Ferguson Named AAC Offensive Player of the Week

University of Memphis senior quarterback Riley Ferguson earned his fourth American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week award after throwing six touchdown passes in the Tigers’ 48-45 victory over UCLA Saturday, Sept. 16, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

One of Ferguson’s favorite targets in the win over UCLA was senior wide receiver Anthony Miller, who was named to the league’s weekly honor roll for his nine-catch, 185-yard and two-touchdown effort in the win.

Ferguson, who was also named the Walter Camp Award Offensive Player of the Week, went 23-of-38 for 398 yards and six touchdowns with one interception. The 398-yard game was his eighth 300-yard passing outing of his 15-game-old Memphis career and his six touchdown passes on Saturday tied his career best (vs. Bowling Green last year).

The 185-yard receiving game for Miller was his 12th career game with more than 100 receiving yards and ranks second in his career behind his school-record 250-yard receiving game against Tulsa last year.

Memphis plays its final non-conference game of the season Saturday, Sept. 23, hosting Southern Illinois in a 7 p.m. contest that will be televised on WMC in Memphis and on ESPN3.com.

– Don Wade

Boyd Maintains No Recusal Stand on Beale Matters

Memphis City Council chairman Berlin Boyd said after another conversation with council attorney Allan Wade Monday, Sept. 18, he is maintaining his stand that he has no conflict of interest in voting on Beale Street items that come before the city council and the task force.

Boyd’s business has a contract with the Beale Street Merchants Association.

“The council handles right-of-way issues. Beale Street is a right-of-way issue,” Boyd said Monday at the start of a meeting of the Beale Street Task Force he organized and chairs. “Therefore I don’t have to recuse myself from this task force, from chairing this task force. I know there have been a lot of questions. I just wanted to put that out there and move forward with the business ahead.”

Boyd established the task force to examine whether the entertainment district should continue a cover charge on Saturday nights in the spring and summer as a crowd-control measure.

His contract with the merchants association is to find sponsorships and advertising for events in the district that the merchants undertake.

Boyd said earlier that he meant to recuse himself from a council vote on some Beale Street funding two weeks ago but forgot. He is expected to amend the vote before the minutes of that council session are approved Tuesday to reflect a recusal.

Meanwhile, the task force, which includes Boyd, councilman Martavius Jones and citizens who are not council members, is considering recommendations to make in a report to the full council and will meet again Oct. 2.

Task force members indicated at Monday’s meeting that they continue to have different opinions about eliminating the Saturday night cover charge.

– Bill Dries

Chamber Taking Applications for Ascend Memphis Program

The Greater Memphis Chamber has opened the applications process for its Ascend Memphis Business Development Program’s second class, which will launch in 2018.

The Ascend Program, which launched last December, pairs members of the chamber’s Chairman’s Circle with small, local, minority or woman-owned businesses (members) for the purpose of growing their business. The pairs meet monthly for a year working toward taking the member businesses to the next level.

This program is part of a larger effort of the Supplier Diversity Collaborative, an initiative to grow minority- and women-owned businesses. The collaborative’s supplier diversity plan focuses on certification, connections and development.

The first class will wrap up this December, and the program will track the members’ progress for an additional year.

Applications are available at memphischamber.com, and the deadline to apply is Sept. 30. Companies do not have to be a chamber member to apply.

– Daily News staff

Memphis Hoops to Play New AAC Member Wichita State

The University of Memphis basketball team will tip off its American Athletic Conference schedule on the road Sunday, Dec. 31, against the Cincinnati Bearcats and will feature home games vs. Connecticut (Jan. 16), Cincinnati (Jan. 27) and new league member Wichita State (Feb. 6).

The conference also released the Tigers’ national broadcast schedule for the season, which features 22 games on the ESPN family of networks and eight games on CBS Sports Network. Included in the non-conference TV schedule is an ESPN2 game against Louisville, and CBS Sports Network games against Alabama and LSU.

With Cincinnati’s home court currently under construction, the Dec. 31 game will be played on the campus of Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Kentucky.

The Tigers host back-to-back conference games three times during the season, the first pair coming on Jan. 6 and 9. Jan. 6 brings Tulsa to FedExForum, while Tulane visits on Jan. 9. Three of Memphis’ last four games are at home, with Senior Day on March 4 vs. East Carolina.

The team has also announced its exhibition game against LeMoyne-Owen on Nov. 2 at FedExForum. The regular season opens Nov. 10, with Memphis facing off against Alabama in Annapolis, Maryland, as part of the Veterans Classic.

– Don Wade

UTHSC Professor Awarded Special Designation

Dr. Thaddeus Wilson, a faculty member at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, has been elected a fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. Wilson is an associate professor in the radiology and pharmaceutical sciences departments of UTHSC’s Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy.

The fellow designation honors members who have distinguished themselves by their contributions in research, education or leadership in the medical physics community.

Wilson earned his Ph.D. in 2000 from the University of Wisconsin. Shortly after that, he took his current position at UTHSC. As a part of his duties, he teaches residents, as well as medical, pharmacy and graduate engineering students, the physics principles of diagnostic imaging.

Wilson performs clinical physics at two affiliate hospitals to support advanced imaging and radiation safety, acting as radiation safety officer at one of them. He has also twice served as the UTHSC faculty senate president and on the board of trustees for the University of Tennessee system.

– Andy Meek

Poplar-East Parkway Gets Updated Traffic Signal

The city of Memphis Division of Engineering has reconstructed the traffic signal at the intersection of Poplar Avenue and East Parkway, with the new signal now in operation.

The new signal includes a protected left turn with a green arrow for all approaches. Previously, turning traffic had to wait in the middle of the intersection before turning. Drivers are now advised to completely clear the intersection once the green arrow appears instead of stopping in the middle of the intersection.

– Andy Meek

Paint Memphis Plans Largest Collaborative Mural in Tennessee

Paint Memphis is planning to paint the largest collaborative mural in Tennessee during a one-day festival on Sept. 30 from noon to 6 p.m.

The festival, which is free and open to the public, will take place at South Willett Street and Lamar Avenue as well as Altown, the skate park at Roland Street and Evelyn Avenue.

Several internationally renowned artists will be on hand this year, including Yancy Villa-Calvo from Mexico City; Dustin Spagnola and Megan Kelly from Asheville, North Carolina; Lauren Asta from San Francisco, California; and WRDSMITH and Megzany, who are based out of Los Angeles, California.

Sushi Jimmi, CrepeMaker, MEMpopS and The TapBox will be on hand to provide food and beverages, while Zigadoo Moneyclips, Outer Ring and The St. George’s Modern Music Ensemble will provide live entertainment.

Founded in 2015, Paint Memphis is a nonprofit organization with the goal of bringing unconventional artists from around the world to Memphis to collaborate and expose the city to an often-belittled form of art, graffiti.

– Patrick Lantrip