Hardaway back to Memphis as coach
Former Memphis AllAmerican guard Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway is heading back to his alma mater as its men’s basketball coach.
Memphis will announce Hardaway as its next coach at a news conference scheduled for Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. The 46year-old Hardaway replaces Tubby Smith, fired after going 40-26 in two seasons.
Hardaway is a four-time NBA All-Star and threetime All-NBA player who will be making his college coaching debut. He has been coaching for years with his own AAU program, Team Penny, and won his third straight Tennessee high school championship at Memphis East last weekend.
The Memphis native played at Treadwell High School before going to thenMemphis State and remains very popular in his hometown. And his alma mater desperately needs someone to keep Memphis’ top recruits at home and lure fans back to the FedExForum, where the Tigers play their home games.
Memphis hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2014, and attendance dipped to 6,225 this season — the worst since 1969-70. The plunging attendance puts the university at risk of missing out on an $800,000 payment from the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, who control the FedExForum. The Memphis Commercial Appeal also reported donations to the athletic department dropped $1.1 million in the 2016-17 fiscal year.
Hardaway starred for Memphis teams that posted a combined 43-23 record and made consecutive NCAA tournaments in 1992 and 1993. The Tigers reached a regional final in 1992.
With Hardaway, the Tigers had eight wins over ranked teams. He posted the first triple-doubles in school history. Memphis retired his jersey on Jan. 23, 1994.
Cal Baptist in Elite Eight
The California Baptist men’s team will play Queens University of Charlotte in the Division II quarterfinals on Tuesday at 4 p.m. PDT in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The Riverside-based Lancers (28-5) are ranked 21st in the nation and seeded seventh for the Elite Eight. The No. 7-ranked Royals (31-3) are seeded second.
Center Kalidou Diouf leads the Lancers with 18.1 points and 8.5 rebounds.
Etc.
Jeffrey Carroll scored 26 points to help Oklahoma State beat Stanford 71-65 in the second round of the NIT. ... Charlotte hired Virginia associate head coach Ron Sanchez as coach . ... The West Coast Conference hired former Pac-12 Conference executive Gloria Nevarez as commissioner.