Maybe I’m too emotional but it occurred to me when I walked down the passageway yesterday that I was going to see my Tigers as the #1 team in the country. All our lives we’ve said, “We’re number 1.” We mostly meant conference champs at times. Sometimes it was just in our hearts. Then there were just after the good wins. But this time we are truly number one and I was going to get to watch them. You gotta admit you had a good smile about that.
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The Damon Stoudamire Buyout Saga is over.

The veteran point guard verbally accepted the Grizzlies’ latest proposal. He will be set free as soon as the Is are dotted and Ts are crossed on a legal document.

That could happen today but it is more likely to go down officially on Monday. I am told that the only way this doesn’t happen is if Stoudamire pulls out before he signs the paperwork.

That’s not going to happen. Both sides are happy mainly because the deal is less than what the Grizzlies wanted and more than what Stoudamire thought he’d have to pay.

The bottom line is that Stoudamire will be free to sign with the team of his choice after clearing waivers. And the Grizzlies can move on with their youth movement, having kept their word to help the 13-year veteran to a championship contender.

Stoudamire’s preference is to move to Boston. A person close to Stoudamire said he would choose Toronto (where his career began) over Phoenix as a second option.

The Griz, meanwhile, will likely look to add another point guard ASAP because rookie Mike Conley appears to be hurt badly after suffering a chest/rib injury Friday night at Washington.

Don’t expect Conley to play tonight. Don’t expect Stoudamire to play, either, although he will appear in FedExForum for the last time as a Grizzly.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Griz 7-footer Pau Gasol has been nursing a sore back lately, and he will rest it tonight when the Griz play the Washington Wizards. It must be painful because Gasol has rarely — if ever — sat out because of back soreness.

His goal is to be ready Saturday when the Griz host the Los Angeles Clippers in FedExForum.

Also, there is nothing new to report on Damon Stoudamire’s buyout situation. At least not at this very minute. I am told that both sides tried talking today. Stoudamire went about his daily routine, working out before the game and helping the youngsters, Mike Conley and Kyle Lowry prepare for the Wizards.

After getting home from Tulsa this afternoon, I caught this gem from the Birmingham News, where UAB coach Mike Davis provided me with several minutes of comedy as told to columnist Ray Melick.

Here’s the best part.

“2009 - that’s when we turn the corner,” Davis told the Birmingham Tip-Off Club on Monday. “Everybody wants to see Memphis. Why? Because they’ve got all those future NBA players. But we’re going to get the No.1 recruiting class in the nation. We’re going to get guys to see it’s OK to come play for UAB. That’s going to be exciting.”

One word comes to mind after reading that: LOL

The best recruiting class in the country? Better than North Carolina, who already has Dexter Strickland, the Wear twins and John Henson committed? Better than Georgetown, UCLA and Florida? Better than Memphis, who is strongly in contention with 8 of the top 30 players in the country? Call me cynical, but I just don’t see it. Clearly, Davis’ comments indicate that he thinks he’s got DeMarcus Cousins already wrapped up. Perhaps he does, though Cousins is enough of a knucklehead that even Memphis has pretty much backed off recruiting him in favor of other players.

Then again, this is the same Davis who couldn’t shut up last year about how good the Blazers would be this season only to see two of his best players be ruled academically ineligible, his starting point guard suffer a season-ending injury and one of his top recruits fail to pass the NCAA clearinghouse. You could call this bad luck, but really, it’s poor management of the program (aside from Paul Delaney’s injury, of course) and even worse management of expectations. But obviously, managing expectations isn’t something Davis is too concerned about.

The Tigers needed that.

A lot of national commentators think Memphis can just roll the ball out in a Conference USA game and chalk up a win regardless of the circumstances. Having been at all these games, I can assure you it’s never that easy. While it’s true that 5-6 teams in this league simply aren’t capable of putting up any resistence, the Tigers got challenged several times last year in league play (remember Southern Miss, UTEP, at Houston, etc.) and will get challenged several times again this season. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Sure, it’s fun to beat everybody by 30, as Memphis had done against the bottom-half programs like Marshall, Southern Miss, Rice and East Carolina. But it’s awful hard to learn from those games, awful hard to figure out how you’re going to function in a tighter game, awful hard to extend your starters like you need to do in the NCAA Tournament. That’s why games like last night are a valuable experience for the Tigers.

Having said that, nobody is going watch tape from last night and rave about the Tigers as a No. 1-ranked team. They probably took more bad shots last night than in any game this season, which helps account for the 8 airballs they shot. Robert Dozier and Joey Dorsey got nothing done offensively. Antonio Anderson wasn’t on his best stuff. Chris Douglas-Roberts was hot early, then completely disappeared for 20 minutes before coming back strong down the stretch. Derrick Rose was really good in stretches, but he didn’t take over the game when things got tight. Doneal Mack and Willie Kemp weren’t much of a factor off the bench. Andre Allen didn’t play one of his best games. And, of course, Shawn Taggart was the hero with 12 second-half points.

Defensively, the Tigers were good, though not as good as the numbers would indicate. Tulsa shot 30.9 percent, but they missed several wide-open 3-pointers and a couple layups early in the second half that could have changed the complexion of the game. Ben Uzoh, a really good scorer, had a bad night (3-for-9). And freshman Glenn Andrews, who had been shooting the ball exceptionally well, went 1-for-12. So the Tigers were a little bit lucky in that respect.

I am confident the Tigers will play better against Gonzaga, though it’s still a game they could lose. Gonzaga has a lot of talent, and they’re finally healthy enough to win a game like this.

When I used to think about Tulsa, I always thought of big evangelical mega-churches because they’re everywhere. Or maybe it’s just the Oral Roberts campus, where every building is colored gold. Either way, that’s what I thought. Until last night. Now, I think of Tulsa for cops. Seriously, I’ve never seen so many cops roaming the streets. And, of course, one of them pulled me over on the way to the hotel.

So when the cop comes up to my window, he tells me I made three mistakes. One, I changed lanes within 100 feet of an intersection. Two, I did not use a turn signal. Three, I was going 50 in a 40. So I give the officer my car rental agreement and drivers’ license, and he asks me what I’m doing in Tulsa. So I say to him, “I’m a sportswriter from Memphis, Tennessee, and I I’m here to cover a basketball game.” So he looks at my license for a few minutes, hands it back to me and says, “I hope you write better than you drive,” and walks off. Interesting stuff, isn’t it? Maybe this gig will pay off for me after all.

Anyway, while I was getting pulled over by cops, John Calipari had his own police escort to Oklahoma City to go see 2009 recruit Xavier Henry. Cal never misses an opportunity to go recruit, does he? Henry, the 6-6 guard for Putnam City High, is most definitely the prize of the 2009 class for Memphis. It will be a big fight between Memphis and Kansas for Henry, who is as close to a surefire pro as you can get for a high school junior.

Reynolds Center, meanwhile, is starting to fill up. The game has been sold out, and they released a couple hundred standing-room only tickets today, which I’m sure will be gone by tip-off. Last year, the Tigers didn’t draw that big of a crowd here. But it was also Valentine’s Day and snowing. It will be interesting to see how Tulsa tries to guard the Tigers. Doug Wojcik, who I think is an outstanding coach, is a man-to-man guy. Will he zone? Probably not much. Either way, Tulsa has done a great job guarding the Tigers the last two years, and I expect that to continue tonight. The question is, can Tulsa score? If they can, this could be a very interesting game. Officials for tonight are Mark Whitehead, Rick Crawford and John Hampton. Enjoy.

It’s a slow news day but there are numbers always crunching around Dunkyland. Here are a few tidbits to keep an eye on in the coming hours/days/weeks.

STOUDAMIRE UPDATE
I am told that the Damon Stoudamire buyout could happen at anytime, perhaps even before the Griz host the Orlando Magic tomorrow. The negotiations are affable given both sides are motivated to get this deal done.

It’s hard to say if the true numbers regarding the buyout will ever come out. I’m told that the Griz originally wanted 80 percent of Stoudamire’s expected salary for next season. Stoudamire’s representatives were expected to counter with an offer more in the 50/50 split range.

Stoudamire wants to join a championship contender and Boston is high on the list. Griz owner Michael Heisley insisted that he wants the 13-year veteran to land somewhere he can have a chance to get a ring.

GASOL QUESTIONABLE

Pau Gasol sat out of practice today with back trouble. He received treatment while the team worked out. The official team ruling on Gasol is that he is day-to-day with a sore back.

Knowing Gasol, he will play against the Magic because the back issues have never kept him out of action.

WOULD YOU VOTE FOR DICK HACKETT AGAIN?

Before we answer that question, I’m wondering if you miss the rash of Andy Dolich quotes/radio interviews since his “mutually agreed upon” split with the Grizzlies?

I digress.

Just putting two and two together: It appears that if former Memphis mayor Dick Hackett isn’t in line to replace Dolich as president of business operations, he is at least consulting Griz brass on the opening.

This much is true: Hackett has spent a lot of time talking to the Griz lately.

Hackett would be a curious choice he is indeed a serious candidate to build bridges between the Griz and the business community. After a 10-year stint running the city and losing to Mayor Herenton by fewer than 150 votes, Hackett has served as chief executive officer (CEO) of the Children’s Museum of Memphis and senior vice president at ALSAC — the fundraising arm of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Would you support Hackett again? Is he the right man to lead the Grizzlies forward?

Well, as Dolich would say: Hackett has this going for him: “He’s part of the DNA of the city.” But what, if anything, will it really mean?