Talent was on the court for Memphis in 1984–85.

Memphis Disney has no plans to produce a film on the Memphis State Tigers of 1984–1985. The only other team in program history to make it to the Final Four was the basketball team led by coach Dana Kirk, who finished 31-4. A squad led by power center Keith Lee, the program’s all-time leading scorer and a first-team All-America selection, defeated rival Louisville three times en route to the national semifinals, when it served as the antagonist in Villanova’s eventual Cinderella tale and emerged victorious. However, the legacy of that legendary squad is still an odd mixture of remorse and pride thirty years later.

Lee’s supporting cast was a quintet of locally produced players that made the team as distinctly Memphis as any before or since. Mitchell High School alum Andre Turner (then and now, the “Little General”) played point guard and was on his way to setting a Tiger record for assists (763) that stands to this day. Fellow junior Baskerville Holmes was a high jump champion at Westwood High School and is a fixture on history’s All-Name team. Sophomore William Bedford (Melrose) combined with Lee for a twin-tower presence down low. Freshmen Vincent Askew (Frayser) and Dwight Boyd (Kirby) received steady minutes from Kirk, filling voids left by the departed Bobby Parks and Phillip “Doom” Haynes. The Tigers were established national contenders, having reached the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 each of the previous three seasons.