Earlier this month, Penny Hardaway met with the media and said that he gave every player with remaining eligibility an opportunity to return to the team next season. It was reported last week that two are set to return, but on Saturday, it was reported that Aston Hardaway will enter the transfer portal.
The portal doesn’t open until April 7, but players across the country are announcing their intentions to enter, and it appears Hardaway will join the club.
Hardaway started his career at Memphis and averaged 2.3 points before entering the transfer portal and landing at Saint Mary’s. The forward averaged 9.6 minutes for the Gaels and 2.1 points per game, and he decided the enter the transfer portal for the second time following his sophomore season.
Hardaway returned for a second stint with the Tigers, and he averaged 5.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 25 games, including nine starts. The junior shot 34.3 percent from three-point range, a career-high, but he only averaged 2.7 attempts per game.
The junior scored double digits five times this season, and his season-high, 18 points, came in a 17-point road loss to Tulsa.
Hardaway didn’t play in the final five games of the season with a calf injury. This will be the third time in three seasons that the junior will enter the transfer portal.
Coach Hardaway said that he gave all eight players with remaining eligibility until Friday, March 20, to inform him of their decision to return, but there hasn’t been much public information about those decisions. Last week, it was reported that Julius Thedford and William Whorton are set to return next year, and with this news, five players have yet to make a public decision.
It’s likely that Coach Hardaway has a good idea about where the other five stand, and fans could be forced to wait another week before more decisions are made public when the transfer portal officially opens.
Here’s where things stand on Saturday night:
BACK:
Julius Thedford
William Whorton
Entering Portal:
Ashton Hardaway
Unclear:
Aaron Bradshaw
Curtis Givens
Quante Berry
Simon Majok
Arop Arop