The Memphis Tigers are still recovering from the loss of head coach John Calipari, but Josh Pastner has done an excellent job taking over the program.
Last year's team fell short of winning Conference USA and did not make the NCAA tournament. They did compete in the N.I.T, suffering an early-round loss to the Mississippi Rebels.
A lot more is expected out of this year's team, which is capable of winning the conference championship and making a little bit of noise come NCAA tournament time. However, they will have to overcome some significant losses from last year's group.
Willie Kemp and Doneal Mack graduated, and Elliot Williams opted to enter the NBA Draft. It won't be easy to overcome the loss of three key players, but Pastner has become a recruiting wizard.
Pastner picked up right where Calipari left off in terms of recruiting. He is bringing in one of the top recruiting classes in the country, something Calipari did with regularity when he was at Memphis.
If the new players can quickly adjust to the college level and the Memphis system, there's no reason to think that the Tigers can't be a serious player in what is likely to be a down year in the conference.
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