Memphis to commission Larry Finch park, statue
One of the city’s most iconic sports figures will soon be immortalized with a park and a statue on the University of Memphis campus.
University of Memphis President M. David Rudd announced Wednesday that the school has formed a committee to create Larry Finch Memorial Park, which will feature a statue of the former Tigers’ basketball player and coach.
“The values Larry Finch lived were a model for us all, embracing the strength of diversity, the importance of unity in the face of adversity and the singular power of hope,” Rudd said in a statement.
The location of the park on campus is still undetermined, although Rudd hinted it will likely be on the school’s Park Avenue campus near the Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center. He estimated the cost of the project would be between $250,000 and $500,000.
“The successful business people in town are so appreciative of Larry, that when this project became known, if
Larry Finch knew how to “make it happen” for Memphis. It’s about time we repaid the favor. (Rudd) mentions this to 20 people, he probably will have 20 people say. ‘Let me help,’” said Harold Byrd, president of the Memphis Rebounders Club.
The idea to honor Finch with a memorial on campus has been talked about for years among the basketball program, but the most recent push came from Memphis Magazine writer Frank Murtaugh. Murtaugh contacted Byrd with the thought for the project around two weeks ago, asking him to help set up a meeting with Rudd for the proposal. Rudd agreed to meet with Byrd, Murtaugh and former Tigers’ player Herb Hilliard last week, and mentioned he had separately been thinking about constructing a memorial to Finch.
Rudd put the project into motion immediately, with both sides working to set up a committee. There is currently
no timetable for the park’s completion.
“The project is so timely and has the support of so many people, that it has moved much faster than anybody had originally thought,” Byrd said.
The 12-person committee commissioning the project includes four former Memphis players or coaches connected to Finch, and includes Hilliard and Byrd. The group will be tasked with determining what the park will look like, the location and the artist for the statue.
As a player, Finch led Memphis State to the 1973 Final Four and the Melrose High product later had his number retired by the university.
That team’s success, and Finch’s decision to stay home for college, is credited with helping to heal the city’s racial wounds in the aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968.
“The time is perfect for it,” said Cato Johnson, a member of the committee and the University of Memphis Board of Trustees. “Very few people have meant more to bring the community together in their sphere than Larry Finch.”
Finch later became the head coach at Memphis and took the Tigers to six NCAA Tournament appearances, including a run to the Elite Eight in 1992 with Penny Hardaway. Finch remains the school’s all-time winningest basketball coach. He died in 2011 at age 60. “Coach Finch was more than a coach,” Penny Hardaway said in a statement. “He was also a father figure. He helped me grow as a person and a basketball player.”