Between the city's former number 2 draft pick and the current number 1 recruiting class, Memphis’ basketball fever pitch looks to reach new heights.
Well, a new challenger has emerged for that top athletic post in Temetrius Jamel Morant. While living in Chicago in 2008, I had firsthand witness to one of the best athletes I’ve ever seen live, and with a Memphis connection to boot: Derrick Rose. At various times I’ve found myself rooting for the home teams of the Bulls, Suns, and Heat. School and career have allowed me to fill that role in many stops around the country. Having never made it past the first day of tryouts for my own high school basketball team (side note: two future NBA players were on that stacked roster) I realized early that my lot in life would be that of the observer. It only took the entire rest of my lifetime to see that fandom to fruition with last year’s NBA championship. I'll step aside and let Joe explain his basketball coverage bonafides: "Growing up in Milwaukee, there was only one direction my basketball loyalty could land- inside the MECCA Arena with the Bucks. segment on sports-talk station 92.9 FM. His Twitter handle: Joe Rondone is the photographer behind many of the photos and videos you'll see from our basketball coverage.
Mark is also a co-host on the daily 2-4 p.m. He then moved into a columnist role, offering his views on the wins, losses and drama surrounding the Memphis basketball scene, whether it’s the Grizzlies, Tigers or high school and grassroots teams. You can follow him on Twitter: Mark Giannotto came to Memphis in 2017 to be the CA's Tigers basketball beat writer and chronicled the short-lived Tubby Smith era and Penny Hardaway’s coronation as head coach. A 23-year veteran in journalism, Jason came to Memphis after covering Division I football, basketball and baseball for more than eight years at the Hattiesburg American. You can follow him on Twitter: Jason Munz is entering his third as Tigers basketball beat writer. He moved to Memphis from his native Los Angeles, where he covered high school sports for more than 10 years, including the highly competitive Southern California basketball scene.