Memphis Basketball: 3 takeaways from Penny Hardaway contract extension

Memphis Basketball head coach Penny Hardaway is not going anywhere. Hardaway and the university have agreed to a contract extension that will run through the 2027-28 season. According to the school, the deal totals six years and $16.5 million plus incentives.

Hardaway will make $2.5 million this season with an incremental increase in each of the following seasons. He’ll make $3 million in the final year of the contract.

"“As I have said many times, this is a dream position for me, and I do not take it for granted,” Hardaway said in a school release. “…I cannot wait to keep working each and every day for our City, our University and our program.”"

In his four years leading the program, the Tigers are 85-43 overall and 45-24 in American Athletic Conference play. Memphis went to the NCAA tournament for the first time under Hardaway last season where they beat Boise State in the Round of 64 before falling to Gonzaga in the round of 32. The Tigers also won the NIT in 2020-21.

The first four seasons of the Penny Hardaway era have had their ups and downs. The program is recruiting in a way it never has before even dating back to the John Calipari days. The Tigers have enrolled five players ranked inside of the top 15 of their respective recruiting classes not to mention transfers that include Landers Nolley from Virginia Tech and this year’s addition of Kendric Davis. Two of those four recruiting classes were ranked No. 1 in the country in 247Sports composite rankings.

So what does this mean for the Memphis program? Here are three takeaways:

1) It isn’t a coincidence this comes right after the program got out of the IARP’s crosshairs relatively unscathed.

In September, the Independent Accountability Resolution Process ruled on Memphis’s recruitment and playing of former No. 1 recruit James Wiseman. The university didn’t receive a postseason ban. Its punishments included a $5,000 fine in addition to 0.25% of the program’s average men’s basketball budget. The program is also on probation through 2025 and had to vacate two wins from the three games Wiseman participated in back in 2019.

That’s it.

Now, this isn’t the time for a conversation on how dysfunctional and unpredictable the IARP is, but that’s what the process determined was a suitable punishment. It’s likely this extension was in the works for a while and the university was waiting to determine the ripple effect any consequences would have on the program. Now, with the allegations behind them and no direct penalties given to Hardaway, the university can move forward with the foreseeable future of this era of Memphis basketball.