2015–16 Memphis Tigers men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 2015–16 Memphis Tigers Memphis Tigers 2003-2021 wordmark.svg 250 American Athletic Conference The American 19–15 8–10 Josh Pastner 7th Robert Kirby Keelon Lawson Damon Stoudamire FedExForum The 2015–16 Memphis Tigers men's basketball team represented the University of Memphis in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, the 95th season of Tiger basketball. The Tigers, led by seventh year head coach Josh Pastner, played their home games at the FedExForum. The season marked the third season the Tigers have participated in the American Athletic Conference. The Tigers finished with a record of 19–15, 8–10 in AAC play to finish in seventh place in conference. The Tigers defeated Tulsa and Tulane in the AAC tournament before losing to UConn in the championship. For the second consecutive year, the Tigers did not participate in a postseason tournament. Previous season The Tigers finished the 2014–15 season with a record of 18–14 and 10–8 in AAC play to finish in a tie for fifth place in conference. The Tigers lost in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament to Temple. The Tigers did not participate in a postseason tournament, marking the first time in 15 years that the Tigers had missed the postseason entirely. Off-season Departures Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Chris Hawkins 1 F 73 6' 5" 240 3 Junior Memphis, TN Medical concerns Calvin Godfrey 1 F 73 6' 8" 233 4 Senior Milwaukee, WI Graduated Kuran Iverson 1 F 23 6' 9" 205 2 Sophomore Windsor, CT Dismissed, transferred to Rhode Island Nick King basketball F 5 6' 7" 226 2 Sophomore Memphis, TN Transferred to Alabama Austin Nichols basketball F 4 6' 8" 228 2 Sophomore Eads, TN Transferred to Virginia Pookie Powell 1 G 3 6' 1" 180 2 Sophomore Orlando, FL Transferred to La Salle Transfers Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Ricky Tarrant 1 G ## 6' 2" 190 4 Senior Pleasant Grove, AL Transfer from Alabama Recruiting thumb|upright|Dedric Lawson at the 2015 McDonald's All-American Boys Game no no 2015 Randall Broddie Point guard PG Oxon Hill, MD Potomoc 6 2 165 10/20/2014 4 3 3 76 Dedric Lawson Power forward PF Memphis, TN Hamilton 6 8 200 07/20/2014 4 4 4 89 K. J. Lawson Small forward SF Memphis, TN Hamilton 6 7 190 10/07/2013 4 4 4 86 Nick Marshall Center C Lexington, TN Lexington 6 10 230 08/26/2014 4 4 3 85 Jeremiah Martin Point guard PG Memphis, TN Mitchell 6 2 175 04/21/2015 3 3 3 70 Raquan Mitchell Shooting guard SG Miami, FL Southridge 6 3 175 10/10/2015 3 3 3 NR Craig Randall II Shooting guard SG Phoenix, AZ Shadow Mountain 6 4 170 07/19/2015 3 3 3 79 Dante Scott Shooting guard SG Smyrna, GA Campbell 6 4 205 07/01/2015 2 2 3 NR 2015 Memphis Basketball Commitments 2015 Memphis Basketball Commits ESPN 18th 17th 14th 12th 2015-10-13 yes Roster 2015 Memphis Tigers #0C1C8C #FFFFFF #8E9295 #0C1C8C Trahson Burrell y 0 F 6 7 187 Sr Albany, New York Dedric Lawson y 1 F 6 9 228 Fr Memphis, Tennessee Shaq Goodwin y 2 F 6 9 229 Sr Atlanta, Georgia Avery Woodson 3 G 6 2 189 Jr Waynesboro, Mississippi Dante Scott 4 G 6 4 210 Fr Smyrna, Georgia W Markel Crawford y 5 G 6 5 205 So yes Memphis, Tennessee Jeremiah Martin y 10 G 6 2 179 Fr Memphis, Tennessee Randall Broddie 11 G 6 3 170 Fr Oxon Hill, Maryland Craig Randall II y 12 G 6 4 173 Fr Phoenix, Arizona K. J. Lawson y 14 F/G 6 7 204 Fr Memphis, Tennessee Kedren Johnson 15 G 6 4 210 Sr Lewisburg, Tennessee Ricky Tarrant 20 G 6 2 184 Sr Pleasant Grove, Alabama Nick Marshall 30 F 6 11 248 Fr Lexington, Tennessee Sam Craft 23 G 6 0 210 Jr Memphis, Tennessee W Caleb Wallingford 32 G/F 6 5 214 Sr Elkhorn, Nebraska W Jake McDowell 42 F/G 6 5 210 Jr Memphis, Tennessee W Josh Pastner (Arizona) Robert Kirby (University of Texas–Pan American) Keelon Lawson (Union University) Damon Stoudamire (Arizona) http://www.gotigersgo.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball 11/6/2015 Season summary On July 7, 2015, rising junior Austin Nichols announced his intention to transfer from Memphis. Nichols, who the leading scorer and rebounder for the Tigers in 2014-15, was expected to lead the team in 2015-16 and was considered a likely first team all AAC player. Memphis initially denied Nichols' transfer request before later providing a release with restrictions. Nichols' attorney made a public statement after the restrictions were made public calling the restrictions a "calculated effort by a dysfunctional staff to punish a player for taking a step to remove himself from a failing program."http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/14/report-austin-nichols-hires-lawyer-don-jackson-to-fight-transfer-restrictions/ Austin Nichols' lawyer on transfer restrictions: 'This is a calculated effort by a dysfunctional staff to punish a player' 14 July 2015 Nichols' announcement followed the departure of 5 other scholarship players to transfer since August 2014, including Dominic Woodson, Dominic Magee, Kuran Iverson, Nick King, and Pookie Powell. It also left Markel Crawford as the only remaining scholarship player from the Tigers' heralded 2013 recruiting class. The restrictions on Nichols' release were swiftly removed by Memphis Athletic Director Tom Bowen, and Nichols ultimately transferred to the University of Virginia (a team originally on the restricted list). On December 2, 2015, Coach Pastner informed media that freshman guard Raquan Mitchell, who had not logged a minute of floor time with the Tigers, would be transferring at the end of the semester. In January, guard Sam Craft joined the basketball team. Craft, a running back and wide receiver for the Memphis football team, had been forbidden from playing basketball by former Memphis football coach Justin Fuente. However, new football coach Mike Norvell lifted the restriction and permitted Craft to play basketball. After a home loss to AAC last place team East Carolina in January, Memphis newspaper columnist Geoff Calkins declared the Josh Pastner era "over" in Memphis.http://www.commercialappeal.com/columnists/geoff-calkins/for-pastner-loss-to-ecu-was-the-beginning-of-the-end-2a309de2-c72a-6c9e-e053-0100007fbb10-366498691.html For Pastner, loss to ECU was the beginning of the end The Tigers suffered a 20-point home loss to UConn on February 4, 2016, which marked the worst home loss for the Tigers since February 1999. During the season, attendance at the FedEx Forum for Tigers' games dropped significantly from prior years. The Commercial Appeal discovered via a FOIA request that the actual turnstile attendance at Tiger games had fallen below 6,000 by mid February.http://www.commercialappeal.com/sports/tigers/basketball/tigers-get-6374-in-turnstile-count-vs-ucf-2bfffe9e-e668-195b-e053-0100007fb08c-369212201.html Tigers get 6,374 in turnstile count vs. UCF The Tigers had previously not announced turnstile attendance figures but rather used tickets sold as official attendance numbers. The turnstile attendance became an issue of interest in the City of Memphis for the Tigers' last three home games of the year because the Tigers' facility usage agreement with the Memphis Grizzlies specified that the Tigers receive an annual payment from the NBA franchise if their turnstile attendance averaged over 6,000 for the year. The Tigers ultimately did achieve an average turnstile attendance figure above 6,000 for the year. Upon losing to Temple on March 3, the Tigers clinched a losing record in conference for the first time in 16 years. The Tigers were a six seed in the AAC tournament, but they defeated each of their first two tournament opponents (3 seed Tulsa and 10 seed Tulane) by at least 20 points. The Tigers faced 5 seed UConn in the AAC Tournament championship but were soundly defeated. Head coach Josh Pastner left Memphis to take the head coaching job at Georgia Tech on April 8, 2016. Schedule yes |- !colspan=9 style="Memphis Tigers"| Exhibition 11/06/2015 8:00 pm yes LeMoyne–Owen FedEx Forum Memphis, TN 107–88   |- !colspan=9 style="Memphis Tigers"| Regular season 11/14/2015 7:00 pm yes Southern Miss FedEx Forum Memphis, TN ESPN3 67–49 1–0 11,786 11/17/2015 4:00 pm yes Oklahoma 8 FedEx Forum Memphis, TN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon ESPN 78–84 1–1 12,688 11/19/2015 7:00 pm yes Grambling State FedEx Forum Memphis, TN Hoophall Miami Invitational ESPN3 83–65 2–1 11,286 11/23/2015 7:30 pm yes Texas–Arlington FedEx Forum Memphis, TN Hoophall Miami Invitational ESPNews 64–68 2–2 11,184 11/27/2015 6:30 pm yes yes Ohio State American Airlines Arena Miami, FL Hoophall Miami Invitational ESPN 81–76 OT 3–2 10,023 12/01/2015 8:00 pm yes Louisiana Tech FedEx Forum Memphis, TN Hoophall Miami Invitational CBSSN 94–68 4–2 11,114 12/05/2015 6:00 pm yes Southeast Missouri State FedEx Forum Memphis, TN CBSSN 80–65 5–2 11,453 12/12/2015 7:00 pm yes Manhattan FedEx Forum Memphis, TN ESPN3 89–57 6–2 11,458 12/15/2015 7:00 pm yes Southern FedEx Forum Memphis, TN ESPN3 72–67 7–2 10,752 12/18/2015 7:00 pm yes Ole Miss FedEx Forum Memphis, TN ESPNews 79–85 7–3 14,529 12/22/2015 7:00 pm yes IUPUI FedEx Forum Memphis, TN ESPN3 84–48 8–3 10,655 12/29/2015 11:00 am Tulane FedEx Forum Memphis, TN ESPNU 77–65 9–3 1–0 10,721 01/02/2016 5:00 pm yes yes South Carolina 24 Colonial Life Arena Columbia, SC ESPNU 76–86 9–4 13,035 01/05/2016 7:00 pm yes Nicholls State FedEx Forum Memphis, TN ESPN3 82–46 10–4 10,290 01/09/2016 6:00 pm yes UConn 23 Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT ESPN2 78–81 10–5 1–1 9,409 01/13/2016 7:00 pm Temple FedEx Forum Memphis, TN CBSSN 67–65 11–5 2–1 12,247 01/16/2016 11:00 am South Florida FedEx Forum Memphis, TN CBSSN 71–56 12–5 3–1 11,681 01/21/2016 6:00 pm yes Cincinnati Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH ESPN2 72–76 12–6 3–2 10,320 01/24/2016 1:00 pm East Carolina FedEx Forum Memphis, TN CBSSN 83–84 12–7 3–3 11,165 01/26/2016 6:00 pm yes UCF CFE Arena Orlando, FL CBSSN 97–86 13–7 4–3 4,577 01/30/2016 7:00 pm yes SMU 13 Moody Coliseum Dallas, TX ESPNU 68–80 13–8 4–4 7,205 02/04/2016 8:00 pm UConn FedEx Forum Memphis, TN ESPN2 57–77 13–9 4–5 13,323 02/06/2016 11:00 am Cincinnati FedEx Forum Memphis, TN ESPN2 63–59 14–9 5–5 12,920 02/10/2016 6:00 pm yes Houston Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX ESPNU 90–98 14–10 5–6 4,060 02/13/2016 1:00 pm yes Tulane Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA CBSSN 87–94 OT 14–11 5–7 1,793 02/17/2016 6:00 pm UCF FedEx Forum Memphis, TN ESPNU 73–56 15–11 6–7 12,492 02/20/2016 10:00 am yes South Florida USF Sun Dome Tampa, FL ESPNU 71–80 15–12 6–8 3,840 02/25/2016 6:00 pm SMU 24 FedEx Forum Memphis, TN ESPN2 62–69 15–13 6–9 13,546 02/28/2016 3:00 pm Tulsa FedEx Forum Memphis, TN ESPNU 92–82 16–13 7–9 15,289 03/03/2016 6:00 pm yes Temple Liacouras Center Philadelphia, PA ESPNU 62–72 16–14 7–10 6,390 03/06/2016 3:00 pm yes East Carolina Williams Arena Greenville, NC CBSSN 83–53 17–14 8–10 4,487 |- !colspan=9 style="Memphis Tigers"| American Athletic Conference tournament 03/11/2016 8:00 pm yes Tulsa Amway Center Orlando, FL quarterfinals ESPNU 89–67   18–14 03/12/2016 6:30 pm yes Tulane Amway Center Orlando, FL semifinals ESPN2 74–54 7,465 19–14 03/13/2016 2:15 pm yes UConn Amway Center Orlando, FL championship ESPN 58–72 7,990 19–15 AP Poll Central Time Rankings 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings The Tigers were not ranked and did not receive any top 25 votes in either major poll during the 2015-16 season. References Memphis Category:Memphis Tigers men's basketball seasons Memphis Memphis Category:2010s in Memphis, Tennessee