Today, I write this blog post heartbroken. Not heartbroken because it is in the 90s here in Memphis and I'm sweating all the darn time. No, not because I just realized today that I won't get to see a beach at all this summer. (I mean, that's a bummer, but not a realization that would break my heart.) And no, not becuase one of those Kardashians is leaving her stupid husband (wait, did I just mention a Kardashian?) Ugh.
Today, friends, my heart is broken -- shattered into a few thousand blue and gray pieces -- because it is just July and we, the people of Tiger Nation, received a blow. A blow of epic proportions. Austin Nichols, one of the biggest recruits snagged by Josh Pastner, our "local boy done good" announced his impending transfer from Memphis. And it isn't just a transfer, really. Transfers happen in April, after the season is over and we play the coaches shuffle. IT IS JULY and the Tigers' premier player transferred. Without being officially released. This is gonna be an ugly PR nightmare. Heck, it already is and the story is only about 3 hours old.
We don't have a lot of facts, but let's break down what we do know...
Austin wasn't supposed to sign with Memphis: but the stars aligned and the Briarcrest standout signed with the Tigers. He said he wanted to be the "next Penny Hardaway." Tiger Nation was excited. Thrilled. We pulled out our old Memphis State gear and relived the glory days of Penny. The comparisons began to flow... Nice thought, of course, and the story had the makings of a beautiful fairy tale of local (prep school) boy stays home to help revive a team that means so much to this city. But let's be honest, if we really dug deep down, we knew this wouldn't turn out too great. he was recruited by Duke and Virginia and other schools. But still, he signed, and we were thrilled.
The 2014-15 Memphis Basketball Season Sucked: no sugar coating it. Attendance sucked because the season sucked. The season sucked because they players didn't play like a team and truthfully, the coaching sucked. (Harsh, yes, But let's be real. It SUCKED.)
Austin hasn't really been happy: we've all heard the rumors. Austin isn't happy. Austin's father didn't want him to go to the Tigers. Austin needs to get away from home. But he didn't leave, FOR TWO SEASONS.
Others jumped ship in APRIL: Teammates Pookie Powell and Nick King didn't waste any time running out of the Fed Ex Forum and the Finch Center in April after a less-than-stellar season. But that was to be expected (and somewhat forgivable.) It was April, and they were solid players, but not our premier players.
Bad PR for the Program: simply, this is just bad PR for the entire program, and a paints a bad reputation seed in college basketball. Players leaving in April = acceptable. Players leaving in July = WTF?
Bad PR for Pastner: Heck, this just looks bad for Pastner all the way around. Really bad. He lost his star player in JULY!!! And, as of now, he won't grant his transfer. That's just being stubborn. I'm sure he has a good reason, but sometimes the reason doesn't matter. Perception is reality, and the perception is, Pastner is being a baby about it. Grant the kid the transfer. Try to stop the bleeding before it gets any worse.
Bad PR for Austin: whatever the reason, justified or not, this looks bad for Austin. Doesn't matter the history. Doesn't matter if he was thinking of transferring in April. Transferring in July looks bad. Real bad. And means he's got to sit out a year. And that's bad for him in so many ways. Bad that he won't be an ambassador for our school, our city and our program. Bad that he won't be playing basketball for a year. Sitting out a year just isn't good, I don't care how talented you are. An athlete must practice and hone his craft. If you aren't playing, it's hard to do that.
Needless to say, we don't know the entire story. Probably won't. And that's a shame. But I do know this, Tiger Nation is heart broken tonight. And very confused. And we don't really know where to place the blame (though I bet I know where most will place the blame, myself included.) We've been through so much. We want to know the truth, or at least some fabricated version of it to make ourselves feel better. Sure, we can try to tell ourselves this won't matter and that we will be okay without Austin Nichols. We'll say we have the Lawsons and we'll be just fine. But it's more than just losing talent and "our next Penny Hardaway." It's the bad PR and reputation that goes along with this ugly situation. Recovering from a PR debacle is hard. Just ask Tiger Woods.
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