Memphis Tigers Basketball

The Memphis men's basketball team has minimized Rasheed Wallace's role with the team and removed him from in-person duties.

Head coach Penny Hardaway told reporters Wednesday that Wallace will serve as a consultant for the time being.

Wallace, a four-time All-Star in the NBA, joined the Tigers in August as an assistant coach.

The exact reason for the move is unclear, though Hardaway confirmed on Jan. 12 that Wallace was in the COVID-19 protocols, thus taking him away from the team. He continued to work remotely with players through Zoom calls.

Star center Jalen Duren praised his contributions from afar.

The logic behind bringing Wallace onto the staff was obvious.

In discussing the hire, Hardaway highlighted the insight the 6'10" former forward might be able to impart upon the likes of Duren, Emoni Bates and DeAndre Williams.

In addition to helping the Detroit Pistons win an NBA title in 2003-04 and return to the 2005 NBA Finals, Wallace was a bit ahead of his time. He shot 33.6 percent from three-point range and averaged one made three-pointer per game. The 47-year-old would've been a perfect fit in today's game, which places a high emphasis on spacing the floor.

For Wallace, this was an opportunity to take the next step in his coaching career, but the partnership only made it a few months before hitting a roadblock.

This adds to an already disjointed season for the Tigers, one interrupted by a COVID-19 outbreak. Heading into Thursday's game against SMU, Hardaway's squad is 9-7 and tied for sixth in the AAC.

The University of Memphis announced Saturday's men's basketball game against the University of Tennessee has been canceled because of COVID-19 issues within its program.

The matchup between the Tigers and the 18th-ranked Volunteers, dubbed the Nashville Showcase, was scheduled to take place at Bridgestone Arena.

Memphis snapped a four-game losing streak Tuesday with an impressive 92-78 upset over No. 6 Alabama. It was an important resume-building win for head coach Penny Hardaway's group.

The Tigers' matchup with the Vols was one of just three games against ranked opponents left on their schedule. Without it, they only have their two conference matchups with No. 14 Houston remaining, unless another team makes a surge from The American.

Depending how the rest of their season plays out following a 6-4 start, not getting an opportunity to take down the Volunteers could prove costly in their efforts to earn an NCAA tournament bid.

Meanwhile, UT was already on the court warming up for Saturday's game when word came down of the cancellation:

The Vols are off to a promising 8-2 start highlighted by a win over then-No. 18 North Carolina in late November.

Tennessee's schedule gets tougher over the next few weeks as it prepares to host No. 8 Arizona on Wednesday before traveling to face the aforementioned Crimson Tide on Dec. 29.

With Saturday's cancellation, the Volunteers will continue to hold a 15-12 advantage in the all-time series between the in-state rivals.

The Memphis Tigers men's basketball team needed a win, and they got a big one Tuesday.

Memphis defeated No. 6 Alabama 92-78 in a high-profile inter-conference showdown. The victory snapped an ugly four-game losing streak for the Tigers that seemed to suggest they were a borderline tournament team instead of one capable of competing for a national title.

DeAndre Williams led a balanced attack with 20 points, six assists, three rebounds, three steals and one block as one of five players to score in double figures for the victors.

Jalen Duren (14 points and six boards) and Landers Nolley II (13 points, six assists, four rebounds and four steals) also impressed, while Lester Quinones and Tyler Harris provided a spark off the bench.

Memphis was also dialed in on the defensive side for extended stretches and forced 20 Crimson Tide turnovers while holding the SEC team to 10-of-33 (30.3 percent) from deep. Keon Ellis (19 points) was the only Alabama player to score more than 12 in the loss.

The Tigers came into the campaign with elevated expectations, especially after head coach Penny Hardaway brought in the No. 1 overall recruiting class in 2021, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

Things seemed to be going as expected when they started 5-0 and defeated Virginia Tech from the ACC, but they lost to Iowa State, Georgia, Ole Miss and Murray State prior to the bounce-back effort against the Crimson Tide.

Not only did the win bring the losing streak to an end, but it also prevented the situation from potentially spiraling since next up for Memphis is a challenging game against No. 18 Tennessee on Saturday.

As for Alabama, it is still off to a solid start at 8-2 and has high-profile wins against Gonzaga and Houston bolstering its resume. It will look to get back in the win column Saturday with a matchup against Jacksonville State.

Memphis men's basketball head coach Penny Hardaway provided a blunt assessment regarding his team's veterans following the Tigers' 67-63 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday.

"Everybody's trying to get to the NBA off the ranking we had, but nobody is willing to sacrifice minutes, touches, anything," Hardaway said in an interview with Seth Davis of The Athletic.

"It's been miserable ... I'm going to have to be a complete assh--e from this point on and only play the players that care. The main reason we have these losses is the veterans don't want to take the young guys under their wings. They want it to be about them."

Hardaway also said that there was "so much negativity in our locker room with veterans being jealous."

Memphis began the season with high expectations after adding a pair of highly touted 5-star recruits in Emoni Bates and Jalen Duren. The Tigers, who were No. 12 in the Associated Press preseason poll, rose to No. 9 after a hot start.

However, it's been all downhill after a 5-0 beginning. Memphis lost 78-59 to Iowa State and 82-79 to Georgia before falling to Ole Miss. The Tigers are in danger of falling out of the Top 25 entirely at this point.

In response to the skid, Hardaway promised changes to the starting lineup.

"I guarantee you we'll start winning because you're gonna see guys out there who care and will carry out the game plan," Hardaway said. "They might make mistakes, but there are not gonna be any character issues."

Saturday was a close game but an ugly one for Memphis, which shot just 38.8 percent from the field and 2-of-11 from three-point range. Bates and Duren combined to score just nine points on 2-of-13 shooting, and the Tigers committed 20 turnovers.

Ole Miss didn't fare well offensively either, but 20 points from Jarkel Joiner and 19 more from Matthew Murrell led the Rebels to the win.

Murray State is next on the schedule, with Memphis facing the Racers at home Friday. Murray State is off to a 7-1 start. The Tigers then have a pair of tough games with No. 16 Alabama and No. 13 Tennessee.

In other words, changes are a good idea for Hardaway as the team looks to stop this skid amid a tough stretch.

Former NBA All-Star Penny Hardaway believes he showed enough before injuries derailed his career to receive consideration as one of the greatest players in history.

Hardaway, who is head coach of the University of Memphis men's team, told Ashley Nicole Moss of Sports Illustrated his play at his peak deserves more respect:

Hardaway was the third overall pick in the 1993 draft after a standout college career at Memphis. He earned four All-Star selections and was also named to the All-NBA First Team twice across his first five seasons with the Orlando Magic.

However, twice in a span of four seasons, 1997-98 with the Magic and 2000-01 with the Phoenix Suns, he suffered serious knee injuries that forced him to miss most of those respective campaigns.

While there were still occasional flashes of his previous brilliance, he never returned to the NBA's upper echelon on a consistent basis during the latter stages of his playing career.

Hardaway possessed high-end talent—his best statistical season came in 1995-96 when he averaged 21.7 points, 7.1 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals while shooting 51.3 percent from the field—but longevity is also a factor when it comes to debating the best players in history.

His resume in that regard isn't quite as strong, and that's probably the main reason he isn't mentioned more frequently when people discuss the top NBA players to ever walk on the floor.

Hardaway noted that while he'd like his playing career to receive a little more attention, his main focus now is proving people wrong as a coach with the Tigers, who opened their 2021-22 season with a win over Tennessee Tech on Tuesday night.

Emoni Bates will be playing college basketball after all.

The highly regarded prospect committed to the Memphis Tigers on Wednesday, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

Bates is a 5-star prospect and the No. 4 overall player in the class of 2021, per 247Sports' composite rankings. He decided to reclassify to the 2021 class in August.

He initially committed to Michigan State but decommitted from the Spartans on April 30.

"I would like to thank Tom Izzo and the coaching staff at Michigan State, but I have decided to reopen my recruitment," he wrote on Instagram. "I'm not sure what my future holds, but I am keeping all of my options open, both college and pro."

His decommitment came slightly more than two months after Enoch Boakye, who was a 4-star prospect on 247Sports' composite rankings, decommitted from Michigan State in February. Boakye eventually joined the Arizona State Sun Devils after he reclassified to the 2021 class.

As for Bates, it was once widely expected he would go the professional route after he decommitted from the Spartans.

Jeff Borzello of ESPN noted Michigan State was the only program that seriously recruited him because many were "skeptical that Bates will actually attend college, thinking he would potentially prefer to go to the G League for a year before the NBA."

In the end, he chose to play for head coach Penny Hardaway instead of following in the footsteps of previous prospects such as Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix.

Bates, who 247Sports' Brandon Jenkins compared to Paul George, has the skill set to lead his new team to the Final Four as soon as his freshman season.

His versatility on both ends of the floor sticks out, as he can shoot over smaller defenders, take bigger ones off the bounce, facilitate to teammates when he penetrates and draws double teams, and defend multiple positions thanks to his length at 6'8" and his overall athleticism.

If he lives up to expectations at Memphis, he will likely be a high NBA draft pick in the near future.

He can also propel the Tigers to the next step considering they have not made the NCAA men's tournament since the 2013-14 campaign. The program is looking to return to national prominence and the Final Four, which it last reached in 2008.

Landing players like Bates is exactly how it can do just that.

Former NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace is reportedly joining Penny Hardaway's coaching staff at the University of Memphis. 

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Wallace has agreed to a deal to become an assistant coach for the Tigers. 

Wallace was best known for his boisterous personality on the court as an NBA player. He was an integral part of the Detroit Pistons' run of success in the mid-2000s after being acquired in a February 2004 trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. 

The Pistons won the 2004 NBA title after adding Wallace to the roster. He averaged 13 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in 23 starts that postseason. He also helped the team reach the NBA Finals the following year and the Eastern Conference Finals every year from 2004-08. 

After retiring from the NBA following the 2012-13 season, Wallace was hired as an assistant by the Pistons on head coach Maurice Cheeks' staff. He remained with the team all season after Cheeks was fired midway through the year. 

More recently, Wallace has worked as a high school head coach at Charles E. Jordan High School in Durham, North Carolina, in 2019-20. He was hired by N.C. Good Better Best Academy Eagles to coach the men's basketball team in June. 

Wallace will be reunited with former Pistons head coach Larry Brown at Memphis. Brown accepted an offer to be an assistant for the Tigers in July.

Hardaway is entering his fourth season as head coach at Memphis. The former Orlando Magic star has a 63-32 record at his alma mater, but they have yet to make the NCAA tournament.    

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame head coach Larry Brown revealed that he contracted the Delta variant of COVID-19 while attending the 2021 Nike EYBL Peach Jam Basketball Tournament in Augusta, South Carolina.

"Unfortunately I got sick, right after it was over, I got that delta variant, and I was kind of out for about 10 to 12 days, but I'm all good now and anxious to get back," Brown said on the Jason and John Show on 92.9 FM ESPN (h/t Claire Kuwana of the Memphis Commercial Appeal).

The 80-year-old Brown also said that he is vaccinated and made a full recovery.

Brown now works as an assistant coach under Penny Hardaway for the University of Memphis. The two men were at the tournament to watch Jalen Duren, a 5-star center from the class of 2021 who has committed to Memphis.

Brown's lengthy resume included an NCAA Division I men's championship with Kansas in 1988 and the 2004 NBA title with the Detroit Pistons. He notably coached seven different NBA teams from 1988-2010.

As a player, he won an Olympic gold medal for Team USA in the 1964 Summer Games.

Memphis just got a major boost to its 2021 recruiting class, with 5-star center Jalen Duren reclassifying from 2022 and committing to the school.

Duren, a 6'10" center for Montverde Academy in Florida, was considered the No. 1 prospect in the class of 2022, the No. 1 center and the No. 1 player from Florida, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

247Sports' Brandon Jenkins said Duren had an "NBA-ready frame" and is a "total monster in the low post" in a February scouting report.

Jenkins continued:

"He is more physical, athletic, and bigger than his peers which sums up to him being a pro in the making. He runs the floor, can explode off it where he shows value as a conscientious rebounder. His touch around the basket, passing instincts and ability to leap multiple times is noteworthy. He is a motored up workhorse who has an affinity for playing hard. Defensively, Duren is alert while in helpside and alters or blocks shots with great elevation and timing. He has a high ceiling that gives many scouts the reason to believe he can achieve all-pro status someday and have a long career at the highest levels of the sport."

The Philadelphia native has earned comparisons to Miami Heat two-way center Bam Adebayo, an excellent defender also capable of running the offense from the top of the key.

Duren told The Athletic's Brian Bennett in June that he believes his distribution is an underrated aspect of his game.

"I think my passing is something that's very underrated, my ability to see the court," he said. "Something I definitely think I can do is run the offense from the elbow or from anywhere. I'm not a player who needs 100 dribbles to get where I need to go. I like to set up my guys and find a scorer."

It was unclear if Duren would go the college route or choose to go pro immediately via the G League Ignite team or the NBL. That answer became clear on Friday, and the Tigers will be happy to have him.

Penny Hardaway isn't going anywhere, despite overtures from the NBA. And he's bringing the top player in the nation to the Tigers. 

On the same night that Penny Hardaway announced he will be remaining at Memphis as the men's head basketball coach despite interest from the NBA, he reportedly added a Hall of Fame assistant. 

According to Shams Charania and Jeff Goodman of The Athletic, Hardaway has hired Larry Brown to join his staff. 

“I couldn’t step away from what I started," Hardaway told Goodman on Tuesday night. "One day it would be a dream to coach in the NBA, and the Orlando Magic, but we still have unfinished business at Memphis.”