Getty Image / Mitchell Leff
Penny Hardaway is one confident man. That confidence may come from the fact he was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft, or the fact he scored 10,684 points in a 704-game NBA career, is a four-time NBA All-Star and has a shoe named after him
Okay, so his confidence is warranted and he’s brought that same confidence and swagger to his Memphis Tigers basketball team.
In his first season as head coach last year, the Tigers went 22-14 and missed out on the NCAA Tournament and instead got bounced in the second round of the NIT.
He took over a struggling program that’s literally surrounded by some of the best high school talent in the country and grew some hype. He made Memphis basketball relevant again, which it always should be given the surrounded talent.
Well, that hype is at an all-time high, maybe even close to the John Calipari days as Hardaway brings in the top recruiting class in the nation this season. It’s clear guys want to play for him and his staff, which includes former NBA sharpshooter Mike Miller.
Just how confident is the man? Confident enough to tell The Athletic this team will win a national championship this year.
That was earlier in the week, he doubled down on the statement at Memphis Madness on Thursday night while wearing a sweatshirt with ‘All The Smoke’ written on it, from the Commercial Appeal:
“Honestly, it’s just taking on the personality of the city,” Hardaway said. “It’s just Memphis is a city that likes to compete at everything that we do. We’re very competitive, and if you tell us we can’t do something, we’re going to try to prove you wrong. And that ‘We want all the smoke,’ it’s exactly what it is. We’re not afraid to play anybody at any time and, like I said, I’m not going to apologize.”
“I want these kids to have an experience to play against all the top teams they can play against and hopefully on top of that win a national championship, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”
The old-school hoops fan may not like the way Hardaway talks with the media and keeps it real at all times. But for those in Memphis and fans that like flashy basketball and mottos, nobody does it quite like Penny; he doesn’t know what coach speak is and that’s refreshing not only for fans but clearly for recruits.
A whole Memphis Madness Vibe pic.twitter.com/TlGPJN4MDL
— Devin Walker (@Devin_Walker2) October 3, 2019
Memphis’ top-ranked recruiting class welcomes three five-star players this season including the No. 1 player in the nation, seven-footer James Wiseman who played his high school ball in Memphis. R.J. Hampton and Precious Achiuwa are the other two five-star incomers.
This year’s incoming class is great, but next year’s could be even better with at least four five-star players listed as interested in playing their college hoops off of Beale Street.
Penny and the Tigers start their season on November 5th against South Carolina State. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Memphis as a No. 5 seed in his latest pre-season Bracketology.