Former NBA star Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway was a surprise hire as the head coach of the Memphis Tigers basketball team in 2018, coming into a top NCAA program with no coaching experience outside of the high school level.
Four years in, Hardaway has landed a number of top recruits, but hasn’t produced the type of winning record one would expect considering the pedigree. Memphis won the NIT tournament in 2021, but hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament under Hardaway and has sputtered to a 9-8 record to start this season.
After losing yet again to SMU, 70-62, on Thursday night, Hardaway was asked if he thinks he can ever get the job done. His response was to launch into a minute-long tirade against the media.
“I think the one thing I can say to this media, because this media gets kind of f–ked up sometimes, when it comes to me – we don’t have our full roster,” Hardaway said. “Y’all know we don’t have our full roster. Stop asking me stupid f–king 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 want to do.
“I’m coaching really hard. My boys are playing really hard. I’m not embarassed about nothing. We have four freshmen starting. Y’all need to act like it. Act like we have 17 and 18-year olds trying to learn how to play against 22, 23 and 24-year-old guys. Stop disrespecting me, bro. Don’t do that. I work way too f–king hard.”
That would be all well and good if not for the fact that Hardaway has deliberately stacked his roster with top recruits. Hardaway landed both Emoni Bates and Jalen Duren, considered among the top recruits in the 2022 class, with the expectation that he could win right away – and likely lose them quickly to the NBA. (Bates, who is 17, is not eligible to be drafted until 2023.)
Bates has struggled, shooting 39 percent from the floor so far this season. Duren has played well, but like Bates has been forced to play huge minutes for his age. Memphis is currently missing DeAndre Williams, their leading scorer, but he has played in 12 games this season.
Memphis was pegged as not only a NCAA Tournament team, but as a potential championship contender, ranked No. 12 in the AP Top 25 before the season started. Now, they’re one game over .500 overall and 3-4 in the conference, with even the NIT seeming like a stretch.
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January 21, 2022 at 09:30PM
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Penny Hardaway fumes after Memphis loss: 'Stop asking me stupid f--king questions' - New York Post
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