Pressure's on in Memphis as Penny Hardaway seeks first taste of NCAA tournament success
In 2018, Penny Hardaway came home.
The Memphis basketball great who went on to NBA stardom alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Chris Rock returned to his alma mater to revive a dormant program craving the bygone success of the John Calipari era. Minus the NCAA sanctions, of course.
To some, Hardaway was the perfect fit. He embodied basketball cool — thanks in no small part to Nike and Lil' Penny — a trait that translated to success on the youth basketball circuit.
The 14-season NBA veteran who was destined for greatness before a knee injury stunted his trajectory transferred his basketball capital into a dominant head coaching run in the AAU and at Memphis East High School, where he developed a pipeline of elite talent. With Memphis floundering in 2018 to the tune of four straight NCAA tournament misses, the program parted with Tubby Smith and rolled the dice on bringing Hardaway home.
Four years later, that streak lives on, now extended to seven straight tourney-less seasons. There's no guarantee that it won't reach eight next week. The Tigers have played their way onto the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble, but an early AAC tournament exit and some bad breaks could open the door to more March disappointment for Penny's Tigers.
Pressure's on Penny, Tigers for NCAA success
Memphis started 2021-22 as it has every season since Hardaway's return — with high hopes. Hardaway again landed a blue-chip class, a consensus top-two unit headlined by five-star recruits Jalen Duren and Emoni Bates, who was crowned/burdened at 15 years old with LeBron James comparisons. The Tigers, fresh off an NIT championship and reloaded with top talent, started the season ranked No. 12 in the AP poll.
Two months into the season, three- and four-game losing streaks had Memphis off to a 9-8 start and booted from the polls. Attrition, including a back injury ailing Bates, threatened to further derail the season.
The question that's hounded Hardaway since his return to Memphis was amplified. Sure, he can recruit like Calipari. But can he actually coach with college basketball's best once the ball is tipped?
Penny Hardaway's answer to if he can get the job done at Memphis.
"Stop asking me stupid f***ing questions about if I feel like I can do something. If I had my roster like they did, then I feel like I can do whatever I want to do." pic.twitter.com/WA79u6Y7bc— Cassie Carlson (@CassieCarlsonTV) January 21, 2022
“I think the one thing I can say to this media, because this media gets kind of f***ed up sometimes when it comes to me," Hardaway said on Jan. 20 after a loss to SMU. "We don’t have our full roster. Y’all know we don’t have our full roster.
"Stop asking me stupid f***ing questions about if I feel like I can do something. If I had my roster like they did, then I feel like I could do whatever I wanna do. I’m coaching really hard, my boys are playing really hard. I’m not embarrassed about nothing."
A day later, Hardaway apologized. But his statement stood as a culmination of the frustrations not just from this season but from his entire tenure as Memphis' head coach.
Loaded Memphis classes not paying dividends
Hardaway's second season at Memphis started much like this one. He'd recruited a consensus No. 1 class headlined by five-star future NBA first-round picks James Wiseman and Precious Achiuwa. The Tigers were ranked No. 15 in the preseason AP poll, armed with plenty of upside thanks to its freshman class. Upside quickly spiraled into disappointment, primarily around Wiseman, who played just three games in Memphis after being declared ineligible by the NCAA.
By January, Memphis had dropped out of the top 25. COVID-19 canceled the NCAA tournament, but most projections had the 21-10 Tigers outside of the 68-team field. Last season saw more disappointment in a 16-8 regular season that finished without an NCAA bid before being salvaged with an NIT championship.
Is hiring a former player worth it for big programs?
So far, Hardaway's Memphis tenure serves as a cautionary tale against hiring a prominent former player to lead a program. These hires generate tremendous excitement for fan bases who would love nothing more than to watch a beloved former player carry their team to greatness from the bench. Often, they don't work out. When they don't, parting can be awkward, sometimes messy, with coaches staying longer than they likely would otherwise.
Ask North Carolina and Matt Doherty, who lasted three tumultuous seasons in Chapel Hill before making way for Roy Williams. Look to current-day Georgetown, which insists that it's standing by Patrick Ewing despite one winning season out of five and an 0-19 record in Big East play this season. Chris Mullin coached three losing seasons at St. John's before his first NCAA tournament berth in Year 4. He didn't coach another season, retiring in 2019, citing "personal loss" after his brother's death.
The jury remains out on Juwan Howard at Michigan. The same for Hubert Davis, who's in his first season as North Carolina's head coach as UNC continues to keep it in the family. Jon Scheyer, meanwhile, faces a daunting test next season replacing Mike Krzyzewski at Duke.
Time, however, is running short for Hardaway. Memphis certainly didn't envision the fourth year of his tenure sweating out the bubble for his NCAA tournament debut. But the arrow is pointing up.
Since Hardaway's F-bomb laden rant, the Tigers have reeled off 10 wins in 11 games, including a sweep of AAC regular-season champion Houston. They've moved from out of the tournament to likely in. They'd be wise to win their opening-round AAC tournament game on Friday, where they'll face the winner between USF and UCF. Another win in the semifinals wouldn't hurt.
Just getting to the NCAA tournament isn't likely to satisfy Tigers fans. Memphis hired Hardaway with hopes of deep tournament runs. A trip to the second weekend would go a long way in erasing the frustrations of the previous three seasons.
But first, they've got to get there.
