Memphis basketball player Penny Hardaway makes another drastic decision in the offseason

Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway has developed a tendency over the decades to do things a certain way — his way.

If a player or coach wasn’t in the program, they soon won’t be in The Program. Hardaway made a difficult path through college, carved out a unique brand for himself in the NBA, and then turned to coaching. Now the Memphis Tigers will be looking for a completely new staff behind the university’s most famous graduates at the worst possible time.

Replacing eight coaches, which is now a coincidence, according to Jason Munz of The Commercial Appeal , in an offseason is quite the transformation. Firing them sporadically throughout the summer and into September is unprecedented. Hardaway recently won a conference championship (2023) and has been winning recruiting wars, so it’s hard to argue with the Hall of Famer. Still, it’s hard to ignore the list of coaches who are leaving.

• Faragi Phillips (Head Coach Advisor)
• Jamie Rosser (Director of Player Development)
• Andy Borman (assistant coach)
• Jermaine Johnson (Director of Analytics)
• Darby Rich (Strength Trainer)
• Garrett Kelly (Director of Basketball Operations)
• Andy Pennington (Director of Analytics)
• Jeremy Kipness

Hardaway’s record of success is also hard to ignore. The 52-year-old has caught on quickly. In five seasons, he’s led the Tigers to a 110-52 record, five consecutive 20-win seasons, an NIT championship in 2021, an AAC tournament championship in 2023 and two trips to the NCAA Tournament (2022, 2023). Memphis basketball went 22-10 last season and has multiple March Madness appearances under his watch. Unfortunately, the Tigers were 7-8 in the final stretch.

The Tigers had no chance of making the postseason, and Hardaway was robbed of millions.

Memphis basketball is growing organizationally

Boosters in the mid-major leagues can only afford so many luxuries and compete in the ever-changing NIL markets. Hardaway needs to prepare this next coaching staff well so that preparation for the toughest non-conference slate in decades is not disrupted. Relationships are also important, even for someone with a million-dollar smile like Penny. Johnson, Phillips and Rosser all hailed from Memphis. Ragi Phillips (son) is currently off scholarship.

The moves come after other recent organizational changes. Memphis just hired athletic director Ed Scott, who almost immediately hired Tim Duncan as senior associate AD and athletic administrator for men’s basketball. Hardaway returns with just one scholarship player (forward Nicholas Jourdain). He welcomed 10 new scholarship players.

Fans won’t see many familiar faces when the Tigers open the regular season on Nov. 4 against Missouri at the FedExForum. Then, they’ll travel to the beaches of Hawaii for the Maui Invitational. First up is UConn, followed by Colorado or Tim Izzo’s Michigan State. The interstate trip to face Mississippi State will also be a big factor in the tournament selection process.

Will Hardaway be ready? Or will Memphis basketball finally collapse amidst the chaos? It wouldn’t be surprising if the odds on a loss began to fall before conference play began. That’s when the headlines would begin to ask whether Hardaway’s job was in jeopardy, given all the internal chaos. More external noise is not what this program needs amid all the other shuffling.