MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis coach Penny Hardaway has a roster for his seventh season at his alma mater ready to test what is possible in the current landscape of college athletics.
Every one of his 15 Tigers are brand-new to Memphis as part of a complete overhaul after earning an NCAA Tournament berth last March. The roster lists one freshman, but Hardaway tapped both the transfer portal and NIL opportunities heavily to build this team.
The turnover not only presents a chemistry-building challenge for Hardaway but a regular test for the most devoted Memphis fans.
“You know that when you get a new team every year, it’s just very difficult,” Hardaway said. “It’s the main gripe that fans are having right now. They don’t know any of the players, and it’s a new team every year.”
Memphis went 29-6 winning both the American Conference regular-season title and conference tournament with the automatic NCAA Tournament slot. The Tigers lost their opener as a No. 5 seed.
None of those players are back for Hardaway this season. Hardaway found players in the portal from literally everywhere to help replace them.
Guard Quante Berry, from Cleveland, Tennessee, played at Temple. Dug McDaniel has ties to Michigan and Kansas State. Aaron Bradshaw had stops at Kentucky and Ohio State. Curtis Givens is back home in Memphis after a year at LSU, and Sincere Parker came from McNeese State.
Then there's Simon Majok from South Sudan, a 7-foot-1 center who last played in Serbia listed as that lone freshman.
“It’s just the times that we’re in,” Hardaway said of a team picked as the preseason favorite to repeat as American Conference champs.
His new roster also is a change from the Tigers' history largely tapping Memphis for players like Hardaway himself. Memphis also had Elliott Perry. Keith Lee came from just across the Mississippi River in Arkansas.
Larry Finch and Ronnie Robinson, who led the Tigers to their first national championship game in 1973 against Bill Walton and UCLA, had a major impact for local players willing to stay home and play for Memphis. That allowed fans to follow stars from high school to college in the same city.
“The fans, they have to get used to seeing new guys every year,” Hardaway said.
The former NBA star who still has his own signature Nike shoe has had success since replacing Tubby Smith in March 2018. He won an NIT title in 2021. There's two American championships plus that regular-season title. Three trips to the NCAA Tournament in the past five seasons.
Yet Memphis hasn't reached the second weekend under Hardaway, winning only one opener in 2022.
With all the new faces, Hardaway and his new Tigers have been busy not just building chemistry but creating it so each player knows where a teammate likes the ball for an assist or his favorite spot to launch shots. Hardaway and his Tigers agree that they keep working to be as cohesive as possible with the season opening Nov. 8 hosting San Francisco.
“It’s definitely been different because we have a whole new team, but I feel like we’re coming together," McDaniel said. “When it’s time to go to war, we’re gonna be ready.”
The 5-foot-11 McDaniel likes being a pass-first point guard, which is similar to how Hardaway played during his NBA career. “I feel like in terms of chemistry with me and him, it is pretty easy,” McDaniel said. “Like, it was there from day one, even on my visit.”
Bradshaw joined McDaniel on the conference's preseason team. He likes Hardaway's coaching.
“I’ve been really hard on myself about the details, and coach has been real hard on me about the details because the details are what makes the great players great,” Bradshaw said.
One thing helps fans connect to any program, and that’s winning. Another NCAA Tournament berth with a couple wins certainly would help. McDaniel said these Tigers have great rebounders, shooters and playmakers who mesh well.
“You put that on the court together, you make a great team,” McDaniel said.
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