Memphis Basketball: 3 takeaways from Emmanuel Akot choosing the Wildcats
By Joey Loose
Memphis’s potential next year
There are two sides to every story, and Penny Hardaway’s time in Memphis has certainly been that. He’s succeeded in bringing the Tigers back to the NCAA Tournament and perhaps even to national prominence, but at the same time, this team has underachieved. He’s won at least 20 games in each of his first four seasons as head coach and has led some incredible defenses with the Tigers, but it took until this past March to lead this team back to the Big Dance.
It shouldn’t take four years to get Memphis to another NCAA Tournament, and the addition of Akot will certainly play a role in that. This is a very different Memphis team; replacing most of your starting rotation will do that to you, but there are some very nice pieces that will wear the blue next season. Before this, Davis and McCadden were two very solid backcourt pieces, but Akot adds a shooter and facilitator that will become an important cog in this offense.
Memphis may not be done adding to this team, with former UTEP forward Keonte Kennedy recently withdrawing from his Vanderbilt commitment and looking like a potential target for the Tigers. Even without him, they’ve landed a versatile player in Akot with talent and experience that this roster needs. Next year won’t be easy and certainly will be very different for Memphis, but they will have shooting and they should have a solid defensive unit; we’ll just have to see what it all looks like next year.
Next. AAC WTE rankings for 2022-23. dark
The addition of Akot makes this team one to consider in the initial top 25 polls, though another addition would all but cement that status. With what Houston is bringing back next season, Memphis will not be expected to win the AAC, but it’s always possible that they surprise us. On the other end, maybe these new players don’t work well together and this team underachieves again.
Would Memphis fans bring out the torches for Hardaway if this team regresses and fails to make the NCAA Tournament again? Akot will go a long way to figuring that out and should be an important piece.