In his seven seasons as the head coach of the Memphis Tigers, Penny Hardaway has only made the NCAA Tournament three times and has yet to advance past the first weekend of The Big Dance. This past season, with 29 wins and an AAC Title, the Tigers earned their highest seed heading into March Madness since John Calipari’s final season in 2009, but after a first-round upset loss to Colorado State, the program is stuck in limbo.
Memphis’s fantastic regular season was led by PJ Haggery, a Tulsa transfer who blossomed into a second-team All-American under Hardaway. Now, with two seasons of eligibility remaining, the 6-foot-3 scoring guard is weighing a return to Memphis, a possible NBA future, and maybe most alluring of all, reported $3 million NIL offers.
Latest on Memphis G PJ Haggerty:
— Hitmen Hoops (@HitmenHoops) April 9, 2025
PJ has multiple offers around the $3 million dollar mark with one “outlier offer”, source tells me.
The expectation from Memphis is that PJ tests the NBA Draft process to get feedback, while maintaining his college eligibility.
Source adds that…
Fellow second-team All-American JT Toppin secured a $4 million NIL payday to return to Texas Tech, so the money is no doubt out there for Haggerty.
Haggerty has yet to officially enter the transfer portal or declare for the NBA Draft, but judging from Hardaway’s actions in the transfer portal so far, his head coach isn’t waiting around to find out. While retaining the superstar is priority No. 1 for Memphis this offseason, Hardaway and his staff have contingency plans in place in case a big-money Power Conference offer is too much to turn down.
Memphis loads up the backcourt with Julius Thedford and Quante Berry
Even if Haggerty returns to Memphis, Hardaway will still face the difficult task of replacing last year’s starting point guard Tyrese Hunter, who missed the NCAA Tournament loss to Colorado State with an injury and has exhausted all his eligibility, and senior guard Colby Rogers. Yet, adding two shooting guards in Thedford and Berry feels a bit redundant if you’re certain that Haggerty is set to play his redshirt junior season as a Tiger.
Neither player is a primary playmaker. Thedford profiles as an efficient catch-and-shoot scorer without much passing or on-ball creation in his game while Berry is a lengthy slasher who is effective at getting to the line, but lacks the pull-up shooting that makes Haggerty so special as a three-level scorer. Berry’s 13 percent assist rate gives some utility as an on-ball creator, but he creates just 0.74 points per possession as a pick-and-roll ball-handler.
In short, neither of these players are true Tyrese Hunter replacement, they’re both better categorized as Haggerty contingency plans who could play well with the high-usage score-first guard depending on his decision.
Hardaway likely won’t find himself in the Sweet 16 for the first time if his All-American heads for greener pastures, but with Thedford and Berry on the roster, he’s provided himself a stable floor of offensive production that will keep his program near the top of the AAC.