Hardaway to hire director of operations

Memphis men’s basketball coach Penny Hardaway is expected to hire Tennessee State assistant coach Rodney Hamilton as the Tigers’ new director of basketball operations, a person with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed on Tuesday.

Hamilton is a Memphis native and Whitehaven High School alumnus who went on to star at Georgia State, where he graduated as the school’s all-time leader in points, assists and steals.

The source said Hamilton’s hiring could be officially announced by the university as soon as Wednesday. Hamilton would become Hardaway’s second hire since being named head coach at Memphis, joining assistant coach and fellow Memphis native Tony Madlock.

Hamilton served as an assistant coach at Tennessee State the past six seasons. Tennessee State recently hired Brian “Penny” Collins as its new head coach after former coach Dana Ford accepted the head coaching job at Missouri State last week.

According to his Tennessee State bio, Hamilton’s duties there included recruiting, player development, scouting and academic assistance.

Prior to his tenure at Tennessee State, Hamilton spent three years as the head women’s basketball coach at Indiana Tech. He also had stints as an assistant coach at Crichton College and Southeast Missouri State, where he served as the program’s recruiting coordinator and handled scheduling, player development and scouting, among other responsibilities.

Hamilton began his coaching career in 2001 as the head coach at Westside High School in Memphis.

GoTigers247 was the first to report Hamilton’s impending hiring at Memphis.