Rick Pitino appears to be getting his way.
Memphis and the Big East are negotiating to make the Tigers an all-sports member of the league beginning in 2013, Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com reported.
“Memphis would be an awesome addition,” Pitino, the Louisville basketball coach, told SNY.tv last fall, referring to their basketball program.
Memphis would come aboard with fellow all-sports members SMU, Houston and UCF beginning in 2013. Boise State and San Diego State will also join then as football-only members, with Navy coming aboard in 2015 for football only.
From a basketball perspective, Memphis could help offset the losses of West Virginia, which could leave as early as this year depending on the outcome of lawsuits between the school and the conference, and Syracuse and Pittsburgh, which are headed to the ACC either this year or next even though the Big East says it will keep all teams to their 27-month exit timeline.
Pitino and Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey have both been in favor of adding Memphis for basketball, which would bring the league to 17 teams, depending on when West Virginia leaves.
“We must replace Syracuse, Pitt and West Virginia, if that’s the case, with Temple and Memphis,” Pitino said. “One Top 10 program, the other a Top 30 program that fit into everything we are all about.”
On the football front, Pitino said, ““Memphis has a lot of money behind them and they could build up their football program.”
Brey also supports the addition of Memphis for basketball.
“I want Memphis because we need basketball star power because we’ve lost some,” Brey told SNY.tv in the fall. “Memphis brings a basketball program, and we’ve just lost two horses. We need to be mindful of our basketball stuff. And I think Houston can give us a little bit. Memphis really gives you that star power.
“I like a Temple and a Memphis and a Houston because of their basketball. I don’t really care about their football.”
