<BillNo> <Sponsor>
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 416
By Lamar
SJR0416
007234
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A RESOLUTION to recognize and commend the University of
Memphis Athletic Department.
WHEREAS, the members of this General Assembly take great pleasure in recognizing
the University of Memphis (UM) Athletic Department, whose teams compete at the highest level
of athletic competition as a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I institution and a
charter member of the American Athletic Conference (AAC); and
WHEREAS, UM Athletics currently has nineteen intercollegiate sports teams, and since
joining the conference in 2013, has won thirteen AAC titles across all sports; and
WHEREAS, the 2024 Memphis Tigers football team, led by Coach Ryan Silverfield, won
its fifth consecutive bowl game and recorded back-to-back ten-win seasons for the first time in
program history; and
WHEREAS, the Memphis Tigers football team finished the season ranked No. 23 in the
Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the AP Poll, marking the first time since 2019 that the Tigers ranked
in either poll at season's end; and
WHEREAS, furthermore, the Tigers football team currently holds the longest active
streak in the nation for scoring twenty or more points in forty consecutive games; and
WHEREAS, Memphis football either ranked or received votes in the AP Poll for ten
weeks and the Coaches Poll for fourteen weeks during the 2024 season; and
WHEREAS, with eleven wins, Memphis football posted its first back-to-back double-digit-
win seasons in program history and was 21-5 overall for the past two seasons, the most wins
garnered in two years in Memphis's history; and
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WHEREAS, Coach Penny Hardaway was duly named the 2024–2025 Coach of the Year
by the AAC in recognition of his devoted instruction and success as the Head Basketball Coach
at the University of Memphis; and
WHEREAS, Coach Hardaway led the Tigers to a 26-5 overall record and a 16-2 mark in
conference play on the way to Memphis's first regular season championship in the AAC and an
AAC tournament championship as well; and
WHEREAS, the Memphis Tigers women's basketball team won its 425
th
game at Elma
Roane Fieldhouse on February 1, 2025; the team's lifetime record in the Fieldhouse is 426-222,
a winning percentage of .657; and
WHEREAS, the University of Memphis was one of two AAC programs to have three
1,000-point-scorers on its roster: Tilly Boler, DeeDee Hagemann, and Alasia Smith. All three
Tigers accomplished this feat during the 2024–2025 season; and
WHEREAS, the Memphis Tigers football and men's basketball teams were both ranked
in the AP Poll top twenty-five; seven Tiger football players earned First Team All-AAC honors,
and three received Third Team All-AAC honors; and
WHEREAS, the men's tennis team received an at-large bid to compete in the NCAA
Tournament; and
WHEREAS, for the third consecutive season, Memphis's women's soccer head coach
and staff were named the South Region Coaching Staff of the Year by United Soccer Coaches;
and
WHEREAS, both the Tigers men's and women's soccer teams won the AAC regular
season championship in 2024; and
WHEREAS, the University of Memphis student athletes are also successful
academically, with 94 percent of football players graduating and thirteen out of seventeen
athletic teams scoring a perfect 1000 single-year APR score; and
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WHEREAS, the perseverance, determination, work ethic, and talent of the University of
Memphis Athletic Department have not only made possible championship seasons but also
surely bode well for future successes; and
WHEREAS, the members of this General Assembly find it appropriate to acknowledge
and applaud the students, coaches, and staff of the University of Memphis Athletic Department;
now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, that we recognize and commend the students, coaches,
and staff of the University of Memphis Athletic Department and extend to them our best wishes
for future success and happiness.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that an appropriate copy of this resolution be prepared
for presentation with this final clause omitted from such copy and upon proper request made to
the appropriate clerk, the language appearing immediately following the State seal appear
without House or Senate designation.