Coaches
nisce about their glory days as competitors in the early 1990s.
“But I try not to bring it up so much because I was on the good end of the stick,” Van Exel said jokingly.
“His buddies and I like to joke and talk about it all the time, how much they hated me,” Van Exel added. “Now that I play golf with them they say they don’t have to take me into the woods and leave me out there all alone because now they’ve realized that I’m alright.”
It’s jokes like those — harmless verbal jabs — that explain Hardaway and Van Exel’s friendship but fall incredibly short in depicting the actual distaste between their former programs. Charter members of the Metro Conference, every meeting between the Tigers and Bearcats seems destined for a knock-down-drag-out, physical war; There is no better example than the showdowns between Hardaway and Van Exel’s teams from 1991-93.
“At the time, both programs were on the rise,” Van Exel said. “... They had a star in Penny Hardaway, who was the chosen one to lead them deep into the NCAA Tournament. Then you had us, a bunch of junior college guys who were happy to be playing college ball but turned out to be pretty good.”
Coach Bob Huggins’ Cincinnati teams ended up taking six out of seven matchups against coach Larry Finch’s Tigers while Hardaway was on the roster.
“Every one of those games was just a classic game,” Hardaway said on his radio show Monday night. “They were really tough to beat.”
Twenty years later, not much has changed. The Bearcats (19-3, 8-1) have found sustained success using the same bruising style of basketball under Huggins’ former assistant, Mick Cronin. Memphis (13-9, 5-4), on the other hand, is once again prime for an influx of young superstars.
The fans still dislike each other, too. Although, since moving to Memphis, Van Exel said he’s learned to appreciate the city’s rabid hoops fans that once rained boos on him back at the Pyramid.
In fact, the only difference, really, is the re-emergence of Hardaway.
“I don’t think this rivalry has gone anywhere since our days in the 90s — every time we locked up people got excited about it — but with (Hardaway) being
Next game
WHEN: Thursday, 6 p.m. back, and the fan support, I’m sure it’s going to be just as wild as it was back in the day,” Van Exel said.
That’s why, should Hardaway’s team lose, Van Exel said he won’t bother the Tigers coach with even the friendliest of trash talk.
“Now, with both of us coaching, it’s a little bit more serious since we know what it means to one another,” Van Exel said. “There’s no joking about it anymore. But of course, I’ll be rooting for my school. I’ve talked to Penny several times and told him I hope he does well because I think he could be great for a lot of these kids as far as life and basketball is concerned.”
After all, the Grizzlies assistant has already been enough of a nuisance to the Tigers. How could Hardaway forget when Van Exel scored 22 points to beat his then-memphis State team in the 1992 Elite Eight?
“When we got to the pros I tried to make (Van Exel) pay for everything he did to Memphis,” Hardaway said.
Starting Thursday, it’s Hardaway’s second chance to get back at the rest of Cincinnati.
WHAT: Memphis vs. Cincinnati TV: ESPN2 RADIO: Rock 103 / 600 WREC