraps up Camp Friday

Aug 19, 2016 | Football

Summer schedule complete and classes start Monday.

By: Tammy DeGroff

MEMPHIS – Friday morning, the Memphis football team put the wraps on camp with a final session of practice before a closed Saturday scrimmage closes the book on the Tigers' summer. After the first 18 practices and the closed scrimmage Saturday which serves as practice number 19, the Tigers will now enter the NCAA-mandated 20-hour per week of practice allotment as classes start at the University of Memphis on Monday.

"We have a lot of help in planning the team's class schedules," Head Coach Mike Norvell said. "What will change is we will have less time for meetings and the additional walk-throughs we were able to do in camp. But we have a good plan in place for our players, now it's just a matter of them implementing that plan. Being a college student is also a full-time job."

If the summer numbers are anything to go by, the academic plan in place can lead to success for the Tigers. In the summer 2016 session, 61 players posted a GPA of 3.0 or higher (58 percent of the players enrolled in classes) and 33 were named to the Dean's List. Of that 33, 18 Tigers posted perfect 4.0 GPAs. The full allotment of Tigers enrolled in summer classes posted a 2.90 GPA, while the freshman class posted a 3.54 GPA. Among the freshmen, 23 posted a 3.0 or higher (92 percent) and 16 earned a spot on the Dean's List for a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Eleven first-year Tigers posted a perfect 4.0 in their first set of college classes.

The strong academic numbers for football came in just as rising senior place-kicker Jake Elliott was named the American Athletic Conference's Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award for football on Wednesday. On Thursday, 18 members of the football team were named to the American Athletic Conference's Football All-Academic Team for posting a GPA of 3.0 or higher for the 2015-16 academic year.

The 18 American Athletic Conference All-Academic Football Team honorees:
Tim Belles
Latarius Brady
Emmanuel Cooper
Keenen Davis
Jake Elliott
Austin Hall
Charles Hubbard
Nick Jacobs
Drew Kyser
Malcolm Lane
Phil Mayhue
Jace Neville
Tony Pollard
Micah Simmons
Tyler Uselton
Tearris Wallace
Austin Williams
Robby Young

The football team will open its 2016 seven-game home schedule on Saturday, Sept. 3^rd at 6 p.m. (CT) against Southeast Missouri State. Tickets for that game can be purchased at participating Mid-South Kroger stores for $5.00 in support of the Million Meals Challenge. The University of Memphis will donate $1.00 from each ticket purchased to the Mid-South Food Bank, which serves a 31-county area in West Tennessee, North Mississippi and Crittendon County in Arkansas, providing resources for food-insecure families and children. Season tickets also remain on sale, starting at just $100 for the entire seven-game season. Call 901-678-2331 or visit www.GoTigersGoTix.com.