It’s time for the Penny Hardaway era to be over at Memphis

Memphis men’s basketball head coach Penny Hardaway announced the firing of four staff members Wednesday, reports ESPN’s Jeff Borzello. It’s the latest example of dysfunction that has plagued the program during Hardaway’s tenure and it should be the beginning of the end for his time as head coach.

Memphis has fired assistant coaches Rick Stansbury, Faragi Phillips and Jamie Rosser, along with special adviser Demetrius Dyson. Hardaway nor the school provided a reason for the firings.

It’s a bizarre move with the Tigers season opener exactly two months away. Even in the transfer portal era, Memphis’ roster turnover seemed extreme with just one returning player. Now, the coaching staff is also dealing with excessive turnover as the season rapidly approaches.

“I want to thank Rick, Faragi, Jamie and Demetrius for their service to the University of Memphis and our basketball program,” Hardaway said in a statement. “These are good coaches that I’ve worked with closely over the past few seasons, but I made the difficult decision to go in a new direction with our staff. The timing is not ideal, but I want to give this team the best opportunity to reach our goals of winning the American Conference and advancing in the NCAA Tournament. With the season rapidly approaching, we are going to move quickly to complete the staff.”

The idea of Hardaway at Memphis has always been better than the reality of it. Like many other former stars who returned to their alma mater to coach, Hardaway has found it difficult. It didn’t work for Chris Mullin at St. John’s, Patrick Ewing at Georgetown or Juwan Howard at Michigan. It’s not working for Hardaway at Memphis, either, and it’s time the school admits that.

Hardaway is 133-62 in six seasons at Memphis, but has made the NCAA Tournament just twice and has ended the season ranked in the AP Top 25 only once. Memphis is a school that can win at an elite level. Former coaches John Calipari and Josh Pastner each had very successful runs, but Pastner and his successor Tubby Smith were both fired for mediocre seasons.

Funny enough, Hardaway’s records haven’t been much better, but that only tells half the tale. When Smith was fired, Hardaway immediately emerged as a front-runner for the job due to his status at Memphis and his recruiting connections. After his hiring, he got splashy commitments from four-star recruits Alex Lomax and Tyler Harris, and capped his first year with a 22-14 record and a fifth place finish in the American Athletic Conference at 11-7.

After signing the No. 1 recruiting class, including top recruit James Wiseman, in 2019, expectations both inside and outside the program were through the roof. However, Wiseman played only three games and was ruled ineligible by the NCAA because Hardaway had paid for $11,500 in moving expenses to help him and his family move to the city of Memphis in 2017. The Tigers finished the season 21-10 and missed the NCAA Tournament.

Two years later, Hardaway’s recruiting prowess showed again as he signed top recruit Emoni Bates as part of the nation’s number one class. Bates played in only 18 games, missed all of February and part of March with a back injury, and eventually transferred after the season.

Another top recruit, Mikey Williams, was signed by Hardaway in 2023. He never played for the Tigers after he was arrested in the spring of 2023 for a March 27 incident at his home, when shots were allegedly fired at a carful of people. He faced nine felony counts in the case and transferred out of the program.

Currently, the Tigers are under investigation for an alleged academic scandal involving former player Malcolm Dandridge, who was suspended for the final five games of the 2023-24 season. Add in the firing of the coaches, and Memphis has had enough drama to compete with America’s favorite soap opera shows.

Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and there’s smoke all around the Memphis basketball program. The common denominator is Hardaway, who isn’t winning at a rate that makes these headaches worth it. He’s tarnishing the program’s image, and in the process ruining his own stature as a Memphis legend.

It’s time to say goodbye. Let the 2024-25 season be his farewell tour.