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Twitter was on fire on Monday when the media learned that they would have limited access to the Memphis Tigers basketball program. This was unexpected and did not sit well with local Commercial Appeal writers.
The new policy was distributed to local media before coach Josh Pastner’s press conference Monday at the Tigers’ Finch Center practice facility.
Until further notice, Tigers practices are closed to the press with the exception of national television media airing Memphis games.
Media will have access to Pastner and players 48 hours prior to games for interviews.
The Tigers’ locker room at FedExForum, which had been open to the media after games, will be closed. Instead, Pastner and selected players will be brought to the FedExForum media room for interviews.
The timing of the implementation of the new policy is questionable, but apparently this has been in the works for a period of time.
“This was a policy that (athletic director Tom Bowen) instituted for football and he wanted to make sure that all sports abided by this policy,” Pastner said to the Commercial Appeal. “It was not decided before (the Battle 4 Atlantis) tournament, but it was something that we discussed, and of course I’m going to back (Bowen) and support him 100 percent.”
Since the change was applied after returning from the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, is the media being viewed as a distraction?
Memphis went into the tournament as a Top 25 team and came out with a 1-2 record and a lot of unanswered questions about the program.
Patosha Jeffery is the Memphis Tigers Featured Columnist at Rant Sports. Be sure to follow her on Twitter: @patoshajeffery and add her Google + to your circles for all of her latest articles and thoughts.
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