How Scott Drew, Baylor could have answer to Penny Hardaway's Memphis basketball problem

Scott Drew, perhaps for karma’s sake, mentioned the record in his opening statement Friday at FedExForum.

No. 3 seed Baylor had just overwhelmed No. 14 seed Colgate by scoring more points than any Bears team had in an NCAA tournament game. But after 21 years at Baylor, Drew knew well about the many bounces a basketball can take on a coach.

“Hopefully we saved a couple of made 3s for the next game,” he said after the 92-67 win was over, and it all seemed matter-of-fact because that’s exactly how it is now for this Big 12 juggernaut.

Baylor (24-10) is the only team in the country to be a top-three seed in each of the past four tournaments, and one of four teams to win at least one game in March Madness during that time. It won a national championship in 2021, went to two more Elite Eights a decade ago, and advanced to at least the Sweet 16 eight times — all under Drew, with a consistency reminiscent of Memphis basketball’s glory days.

But there was a point in time when the third-longest tenured coach at a power conference school didn't seem so comfortable at Baylor. There’s even an alternate universe in which he could have replaced John Calipari at Memphis 15 years ago, and maybe all of that can be instructive to the crossroads in which Penny Hardaway finds himself this offseason.

The NCAA tournament is back in Memphis for the first time since 2017, and the highest-seeded teams here — No. 1 seed Houston, Baylor and No. 6 seed Clemson — each features coaches with longevity who had to overcome some version of what Hardaway is going through after the Tigers’ unceremonious end to this season.

Drew was once questioned for being merely a great recruiter who couldn’t get Baylor over the hump despite its considerable talent. Houston’s Kelvin Sampson had to overcome NCAA violations that cost him his job at Indiana. Brad Brownell has spent 14 years at Clemson, despite several seasons in which his future seemed in jeopardy.

They each had to confront those doubts to last this long. Drew did it emphatically by winning that national championship. Sampson did so by rebuilding his reputation at Houston, creating a national power out of the American Athletic Conference and cementing that legacy by winning the Big 12 regular-season title in the program’s first year in the league. Brownell has survived more than thrived, with a well-timed Sweet 16 run in 2018 and this NCAA tournament appearance right as his critics appeared ready to swarm.

So what will Hardaway’s answer be? It’s the question that lingers for everyone in Memphis as the city plays host to March Madness in the aftermath of a Tigers season that went from so promising to so disappointing so quickly. Hardaway, at least this offseason, seems to be dealing with issues that encompass all three of the coaches referenced above, and the full picture might be his biggest problem of all.

Hardaway has faced concerns about whether he can get Memphis into the second weekend of the NCAA tournament and into the national conversation in March as he promised six years ago when he got the job. He has faced scrutiny from the NCAA; now he is facing scrutiny from the university about a potential academic misconduct situation involving veteran Malcolm Dandridge.

And after the way his most recent team fell short of Selection Sunday, Hardaway is approaching an offseason in which he must rebuild his roster under more pressure than ever to get back to the NCAA tournament.

But if there’s a lesson to be taken from what’s happening at FedExForum, and what these other coaches have gone through, it’s that maybe we assume too quickly that the story is written.

Hardaway can still prove he’s not what some assume. He can still recover. Just as Drew has, and Sampson, and to a certain extent Brownell. This isn’t just about an administration’s patience. This is about adapting, about realizing that almost every successful coach can’t become one without overcoming roadblocks.

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So one day after Calipari’s freshman-heavy roster construction at Kentucky came under fire after another deflating upset, and one week after Hardaway’s transfer-heavy approach at Memphis completely imploded, the balance of those who played for Drew on Friday was striking.

Two potential NBA draft lottery picks. One graduate transfer on his third school. One multiyear transfer in his final season of eligibility. One multiyear transfer with another season of eligibility left and one sophomore who began his college career at Baylor.

“I don't think we have a set number like we're going to take this many transfers,” Drew said. “There's teams out there, you take too many transfers, it doesn't work. You take too many freshmen, it doesn't work. There's only 68 teams in the tournament. A lot more don't work than do work just numerically.”

The task of making those numbers work again for Hardaway is already underway. The answer is still unclear. But like the coaches here in Memphis right now, he needs one at the right moment.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on X: @mgiannotto

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: March Madness: Scott Drew, Baylor might have answer for Penny Hardaway