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Memphis Basketball: Why Penny Hardaway head coaching hire has worked

By Josh Stevens

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 25: Penny Hardaway, head coach of the Memphis Tigers, watches the action during the game against the Charleston Cougars at HP Field House on November 25, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 25: Penny Hardaway, head coach of the Memphis Tigers, watches the action during the game against the Charleston Cougars at HP Field House on November 25, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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ORLANDO, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 25: Penny Hardaway, head coach of the Memphis Tigers, watches the action during the game against the Charleston Cougars at HP Field House on November 25, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 25: Penny Hardaway, head coach of the Memphis Tigers, watches the action during the game against the Charleston Cougars at HP Field House on November 25, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /

Bringing Penny Back

What is a better pitch to a recruit than saying you played in the league and you can help kids get there? Hardaway was a tremendous player before injuries got the best of him during his tenure in the NBA. He knows the game like the back of his hand, and he helped numerous kids improve their game at the high school level.

My favorite part of the hire of Hardaway even before I knew that he going to be able to get the players to play hard was that he could relate to many of them and had ties to the school. You want a coach that loves the school and does not so much feel the pressure to impress new people as he already impressed many of them.

He was involved in Memphis way before he got the job and that might have played a factor into signing James Wiseman and Malcolm Dandridge. He coached many players in AAU, so even more recruits had connections to Hardaway.

Despite the many naysayers of Hardaway, he has really come into the D-1 level and just put the pedal to the metal and took recruiting by storm. He just needs to not become complacent and stay focused on recruiting much like John Calipari at Kentucky.