The Memphis athletic department put out a press release earlier this afternoon that a “major press conference” will take place tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon at 3 p.m.

I’ve been making phone calls since then to see what I can find about the nature of this press conference. For some reason, Memphis people are being EXTREMELY tight-lipped about this thing (at the instruction of R.C. Johnson/Bob Winn) and information has been unusually hard to come by from people outside the athletic department who usually know about such things.

I hate giving partial news, and even at that, what I’ve discovered is pretty vague. I’m hearing from a couple people that the press conference is in regards to a major donation. By whom, how much and for what? I don’t know.

According to the press release, Memphis anticipates that the announcement “will receive national attention.” So what kind of donation would fall into that category? A former well-known player, perhaps? Penny Hardaway? Derrick Rose? Bill Laurie? Or on the football side, someone like Mike McKenzie, Isaac Bruce or DeAngelo Williams? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow afternoon. If I hear anything else, I’ll update the blog ASAP.