Everybody likes the idea of getting behind a winner. The harder part is showing up before winning becomes the expectation. Memphis women’s basketball has offered an invitation. Four games into Hana Haden’s first season, the Tigers are unbeaten.
Memphis Women Just Gave the City a Reason to Care. Will They Pay Attention?
Thursday, they erased a 20-point deficit and beat Alabama 75–70. It was the kind of result that should make somebody who has not been following this team stop scrolling for a minute. Not because four wins guarantee anything. Because a program trying to become relevant needs moments that give people a reason to look. Memphis just had one. What happens next belongs to more people than the coach.
Be Honest About What Came Before
There is no useful way to discuss Haden’s opportunity without acknowledging the program she inherited. Memphis went 30–61 in three seasons under Alex Simmons. The conference record was 18–36. The university changed leadership in March. Those are difficult numbers. They are also the numbers.
Fans do not need them softened, and the current staff does not need the previous one caricatured to make the new direction look promising. There were players worth keeping. There was work worth continuing. Some results demanded improvement. Haden inherited all of it.
That is what makes the contributions of returning players interesting. Daejah Richmond, Tamya Smith and Jordan Hunter did not arrive with the new coaching staff. They have been part of helping it establish a different beginning. A program can move forward without pretending everybody who was already in it had nothing to offer.
Learn the Names Before the Next Big Win
Richmond’s line against Alabama deserves a second look: 11 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and five steals. Smith scored 17. Tierney Kelsey supplied 13 off the bench, and Hunter hit the three that gave Memphis its first lead. Those are entry points for fans.
Learn who rebounds in traffic. Learn who wants the ball when the game tightens. Learn which substitute changes the pace when she checks in. That is how a team becomes more than a logo and a final score. It is also where coverage has a responsibility. If the only time the women appear prominently is after beating an SEC opponent, we should not be surprised when casual fans know little about them the rest of the season.
The solution is not pretending every game has identical stakes. It is treating the people playing them as worth following between the biggest nights. Thursday provided enough performances to start several conversations. There is no need to squeeze them all into one sentence about Haden’s record.
Attention Has to Become a Habit
It would be premature to say the city has rallied around this team. Four wins do not establish an attendance trend. One comeback does not prove donations or recruiting will improve. Those things have to happen before anybody writes them into the success story. What Memphis has right now is an opening.
The next home game is Thursday, Nov. 19, against South Alabama at 11 a.m. for Education Day. It will not carry the same name recognition as Alabama. That makes it a useful test of how this program is presented and followed.
Can the university make the players familiar? Can local coverage stay interested when there is no upset to promote? Can supporters find a connection that lasts beyond a particularly satisfying final score?
Haden has spoken about winning the conference tournament and reaching the NCAA Tournament, a stage Memphis has not reached since 1998. There is a long way between here and there. But waiting until a team arrives before deciding it deserves attention means missing much of what makes the journey worth watching. Memphis women have given people a reason to lean in. The next step is making sure we do not look away simply because the next opponent is less familiar.
