With the University of Memphis students on fall break, coach John Calipari is using the opportunity to hold two-a-day practices today through Tuesday. (At least, that’s the schedule.)

The first of those is over, and Calipari appeared to be fairly happy with the team’s effort. He mentioned specifically that sophomore Antonio Anderson looked fantastic.

Freshman Pierre Niles sat out of the first practice with a knee injury, but it doesn’t appear to be serious. I was told he was held out mainly as a precautionary measure.

I can also report that Derrick Rose, the Tigers’ top recruiting target, watched practice and toured the Finch Center Saturday morning. Rose didn’t want to be interviewed, which has basically been the case for most of the recruiting process.

The fact that Rose didn’t want to talk continues the aura of mystery that has surrounded his recruitment. The consensus in college basketball has been that Memphis leads for Rose — and the fact he chose Memphis Madness for his official visit would seem to strengthen that viewpoint. But nobody really knows if Rose favors Memphis, Kansas, DePaul or Indiana, where his good friend Eric Gordon committed to on Friday.

Stay tuned.