Inside Hardaway’s first day as Tiger coach
Before the introductory news conference and before his media blitz around town and throughout the country, Memphis men’s basketball coach Penny Hardaway walked around the theater room of the Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center, shaking hands with every player on his new team.
“I’m never going to do anything to y’all to disrespect y’all, and the same thing for me,” Hardaway told them in his first team meeting. “I expect excellence out of everybody, including myself, because I’m going to work harder than everybody to help us win. If you’re not thinking about
winning the conference, going to the NCAA tournament, doing big things, then this is not the school.”
And thus began the whirlwind of Hardaway’s first 24 hours on the job.
He started at 11 a.m. Tuesday standing at a podium in front of hundreds of fans, boosters and former players and eventually ended when he took an NCAA rules test before Wednesday afternoon arrived.
In between then, Hardaway conducted one-on-one interviews with three different local television outlets, appeared five different times on the city’s two major sports talk radio stations and also went on The Dan Patrick Show, syndicated nationally.
“He’s very, very thorough and very professional,” Memphis basketball sports information director Phil Stukenborg said. “You hand him a sheet with five interviews and he’s like, ‘I got it.’ ”
There were common themes, such as his desire to fill FedExForum once again, his confidence to pull high-level recruits and his dream that this day would eventually happen. But Hardaway also dropped more hints about this entire experience, and how he’ll operate as a college head coach.
The media tour begins
He began on “The Eric Hasseltine Show” on ESPN 92.9 FM, where he expressed remorse over how the possibility of his hiring leaked before the Tigers began the American Athletic Conference tournament.
“I felt bad for Coach Smith because he didn’t deserve that,” Hardaway said.
Then came a stint with “Fish N’ Stats” of Sports 56 WHBQ. Hardaway invoked his sense of history there, telling the hosts he wanted to bring former Tigers great Keith Lee back into the limelight so the current generation of fans could appreciate Lee’s impact on the program.
Hardaway also mentioned his former coach at Memphis State, Larry Finch, because they both starred for the Tigers and both became Tiger head coaches.
“There’s an eerie feeling that we’re walking in similar shoes,” Hardaway said.
A couple hours after that, Hardaway surfaced again on ESPN 92.9 FM with drive time host Gary Parrish and revealed for the first time that Ole Miss initially expressed interest in hiring him as a head coach in recent weeks.
Hardaway also made clear getting fans back into FedExForum for Memphis basketball games is part of his job description and offered a glimpse into why he was talking so much on this first day as head coach.
“I take full responsibility for that. I don’t care what I have to do,” Hardaway said. “We need the energy back in the city. We need the energy back into the building. It’s my job to put the players on the floor that the fans want to see ... I feel like it’s totally my responsibility to have that happen again.”
By evening, news broke that East High School star Alex Lomax received a release from his national letter of intent with Wichita State, paving the way for him to play for Hardaway at Memphis.
Hardaway, meanwhile, made his way to the studios of Local 24 News WATN for an interview with former Memphis football player Doc Holliday. There were bags under his eyes, but energy still flowed from his voice.
“I’m still on a high right now,” Hardaway said. “I’m enjoying the process of what’s going on because this is what I wanted to do.”
It was with Holliday that Hardaway first mentioned the NCAA rules test he would take Wednesday in order to begin recruiting.
This arose again during his first interview of Wednesday morning with “Wolo and Peter” on Sports 56 WHBQ, when Hardaway mentioned he planned to attend the Sweet 16 in Atlanta on Thursday.
“I can’t call a player or a parent until I pass the test,” he said. “As soon as I pass the test, just because I’ve been studying for it and I have the utmost confidence, I’m going to get on the road right away and … make sure I start talking to some players and some parents that haven’t committed yet in the 2018 class and get some talent to go along with the guys that we have here.”
Less than an hour later, Hardaway appeared a third time on ESPN 92.9 FM with Commercial Appeal columnist Geoff Calkins.
This is when a discussion about his Nike affiliation broke out and what it could mean for Memphis. Hardaway made sure to note he was the “first signature shoe athlete that’s ever become a head coach.”
“This is history for college,” Hardaway added, “so Nike is really overly excited about that and they’re willing to do a lot of great things for the university.”
Hardaway also talked about Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, saying “I want him to be involved in some magnitude, if not the associate” head coach.
The comment confirmed reports that Hardaway has considered Brown for his staff, although Hardaway added that he still needed to discuss that with athletic director Tom Bowen.
Brown, 77, previously had three different schools suffer NCAA sanctions while serving as head coach.
Hardaway’s new perspective
Hardaway wrapped up his Wednesday morning slate with former ESPN host Dan Patrick. It was here that Hardaway offered a different answer to a question he was previously asked several times.
Patrick inquired about Hardaway’s biggest initial challenge. During his first meeting with reporters, Hardaway said it would be getting to know the conference. By Wednesday, his mind had changed and it was a nod to what he had planned for Thursday — individual meetings with the program’s returning players.
“This is Coach Smith’s team and I can just add some pieces along the way,” Hardaway said to Patrick. “Getting guys to buy into me that are going to stay and that were recruited by another coach, I’ve never had that situation happen. I’ve always brought guys with me wherever I’ve went. … This is new for me, just having the kids that are left over buy into what I’m going to bring to the table.”
About two hours later, Hardaway sat down for the rules test he thought about throughout this parade of interviews. A school spokesperson confirmed Wednesday afternoon Penny passed.
He knew better than ever before that he had eight days to recruit until another NCAA dead period.
The work, however, was only just beginning.