Tag: Penny Hardaway

NCAA suspends Penny Hardaway for three games following NCAA violations.

Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway has been suspended the first three games of the Tigers’ 2023-2024 season.

When the Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team starts their 2023-2024 season next November, it will be without head coach Penny Hardaway for the program’s first three games.

The NCAA announced on Wednesday that Hardaway has been suspended for the first three games of the season due to NCAA violations. According to a report released by the NCAA, Hardaway made two in-person home visits with a prospective prospect prior to the time it was permissible to do so including one visit that was posted online by the family of the recruit which was brought to the attention of the NCAA. After a self-investigation, Memphis self-reported the violation.

“The suspension shall be served during the first three games of the regular season in the 2023-24 academic year,” the report says. “During the period of suspension, the head coach is prohibited from performing all coaching and recruiting activities and may not have any contact with members of his men’s basketball staff, student-athletes or prospective student-athletes.”

This past season, Memphis went 26-9 including 13-5 in American Athletic Conference play while earning a second-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament after missing each tournament from 2015 through 2021. The program will be entering its sixth season under Penny Hardaway next fall. Through his first five seasons with the program, he has collected a 111-52 record, winning 20+ games in each season.

Louisville gets commitment from top New York PG Ty-Laur Johnson

Former Memphis commit and top-ranked New York point guard Ty-Laur Johnson announces commitment to Louisville.

They make point guards just a little bit different in New York City. Louisville is getting the best of them, at least in the 2023 class.

This morning on Instagram, Our Savior Lutheran (NY) four-star point guard Ty-Laur Johnson announced his commitment to Louisville. Johnson had previously been committed to Penny Hardaway’s Memphis program.

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Jamie Shaw’s scouting report on Johnson (6-foot-0, 160 pounds) from On3 mentions the flair and alpha-mentality you would expect from a Bronx point as well as his ability to finish at the rim.

“Johnson is a true point guard who plays with a sense of flair… He is a quick-on-quick guard with a tight handle, able to get to his spots in the half-court. Johnson is an alpha, confident player with the ball in his hands… He has no problem getting anywhere he wants on the court, and he has an array of finishes in the paint. He is strong off of two feet, and he can finish from a number of angles around the basket.”

Johnson is coming off a sensational season in the Overtime Elite league. He averaged 18.4 points, 5.7 assists and 2.5 steals per game. Here are highlights from one of his best games.

Johnson also had offers from Creighton, DePaul, Mississippi State, NC State, St. John’s and VCU. Going by the 247Sports composite rankings, he is the top prospect overall in the state of New York, No. 12 among point guards and No. 77 nationally.

That makes six members of Louisville’s 2023 class (not including their three transfers). The highest-ranked is Combine Academy (NC) five-star small forward Trentyn Flowers. Together, this group ranks No. 5 nationally.

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Why Penny Hardaway tossed a water bottle across the court in Memphis’ loss to FAU

Penny Hardaway has to chill

Fairleigh Dickinson wasn’t the only school out there pulling off upsets on Friday in the men’s NCAA tournament. Florida Atlantic held things down against Penny Hardaway’s Memphis team, too.

Well, OK. Maybe this one isn’t really something we should categorize as an “upset” — Memphis was only an 8-seed and FAU was a 9-seed.

But, still, this was a pretty stunning loss when you consider the talent that Memphis has and the potential path the team had in front of it going to the Sweet 16.

FAU took all of that away on Friday with a win. Even before the final buzzer, though, Memphis coach Penny Hardaway was clearly pretty miffed about it.

He absolutely chucked a water bottle across the court after the loss.

This feels a bit out of character for Hardaway, who is normally very chill. He’s had his moments, to be sure, just as every coach does.

There’s a reason for this. The game actually came with a bit of controversy. Hardaway tried to call a timeout after the Tigers scooped up a loose ball with about five seconds left on the clock. Memphis had a one-point lead in the moment.

Officials didn’t award the timeout, though, and it led to a jump ball with the possession arrow going to FAU. The Owls had one last possession and it led to this game-winning layup from Nicholas Boyd. 

So, yeah. It’s easy to see why Hardaway was so upset. He still shouldn’t have thrown that bottle, though. Hopefully, it didn’t hit anyone.

Texas basketball might need to act fast for one transfer portal center

Texas may have to contend with Providence and Memphis to land one transfer portal big man.

College basketball free agency is underway just before the NCAA Tournament. It appears two Tournament participants are targeting TCU transfer center Eddie Lampkin for next season.

It would appear Providence head coach Ed Cooley and Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway are working to bring Lampkin to their respective teams. Albeit, it’s fair to question to which team Ed Cooley is recruiting Lampkin.

Cooley has been rumored as a possibility to fill the head coaching vacancy for the legendary basketball program at Georgetown. Regardless of where he coaches, Cooley has a strong pitch that will be difficult to beat.

It’s apparent that Texas will need bigs next season. The Longhorns could bring back Dylan Mitchell to pair with elite Duncanville talent Ron Holland. Even so, neither would give the team the defensive post presence it needs.

With Dylan Disu’s return uncertain and Christian Bishop departing, Texas could use a taller player or two through the transfer portal. Whether or not Lampkin is a priority, that position is a pressing need.

Texas’ search for post players will be worth monitoring over the summer.

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Stüssy and Nike’s collab on Penny Hardaway’s latest signature shoe is so weird but it works so well

This is such a weird collab, but that’s what makes it so good

Stüssy is a surfer brand that turned into a streetwear icon after being founded in the 80s.

Penny Hardaway — an NBA player — didn’t surf. We don’t even know if he actually wore Stüssy back in the day. But, yet, somehow, the two sides have collaborated on multiple versions of the Penny 2 sneaker so far. I’ve got to admit, it’s so weird.

With as weird as it is, though, the latest collab between the two sides is so good. Stüssy and Nike released the ‘Fossil’ version of the Penny 2 and it’s incredible.

It misses some of the details from the OG models that make it great, but it brings so much more flare in its simplicity and the range of materials. We talk about all that and more on the latest episode of Special Delivery.

Tap in.

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SPECIAL DELIVERY: Nike’s new Social Status ‘Playground’ Penny II deserved so much better

Social Status made a great shoe but it just didn’t have a dedicated home

Outside of Michael Jordan, you won’t find many better signature sneaker lines than Penny Hardaway’s.

From the Foamposite to the Penny V, his shoes are spectacular and the Penny II might be the best out of that crop. That’s why it was so exciting to see Social Status and the Whitaker Group using the shoe for their next collab.

The product is good. The materials are dope. Both colorways are fantastic. The detailing is something we’ve grown accustomed to from Social Status. It has all the bells and whistles an excellent collab should.

But, for whatever reason, there didn’t seem to be much excitement surrounding it. We talked about why on today’s episode of Special Delivery.

Tap in.

High school of James Wiseman, coach Penny Hardaway stripped of championship

East High School, where James Wiseman and Penny Hardaway won a championship in 2018, was stripped of the title due to recruiting violations.

East High School (Memphis, Tenn.) has been stripped of its 2018 championship for its recruitment violations in the pursuit of James Wiseman, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association ordered the school to vacate all wins from Wiseman’s two seasons on the team. The TSSAA also fined the school $14,807.56, which includes postseason winnings. Wiseman and East High School won the championship in 2018 and reached the championship game again in 2019.

Wiseman was widely regarded as one of the best players in the class of 2019 throughout his high school career. He played for Team Penny in the 2017 AAU summer season and then enrolled at East High in August 2017, which was coached at the time by Penny Hardaway. Hardaway became the coach of the University of Memphis in 2018, ahead of Wiseman’s senior season—a year in which the star center was considered by many to be the No. 1 player in the class and was named the national Gatorade boys basketball player of the year.

Wiseman followed Hardaway to Memphis but was ruled ineligible after appearing in only three games when the NCAA found Hardaway provided Wiseman’s mother $11,500 in support for moving expenses for relocation and moving in 2017 as Wiseman transferred from Ensworth School (Nashville, Tenn.) to East High in Memphis. In making the payment, Wiseman acted as a booster, the NCAA said.

The TSSAA found that this payment was also a violation of its high school recruiting rules. The association sent a letter to East High on Aug. 24, 2022, outlining the school’s violation and punishment. The letter was obtained by the Commercial Appeal.

All wins from the school in which Wiseman appeared were retroactively forfeited. Championship wins were vacated. The school was fined $100 for each game in which Wiseman participated, totaling $6,600, and another $8,200, the amount the high school earned in winnings from TSSAA championship series in which Wiseman played.

Hardaway released a statement to the Commercial Appeal that read:

“I’m disappointed to learn of this decision. However, it doesn’t erase the lives that were changed and the positive impacts on our youth that were made during my time at East High School.

Wiseman was drafted No. 2 overall by the Golden State Warriors in 2020. He appeared in 39 games as a rookie and missed the entirety of the 2021-22 season due to a meniscus tear in his right knee suffered in the 2020-21 season.

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The Bronny James collegiate recruitment chaos is officially underway with reported offer from Memphis

LeBron once called Memphis coach Penny Hardaway his second-favorite player ever.

Bronny James, a rising senior at Sierra Canyon in California, has a decision to make.

The four-star recruit will soon decide where he is playing basketball once he completes high school. James, who reportedly received offers from North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central in 2020, is expected to go the collegiate route rather than play for the G League Ignite or Overtime Elite.

The Oregon Ducks are considered the favorites to land a commitment from James. But it’s too early in the process to make any sweeping predictions about his future. His father, LeBron James, clarified that Bronny “hasn’t taken” any collegiate visits yet and he has “only had a few calls” with any universities.

Even without the visits, however, Bronny has reportedly picked up an offer from his first high-major university. According to On3, Bronny received an offer from the Memphis Tigers.

Bronny just finished a tournament playing for the California Classic Club in Europe.

One of his teammates on the European tour, Ashton Hardaway. Ashton, who played at Duncanville High School in Texas last season, will join Bronny and transfer to Sierra Canyon next season. He is the son of Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway.

LeBron, as noted by the Memphis Commercial Appeal, is a fan of the elder Hardaway:

“But if James’ father has any say in where his son plays, his opinion of Hardaway could provide some insight. LeBron has made his high esteem for Hardaway clear on multiple occasions. 

‘Penny was one of my favorite players growing up,’ LeBron said in 2019 after a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. ‘I kind of idolized Michael Jordan, but I wanted to be like Penny. ‘

In an Instagram post in 2020, LeBron doubled down on his affinity for Hardaway. 

‘MY 2ND FAVORITE PLAYER OF ALL-TIME MAN! LITERALLY COULD WATCH HIM PLAY EVERY NIGHT!!” he posted under a reel featuring some of Hardaway’s most impressive highlights.'”

In addition to Oregon and Memphis, there are several other schools with reported interest in landing a commitment from Bronny. On3 reports that USC has offered Bronny a scholarship as well.

But now that there is apparently an offer letter extended to the four-star recruit, expect several other high-major universities to get involved and do the same. The madness has officially begun.

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SPECIAL DELIVERY: Nike and Social Status took everyone back to school with the “Recess” Penny 1 pack

Penny Hardaway’s signature sneaker line just got a little bit cooler

Penny Hardaway is one of the most beloved basketball players ever when it comes to sneaker culture.

His signature shoe line is one of the best Nike has ever had — and that’s saying something. The only line unquestionably better than Penny’s is Michael Jordan’s, himself, and there’s a whole brand named after that man.

That’s why it’s so cool to see Hardaway finally getting a collaboration on the Penny 1 here. It’s long overdue and well deserved.

The sneaker line has a cult following, but it’s never been put in the spotlight like this before. It didn’t really need to be either, but we’ll take it. The Special Delivery crew dive into why this means so much in this week’s episode of SD.

Don’t miss it.

Rasheed Wallace leading candidate for assistant job with Los Angeles Lakers

Former UNC basketball forward Rasheed Wallace is taking the next step in his career, joining the Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff.

Former UNC standout forward [autotag]Rasheed Wallace[/autotag] has found his next stop as an assistant coach. It was announced on Monday that Wallace would be joining the Los Angeles Lakers as an assistant on new head coach Darvin Ham.

Ham and Wallace were former teammates in Detroit during the Pistons’ Championship season in 2004.

There were previous rumors about this move for Wallace and it has now been made all but official.

Wallace spent time last season on staff at Memphis under Penny Hardaway before stepping away towards the end of the season.

Before Memphis, Wallace got his coaching career started in 2013 as an assistant for the Pistons. He later two years as the head coach at Jordan High School in North Carolina.

Wallace played 18 seasons in the NBA for six different organizations. He retired in 2013.

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