Penny Hardaway—who was a star for the Memphis Tigers in the early 1990s—has never coached a single game at the collegiate level. But despite his lack of experience, the University of Memphis just tapped him to become their new head coach, according to ESPN. Memphis is expected to hold a press conference announcing Hardaway as their new coach on Tuesday.
Hardaway will replace Tubby Smith at Memphis. Smith spent two seasons guiding the Tigers, during which he won 19 and 21 games, respectively. But the Memphis program didn’t qualify for any postseason tournaments on Smith’s watch, and they also slipped off the national radar to a large degree due to their underwhelming level of success. Additionally, attendance was down, and the thought is that Hardaway should be able to breathe some life back into the Memphis program.
While Hardaway has never coached a college team before, he does have plenty of coaching experience at the lower levels under his belt. Hardaway has coached AAU basketball in the summertime since he was an NBA player, and he’s also enjoyed a ton of success at Memphis East High School. The Memphis East team won its third straight state title on Saturday. Memphis is hoping Hardaway will be able to leverage some of the relationships he has with local stars to help the recruiting process at Memphis.
Hardaway, now 46, was drafted third overall in the 1993 NBA Draft. He made four All-Star teams during his NBA career while playing for the Magic, Suns, Knicks, and Heat.
