Penny Hardaway joined Dave Woloshin’s “Wolo & Friends” on Sports56 Friday morning to discuss a slew of topics, including the offseason, his roster and the upcoming schedule.
Hardaway has spoken a couple of times this offseason, but this is one of the first interviews he has done since wrapping up a 13-19 season. He talked a lot about last season’s struggles and how this offseason has been different.
He also made a point to address the three assistant coaches who left his staff at the end of the season. Hardaway said that while it appeared the three coaches were fired, all three decided to leave for different opportunities.
“Those guys weren’t fired,” Hardaway said. “They were guys who were already moving on. It looked like it was a firing, and I know it announces that, but those guys were moving on regardless.”
Hardaway said that Roy Rogers did him a favor by joining his staff for a year, while Jermaine Johnson and Mike Davis were ready for different opportunities.
Offseason/Roster
Hardaway talked at length about the offseason and the roster he’s assembling for next season.
The head coach said that he’s been working “non-stop” in the community to get people excited about the team and get more people to attend games. He also said he’s working with the school and community on ticket plans to implement next season.
Hardaway also said that he and his staff executed their plan better for roster construction and acknowledged that some of the problems last offseason were due to waiting on PJ Haggerty and Dan Diana.
“The reason we got into that situation is because I was waiting on Dain,” Hardaway said. “His waiver. We worked really hard with the compliance department to get Dain eligible, and it didn’t work. It really hurt my feelings, especially allowing these G-League guys to come back and to play after being in the G-League, and not letting Dain come back. And PJ, we had to wait to see what PJ Haggerty was going to do.”
Hardaway said that there was a “real purpose” in putting together next season’s roster, and they were able to bring in guys to play defined roles. Hardaway said that he and his staff identified who they wanted early, and there were able to land nearly all the players they wanted.
“We actually got everyone we wanted with the exception of maybe two guys,” Hardaway said.
The head coach added that he feels like he has more shooting on this year’s roster than he has had since coaching the team that featured Tyler Harris, Lester Quinones and Landers Nolley. Finally, Hardaway said that his plan is to add a big and keep the 15th spot open going into the season.
“That’s my plan, Dave, unless something sweet comes into play where we just can’t help but go ahead and do the deal. It’s going to take something, a very sweet deal, for us not to have 14. I think to get one more big is what we’re looking for, and that will get us to 14.”
College Basketball
While he mainly talked about Memphis and his upcoming team, Hardaway also answered questions about the changing landscape of college basketball and was asked about March Madness expansion.
“It’s such a great tournament,” Hardaway said. “I hate to mess with it, but since they’ve already made the changes, I think it will help the Power Five more. I don’t think it will help the mid-majors more. But, I mean, I’m happy if it helps the entire college experience for more teams to get in.”
While he doesn’t like the expansion, he does like the five-for-five plan the NCAA is pushing, and he said he thinks it will bring more stability to the sport. Woloshin also asked him what type of NIL budget it would take to win the American and be competitive in the NCAA Tournament, and Hardaway said that seven million is what would win the American, while $10 million is the type of budget a team would need to be a sweet 16 caliber team.
Scheduling
Hardaway also shared some news about his team’s non-conference schedule. The Tigers have yet to announce an early-season MTE, but Hardaway said that his team will return to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis.
“We’re going to the Bahamas,” Hardaway said. “It’s going to be us, Penn State, Wake Forest, and I don’t know what the other team is going to be.”
Depending on who the fourth team will be, Memphis will, potentially, have at least two more power conference opponents on a schedule that already features games against Baylor, Texas, Louisville and Vanderbilt. Hardaway also mentioned that the non-conference game against Dayton will be played at the United Center in Chicago.
The Tigers will face another tough non-conference schedule, but Hardaway insisted that he will continue to schedule tough opponents. While he will continue to put together impressive non-conference schedules, he stressed the importance of having a solid NIL budget to compete with the Power Four teams.
“From the second year on, I’ve just went after the heavy hitters. That’s why we really have to get to the 10 million. We have to get to the 10 million, or nine million, because it’s not just the conference. We know winning the conference is huge. We want to win conference championships. That’s what we’re about, but for us to beat the Power Fours, we have to play them. You’ve got play them and put a product on the floor. That’s why I’m always fighting for more because we don’t play a cupcake schedule.”
Full interview:
