Memphis basketball: James Wiseman, a former Ensworth star, on Athlon magazine cover

James Wiseman, who played two seasons at Ensworth, two seasons at Memphis East and is now a freshman for the Memphis Tigers, is featured on the regional cover of Athlon's 2019-20 college basketball preview magazine.

The 7-foot-1 McDonald's All-American has expectations soaring for the Tigers, who went 22-14 last season and to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.

With Wiseman on board, Athlon, a Nashville-based magazine, predicts Memphis will advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament this season.

The decision to put Wiseman, Tennessee's Mr. Basketball Class AAA, on the cover of was an easy one, said Athlon executive editor Mitchell Light.

"Wiseman was arguably the best high school player in the country, and he is a huge part of the No. 1 recruiting class in the country," Light said. "He is a Nashville native but played his last few years in Memphis, and he is the player Tiger fans are most excited about."

Athlon's ranked Wiseman as the nation's 10th-best player and devoted two pages in the magazine to a question and answer feature with him.

Other players from Tennessee on the top 100 list included: No. 48 Precious Achiuwa also from Memphis, 56 Aaron Nesmith (Vanderbilt), 72 Josiah-Jordan James (Tennessee) and 92 Nick Muszynski (Belmont).

Another cover

Nesmith and Tennessee's Lamonte Turner are featured on another regional Athlon cover.

The magazine is not high on Tennessee or Vanderbilt this season. It picked UT to finish sixth in the SEC and Vanderbilt last, again.

Kentucky is first, Florida second, LSU third, Auburn fourth and Alabama fifth.

Athlon predicted Belmont will win the Ohio Valley Conference followed by Murray State and Austin Peay. Tennessee State is 11th and Tennessee Tech 12th.

Austin Peay's Terry Taylor joined Muszynski on the magazine's All-OVC first team. 

Lipscomb, which advanced to the NIT championship last season, is picked fifth in the Atlantic Sun and Middle Tennessee State is fourth in Conference USA.

MTSU's Antonio Green is on the All-Conference USA team.

Local athletes among Nashville's most beautiful

Speaking of magazines, Nashville Lifestyles placed Predators center Calle Jarnkrok and three other athletes on its annual "Most Beautiful People" list.

"If you're beautiful on the inside, it will show on the outside," Jarnkrok said. 

Also on the list is Vanderbilt backup quarterback Mo Hasan and former long snapper Andrew East along with Nashville Soccer Club forward Daniel Armando Ríos Calderón.

Preds' opener earns decent TV ratings

The Predators-Minnesota season-opening game on Oct. 3 was televised on NBCSN and earned a 2.6 local television rating.

That means 25,563 local households turned into the game at Bridgestone Arena that was won by the Predators 5-2.

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Titans rookies help build Habitat homes

The Titans rookie class joined the Habitat for Humanity's 2019 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project Tuesday in Nashville.

The project plans included building 21 new affordable homes.

Several Predators helped out on Monday along with country music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, and the Titans coaches' wives were there Wednesday.

"This is really all about giving back," said Titans receiver A.J. Brown. "Just coming out and being able to put smiles on people's faces means a lot to me."

Brown said his father taught him some building skills growing up in Starksville, Mississippi.

"My dad was really into everything and he kind of taught me the ins and outs of just being a man," Brown said. "I am here to help out as much as I can and any way I can."

► More:At 95, Jimmy Carter still keeps his faith in God, America and us | Opinion

Mt. Juliet star is Sun Belt's top athlete

Former Mt. Juliet basketball star Ronjanae DeGray, who was a senior last season at Arkansas Little Rock, was named the Sun Belt Conference's 2018-19 athlete of the year on Monday during the league's annual honors celebration event in New Orleans.

DeGray, the conference's co-player of the year, led the Trojans to a 21-11 record and the NCAA Tournament. She finished her career with 1,234 points and 589 rebounds.

Mullins inducted into hall of fame

Lipscomb volleyball great Ann Mullins, who is now the coach at Father Ryan, was inducted into the A-Sun Hall of Fame. 

Mullins, who transferred from Tennessee, became the first Lipscomb athlete to join the A-Sun Hall of Fame.

She was a three-year star. In her final season (2007) Mullins led the Bisons to a 20-12 record and their first conference championship.

Retired high school coach Jim Nollner dies

Longtime Nashville high school coach Jim Nollner died Wednesday. He was 77.

Nollner was a multi-sport star at East High who earned basketball and baseball scholarships to Belmont. 

He spent 47 years coaching basketball and track on the high school level most notably at North, Whites Creek and Antioch. He led Whites Creek to the basketball state tournament in 1993, 1998, 2006 and 2007 and Antioch in 2008.

Nollner was inducted into the Metro Nashville Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2014. 

Bishop joins Vandy athletics

Chad Bishop has joined Vanderbilt's sports information department as senior editor athletic communications.

Bishop previously worked at 247Sports covering Vanderbilt.

Before that he was at WBKO-TV in Bowling Green and before that at the Bowling Green Daily News.

Miss Tennessee stars in track movie 

The premier of the movie "The Perfect Race" starring Franklin High and Belmont graduate Allee-Sutton Hethcoat is Monday (7 p.m.) at the Regal Theater in Opry Mills.

Hethcoat was Miss Tennessee USA in 2017. She was a cheerleader and Miss Williamson County when she was in high school.

The feel-good movie, which is about a track team and was produced by local filmmaker Dave Christiano, is the sequel to his 2017 film "Remember The Goal," which was about soccer. 

It was filmed around Williamson County. Almost the entire cast is from Middle Tennessee, including Brittany Goodwin and Jonathan Everett, who are from Murfreesboro and play key supporting roles.

A meet-and-greet with Hethcoat will begin at 5:30 p.m. Tickets must be purchased in advance at christianfilms.com/perfect.php.

► More:Miss Williamson County targets acting, law and Miss Universe pageant

3 on 3 tournament coming to Franklin

A 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament sponsored by Upward Stars Nashville is set for Nov. 3 with the first tip-off at 1:30 p.m. Deadline to register is Oct. 30 and the age range for boys and girls is from third to eighth grades.

More the 1,000 participants are expected for the tournament at Alliance Training Center in Franklin. Each team is guaranteed at least four games.

Register at http://www.upwardstarsnash.com/home.php.

Overton and Tech star Tony Plavich dies

Tony Plavich, who played football and wrestled at Overton and went on to play football at Tennessee Tech, died Tuesday. He was 66.

After playing linebacker at Overton, Plavich moved to defensive tackle at Tennessee Tech where he made the All-OVC second team as a junior (1974) and first team as a senior. He also was named All-American honorable mention as a senior.

Plavich went on to become a high school football coach in Georgia. 

Openings available for Wayne Buckingham Golf Tourney

Wayne Buckingham’s Celebrity Golf Tournament is Oct.26 and there is still room for more teams. Buckingham is a former Cascade basketball standout who went on to play at Clemson (1992-94).

The Tournament is at the WillowBrook Golf Club in Manchester and there will be a meet-and-greet on Oct. 25. There will be putting and long ball contests.

Some of the celebrities playing include Anthony Miller, Craig Colquitt, Dewey Warren, Ben Davis, Bobby Scott and Jahidi White.

To register for the four-man scramble call 931-728-8989.

Sports on Nashville TV

The top five local ratings for sporting events from Sept. 30-Oct. 6:

1. NFL: Titans-Bills, 22.6

2. College football: Tennessee-Georgia, 13.1

3. NFL: Cowboys-Packers, 12.7 

4. College football: Auburn-Florida, 11.7 

5. NFL: Colts-Chiefs, 11.1 

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.