Dandridge recruiting for Hardaway
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — Surrounded by a group of Kentucky-based reporters, Olive Branch star and Kentucky commit D.J. Jeffries laughed when asked about Malcolm Dandridge, his teammate on the Bluff City Legends.
“He always mess with me about, ‘Come to Memphis,’” Jeffries said. “But you know, I don’t listen to him.”
Dandridge, who played for Penny Hardaway at Memphis East High School the past three years, became the first commitment in the Tigers’ 2019 recruiting class back in May.
As college basketball’s July evaluation period began, he remained the only one to pledge to Memphis.
But Dandridge, who is listed at 6foot-9, is out to change that designation.
On Friday, he joked that he needed a website listing all the players Hardaway and his staff have offered scholarships to in order to keep up with who to persuade to join him at Memphis.
In the meantime, he pointed to Bluff City Legends teammates James Wiseman, Chandler Lawson and Jeffries, as well as five-star prospect Trendon Watford of Birmingham, Ala., as recruits he’s been pitching the Tigers to on a regular basis.
It goes hand-in-hand with what Hardaway said before he hit the recruiting trail this past week, when he noted to reporters, “if you get one [recruit], then kids recruit other kids.”
“I’m definitely working,” Dandridge said with a smile. “I just be honest with them. How better can it get than an exNBA staff ?”
Dandridge still has some work to do in order to become a finished product on the court.
He shot better than 55 percent from the field during five games at Peach Jam but had only 18 field goal attempts and averaged 4.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks.
Even Dandridge conceded he needs to work on gaining confidence and understanding what he can and can't do on the floor.
But his chiseled physique and defensive instincts remain tantalizing, and they suggest he could have a greater impact over the course of his college career.
His early commitment to Memphis was done with his future in mind.
“I just wanted to focus and concentrate,” Dandridge explained. “I didn’t want to be distracted with college coaches texting me. I didn’t want to get distracted, or lose my head, or whatever. I just wanted to go where I felt was best for me, so I could start focusing on watching them and learning what the style is over there.”
It didn’t hurt that Dandridge couldn’t imagine playing for anyone besides Hardaway at this point.
"I’ve been with him my whole high school career,” Dandridge added. “It’s such a blessing that he ended up being able to go to the higher level that I’m going to be at next year.”
Dandridge is considered a three-star prospect by the national recruiting services, but his role as a senior at East could speed up his development.
After mostly being relegated to a rebounder, shot-blocker and dunker on Hardaway’s loaded East rosters in recent years, Dandridge will be one of the team’s stars this winter alongside Wiseman, the No. 1 recruit in the country.
But as he morphs into a leader for East, Dandridge will also have his eye on Memphis and the players that he will soon play with in the college ranks.
“I’m just going to pay attention to how their year works, so I can see what I need to do when I get there to get me to the (NBA) as fast as I want to,” Dandridge said. “So just seeing how the coaches going to work, and what I need to do, and how they’re going to play, so I can already know what to do when I get in there.”