In a stunning announcement, Memphis coach Tic Price resigned on Nov. 15, one week before the season began. Athletic director R.C. Johnson acted swiftly, accepting Price's resignation and appointing former assistant Johnny Jones as the intermim head coach. Johnson's search for a permanent replacement won't end until after the season.

Price made a serious blunder with the positioning of his best player, power forward Omar Sneed, who never really was the same player after an abortive attempt to use him as a small forward.

Blue Ribbon Analysis

BACKCOURT B- BENCH/DEPTH C+ FRONTCOURT C INTANGIBLES C What happens to the program now that coach Tic Price has resigned? Johnny Jones, a career assistant and Price's former top aide, will serve as interim coach. Jones promises not to change much of Price's philosophy (how could he after taking over just a week before the season?) but the program is bound to be rocked by Price's departure. Memphis fans can only hope the Tigers will rally around Jones. The program had already taken a downturn last season. Another off year could be troublesome, particularly if the program continues to let its recruiting dominance in Memphis slip.

There were other factors in last year's collapse, notably the me-first performance of guard Jimmie "Snap" Hunter, who in some ways was everything he was supposed to be. In other ways, Hunter was everything those who knew his game feared he would become.

Sneed also never really was the same player after Hunter arrived, because he did not get the ball nearly as often, and a post scorer has to touch the ball if he is going to do much. He had a 20-shot game and scored 28 points in the Tigers' stirring overtime victory against Mississippi, a team that reached the NCAA Tournament. He had 12 shots and 16 points when the Tigers ended their season with an overtime loss to South Florida.

So what does all this mean to the Tigers on the eve of the millennium?

Well, Hunter is gone because of an eligibility problem. He had some ridiculous games while he played for Memphis, including a 29-point effort against UAB and another for 35 against Saint Louis. He also played irresponsibly almost the entire time he was in uniform.

We would be comfortable suggesting this is an automatic addition-by-subtraction situation, were it not for the fact we thought the same when point guard Detric Golden became ineligible last season. That didn't work out so well. This has a better chance to turn out, because there's a player to take Hunter's minutes who not only is extremely talented, but also more committed to playing the game properly.

Marcus Moody (12.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 65 assists, 50 steals, 11 blocked shots, .421 FG, .328 3 PT) is a 6-5, 182-pound shooting guard with ballhandling and creative skills who was, perhaps, the only consistent player in the entire Memphis operation last season.

Of his 24 games, he failed to reach double figures in only five. Obviously, Moody needs to be more consistent with his jumper, but it's possible he will become more judicious about his selection now that he doesn't have to compete with Hunter for shots. He also injured his knee last season and missed several games, and that affected him somewhat.

In the pre-conference games in which he played, Moody tried 4.8 three-point shots per game and made .390 percent. In the latter part of the season, after he was hurt in mid-December, he shot 5.6 times per game from three-point range and hit just .298 percent. He was favoring the knee, doing what felt comfortable rather than playing his real game.

Alongside Moody at the point will be 5-10 senior Keiron Shine (5.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg), who struggled in his first season after transferring from Okaloosa-Walton (Fla.) Community College He was expected to deliver speed and playmaking to the Tigers. Instead, he passed for only 49 assists against 54 turnovers9even with a target like Sneed inside.

Although he has excellent quickness, Shine never really pushed the ball on the break like Price expected. Shine had trouble holding his job over freshman Dinno Daniels, but Daniels has left the program to deal with personal concerns.

The safety net again is a freshman, 6-3 Courtney Trask of Parkview Baptist High in Baton Rouge, La.

Trask is a legitimate alternative if Shine doesn't get it done again. His Parkview team was one of the best in the nation his junior season. He was all-state as a senior, averaging 26.0 points, 12.0 assists and 8.0 rebounds to be voted the state's 3-A Player of the Year.

He is an excellent shooter and has a significant size advantage over Shine. The job could be his before long.

As the Memphis squad thins out, 6-4 junior Shryone Chatman (3.8 ppg, 1.6 rpg) becomes more valuable in reserve. Chatman can play three positions and is a good player to have around as long as no one is pretending he is a first-line guy.

Memphis tried that some in his first two seasons. He started seven games last year, partly because of Moody's injury, but he shot only .294 from the field and .232 from three-point range.

Chatman has to get his minutes in smaller doses, which is what happened once Hunter arrived last year. And when he does play, he has to be more careful about shooting. He has to be content to defend and make smart plays or his value disappears.

Senior shooting guard Aaron Mulvagh's recruitment remains a mystery to all. He was a virtual unknown when the Tigers signed him out of junior college, and he was used pretty much like a walk-on in his first season. Mulvagh, 6-6, played only six games and shot only three times to average 0.7 ppg and 0.8 rpg. It's unlikely his role will grow much.

The Tigers could have a wonderfully athletic and deep frontcourt, but nearly every player involved has much to prove as a Division I player. The closest thing to an established commodity is 6-9, 242-pound junior center James Harris, who was a reasonably effective -- surprisingly so -- backup big man last season.

He is not someone who could replace a starter for an extended period, but he rarely attempts to do something that is outside his range of skills and he is willing to use his body to accomplish what he can. He averaged only 1.2 ppg and 1.5 rpg, but the Tigers would be happy again to get a half-dozen minutes per game from him.

They need much more from the starter in the middle, 6-10, 213-pound sophomore Kelly Wise (6.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 48 blocked shots). Every coach in the league is intrigued by his potential.

He is long, quick and agile and is only beginning to learn what he can do offensively on the block.

As a freshman, Wise was all over the block (figuratively), in part because his minutes were so inconsistent. He would go stretches where he would play 17, 19, 29 and 14 minutes, then a stretch of four more games in which he would get only 16 minutes combined. Given how then-senior Jermaine Ousley failed to compete in his final year, Price probably should have dumped Ousley and tolerated whatever mistakes Wise made in order that he could gain some experience.

He ended up averaging an impressive 1.8 blocks per game, but there is concern about whether he will make the progress Memphis needs from him. Wise reportedly did not have the same dedication to conditioning work over the summer as some of his teammates.

Of course. Paris London. If you haven't heard that name, well, where have you been? If you haven't seen him play, all the better. Because if you've seen him, you've most likely seen him at less than his best, which has been most of the time.

In his first year with the Tigers, the 6-8, 255-pound sophomore power forward averaged 5.0 ppg and 2.6 rpg, which is almost tragic, given his physical ability. At the close of last season, he still had no idea of how to play the game. He made some fundamental mistakes in the final regular-season game that would not have been tolerable for a high school sophomore.

Part of the problem is that he spent too much of his time as a younger player trying to prove he could be a small forward, which he never really did. He is not a shooter (at least he only tried two three-point shots as a freshman), but he can be an amazing scorer inside. He's got quickness and the innate ability to finish.

A challenger for playing time at both inside positions is 6-9, 220-pound junior Shamel Jones (5.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 24 steals, 22 blocked shots), who played 18 minutes a game in his first season after transferring from Georgetown. He started 15 times, but there never was any certainty what he'd produce.

Part of the problem is that he played too many positions. Jones is adept enough as a shooter and ballhandler to play small forward, but that kept him from being effective in any one spot. He will play more often inside this year and could beat out London if the latter fails to improve.

Memphis' other freshman recruit was 6-11, 205-pound center Earl Barron of Clarksdale (Miss.) High, who averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds in his senior year, but is considered to be at least a year from making a contribution.

The player who could make Memphis better than expected is 6-6, 215-pound junior forward Shannon Forman. He signed with the Tigers out of high school, but did not qualify. Forman spent two years at Northwest Mississippi Community College, where he averaged 16.1 points and 9.0 rebounds and shot .511 from the floor as a sophomore.

He will work the baseline relentlessly and does not have the same thirst for glamour as so many at his position.

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