…will be on Oct. 17, a week from Friday at FedExForum. More details forthcoming. A couple things.

- There WILL be a tribute to last year’s Final Four team that fans won’t want to miss. And it will be more than just raising a banner

- It WILL be a huge recruiting night for the Tigers. Possible/probable visitors include John Wall, Dominic Cheek and Derrick Favors.

Here’s where Athlon predicts Memphis’ non-conference opponents will finish in their respective leagues:

Fairfield — 2nd in MAAC

UMass — 5th in A-10

Chattanooga — 1st in Southern

Seton Hall or Southern Cal (Puerto Rico semis) — 13th in Big East/3rd in Pac 10

Xavier, Virginia Tech or Missouri (Puerto Rico finals/consolation) — 1st in A-10/6th in ACC/7th in Big 12

Marist — 10th in MAAC

Georgetown — 6th in Big East

Arkansas-Little Rock — 1st in Sun Belt West

Syracuse — 7th in Big East

Drexel — 11th in CAA

Cincinnati — 11th in Big East

Northeastern — 3rd in CAA

Lamar — 2nd in Southland

Tennessee — 1st in SEC East

Gonzaga - 1st in WCC

One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier post…

I spoke with John Calipari earlier tonight, and he told me that point guard C.J. Henry has a broken foot and will be out six or seven weeks. I don’t have any further details on the injury at the moment, though I will try to get some tomorrow. Henry has been hurt pretty much since he’s been on campus, which is a tough-luck situation for him since he really needed the preseason to get in basketball shape and get his legs back under him after three years out of the game pursuing a baseball career.

If all goes well with his rehab, he could start to practice again some time around the Puerto Rico tournament the week before Thanksgiving. After that, the Tigers only play a couple times the first two weeks of December - against Marist on Dec. 2 and Dec. 13 against Georgetown. Those games would seem to be reasonable targets for when to expect Henry back in the lineup.

Vance Walberg, the man who pioneered John Calipari’s Dribble Drive Motion offense, has been begging the Tigers to recruit some pure shooters over the last couple years. It is, quite simply, a necessary dimension to run his offense the way it’s supposed to be run. Calipari’s philosophy, however, has generally been to recruit athleticism and toughness and let the shooting take care of itself. As a result, Memphis has been an average outside shooting team the last couple years while overwhelmingly good in other areas.

Darnell Dodson, a 6-7 wing from Miami-Dade Junior College who committed to the Tigers today, is the kind of player who should make Walberg happy. He’s long-armed and athletic, but from all accounts, he can really, really shoot. I talked today with someone who has seen him play and compared him to Wesley Person. This is a situation that kind of fell into Memphis’ lap. While recruiting Will Coleman, the big man from Miami-Dade who committed earlier this summer, the Tigers’ staff saw Dodson put on a shooting exhibition. At the time, he was seemingly headed back to Pittsburgh, where he initially committed before going to junior college. But because of a rule technicality, he learned recently he couldn’t re-enroll at Pitt. Thus, Memphis was sitting in perfect position to get in first on Dodson and get him to commit before other schools could get involved.

So, for now, the Tigers’ recruiting class is
- SG Nolan Dennis
- SF Darnell Dodson
- PF/C Will Coleman

The Tigers will possibly look to bring in three more players. In other words, this doesn’t preclude Memphis from signing any of the other guys they’re looking at. Now, at first glance, the numbers may not seem to add up. Next year, they’ll lose Antonio Anderson and Robert Dozier for sure. They’re also likely to lose Tyreke Evans. They’ve also got an open scholarship right now.

So that’s four open scholarships for sure. And, of course, there’s always the possibility that someone else could have a big year and turn pro early, that someone could transfer, that someone could encounter academic trouble, etc. In other words, Calipari has never been afraid of over-signing.

Sorry I’m a little slow with the update, but I spent most of the weekend in Nashville watching my football powerhouse alma mater make all kinds of history. Before I left, I was able to catch the Tigers’ weekly pre-preseason workout on Friday, and here were a few of my impressions.

– Overall, it was a tremendous practice. And when I say that, I think most of you know that you can take it seriously because my evaluations are always tough but fair. What stood out to me was the focus and intensity of the practice. Maybe it’s because there are a bunch of new guys who don’t know what they’re doing out there, so they need to focus more. Or maybe it’s simply this group’s personality. Let’s face it. In the past, there were some guys on this team who were more interested in showing off or talking trash sometimes than practicing, not to mention any names (CDR, cough…Dorsey, cough). This group was locked in Friday, with a minimal amount of goofing around.

– Tyreke Evans has only had a handful of hours working with John Calipari, but I am already seeing some small breakthroughs in his game. He’s always been allowed to play at his own pace. Calipari will challenge him to play at Memphis’ pace, which is what Evans needs. Because when he fully embraces the mentality to GO instead of slowing the ball down, he’ll be a top-10 pick. If you can combine speed with his physical strength and scorer’s instincts, he will be difficult to stop.

– Shawn Taggart’s game looks very good to me right now. It’s interesting. If you look at Taggart during the regular season last year, especially in C-USA play, he was often a nonfactor. He only scored in double-digits twice in the league, both against Tulsa. That wasn’t always his fault. Calipari just rolled with Dozier and Dorsey most of the time, if they weren’t in foul trouble. Taggart had a very good NCAA Tournament, however, and I think that motivated him to put in some work this summer. Memphis’ offense is not really designed for much of a mid-range game, but with Taggart being more involved in the offense, I think that will change to a great extent this year.

– My suspicion is that this team has a chance to be a better 3-point shooting team than we’ve seen in recent years. Willie Kemp was pretty good last year, and he should be good again. Doneal Mack wasn’t as consistent last year as he should be. One of the strengths of this group of newcomers is 3-point shooting, especially Roburt Sallie and Tyreke Evans.

–One of the interesting things to keep an eye on this year is how the veterans react to the young guys. A couple times during the practice, Antonio Anderson just went nuts on a couple of the freshmen when they made mistakes or didn’t make layups. At one point, Calipari even told him to simmer down and give the kids some slack. He and Robert Dozier are used to playing with veterans; now they’re going to have to play with rookies and experience some growing pains.

Here are some notes in advance of Thursday night’s Memphis-UAB game, which will be carried by CBS College Sports:

*** On the road, big plays generate momentum. Memphis needs to become more effective throwing the deep ball. Only one receiver has caught a pass for more than 44 yards (53 by Maurice Jones).
And the Tigers would benefit from a huge return on special teams. Memphis, however, ranks 114th nationally (of 119 Division 1-A teams) in kickoff returns with an average of 16.1 yards per return. Punt returns haven’t been much more effective: 5.43 average, which ranks 99th nationally.

*** In each of the team’s past two losses at UAB, the Tigers have allowed 35 points. Both games were decided by a touchdown or less.

*** UAB’s rush defense is ranked ninth in Conference USA and its total defense is ranked 11th, allowing 466 yards per game.

*** Memphis likely will activate freshman running back Brandon Ross for the game with Charlie Jones, Curtis Steele’s backup, slowed by an ankle injury. Ross (6-0, 205) is from Alabama.

*** With solid back-to-back weeks running the ball, expect the Tigers to do more of the same against UAB. The Tigers are ranked second in C-USA in rushing at 190.2 yards per game. Steele, on whom a front-page feature appears in Thursday’s sports section, has had back-to-back 100-yard rushing games, including a 203-yard effort last weekend against Arkansas State.

There’s been a buzz about the possibility of former University of Florida player Jonathan Demps joining the Tiger football program.

Demps, a 6-4, 225-pound linebacker, attended a late-night U of M workout Monday at the Murphy Athletic Complex with family members, but is NOT a part of the team. Demps is enrolled at the U of M as a part-time student and staying in Memphis with relatives.

If Demps, a highly recruited inside linebacker coming out of high school in Pensacola, Fla., were to meet eligibility requirements, he’d likely begin practicing with the team next spring and play defensive end. Demps played as a true freshman at Florida in 2005, but missed 2006 with a torn left anterior cruciate ligament.

Demps did not play last fall after being dismissed from the team in spring for violating team policy. Later in the year he was involved in an off-campus incident before the team’s appearance in the Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl and charged with misdemeanor battery. He and Florida defensive end Jermaine Cunningham were charged with allegedly hitting a sub shop worker with a sandwich and empty cups.