The holiday might not be for a few more days but Memphis Basketball will have a lot to be thankful for this year thanks to a commitment from James Wiseman.
There we have it…James Wiseman has officially announced his intention to play for Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers next season. Viewed by many as the consensus top player in his class, Wiseman selecting the Tigers over the Kentucky Wildcats represents two things: a choice that wasn’t very shocking and one that could potentially shift the landscape of the sport as we know it.
By now, we’ve all been more than aware of how ruthless the recruiting scene can be, especially for the top programs. Simply put, now more than ever in the “one-and-done” era, we’re in a yearly Basketball Cold War where every AAU Summer Circuit is an arms race. Year in and year out, we see schools such as Kansas, Kentucky, and Duke jockeying for the prized players. And the race for Wiseman was no different as Coach Cal and Big Blue Nation were always one of the front-runners.
Enter Penny Hardaway.
Seemingly from the moment Penny was named the new coach at Memphis, many felt they were the true landing spot for James Wiseman. After all, Wiseman plays at East High School, which was where Penny coached prior to Memphis. Should you look into Wiseman’s AAU history, you’ll see teams such as Bluff City Legends and Hoop City Elite pop up. The significance behind these teams? Bluff City Legends was once Team Penny and Hoop City Elite is the aftermath of the now-defunct M33M, which was one spearheaded by Mike Miller, now on staff at Memphis.
Casual fans may be a bit taken back by the ability for Memphis to land the top prize in the 2019 class but it shouldn’t be much of a shock. A team that was once cast into obscurity upon the departure of Coach Cal has suddenly become the “cool” program. Memphis is now a name that sells itself.
Imagine being a top prospect and seeing former NBA Rookie of The Year, NBA 6th Man of the Year, 2x NBA Champ, and close confidant of LeBron James, Mike Miller, there to watch you ball? Or maybe you look over and there’s former NBA Coach of the Year, Sam Mitchell, in attendance?
Even for in-home visits, all the coaches have to do is show up. Chances are very high that parents of these kids were in their teens/early 20’s during the 90’s. The name and face of Penny Hardaway is one that brings them back to their childhood. Heck, even if they don’t care about his accomplishments, mom and dad probably remember Lil’ Penny and those Sprite commercials!
When it comes to who basketball kids emulated before LeBron, Kobe, or Iverson…there was Penny.
The last time Memphis landed a 5-star recruit was with Austin Nichols in 2013, who only lasted two seasons before transferring to Virginia. For James Wiseman to be their first not only represents a huge coup for the Tigers but a shift in the basketball landscape.
Suddenly there’s a new name partaking in the Basketball Cold War and it’s a man who brings a new swagger to the scene and sense of change in the recruiting market.
However, coaches are hyper-competitive beings. This doesn’t mean that Bill Self, Coach K or John Calipari are going to dwindle away. On the contrary, if anything it will force them to adapt to the new face in town. Add in the fact that Penny’s arrival won’t run other names out of town such perennial star coach Mark Few or underappreciated–on a national level–recruiters such as Ed Cooley at Providence and Dan Hurley at UConn, and suddenly the competition gets THAT much better.
While the big college basketball news of Wiseman’s commitment may not be all that excellent to hear for Kentucky fans, it should serve as the dawning of a new time in college basketball and the potential allocation of player talent around the basketball map. I’m all in on this arms race.