Here's what it might take for top local high school talent to choose Memphis basketball again

Fred Smith had just finished practice at Briarcrest Christian School on a Monday afternoon, and he started talking about his recruitment and his goals for the future. A smile shot across his face when the topic turned to how important it was to finish his high school career in Memphis, and then hopefully play for the hometown Memphis Tigers.

“You don’t see a lot of guys staying in Memphis and going to the public schools like they did back then and then just going to the University of Memphis,” Smith said.

To him, it still means something to represent the Bluff City. Although he doesn’t knock any player who chooses to go to a prep school or national high school powerhouse, that’s not the route he’s planning. He wants to buck the trend that has transformed the local basketball landscape in recent years.

Penny Hardaway would appreciate that goal. The Memphis coach offered Smith a scholarship on Sunday, according to Smith's father, after the 6-foot-6 sophomore led Briarcrest to a state championship.

After missing out on the crop of talented players from Memphis in the Class of 2024, Hardaway said regaining "home-court advantage" in today's recruiting age could pay dividends in bringing the city's top high school athletes to the Tigers.

“When a guy leaves, to me, they’re better in their careers, but it also lets me know that it gives the other teams the advantage,” Hardaway said. “They’re here, we can go see them more, we can be in their presence, they can see us at practice or see us at the games. But when they leave, it’s like we’re one of the other coaches. We're the home team, but it’s like we’re like a normal regular coach that doesn’t have an advantage.”

Is history repeating itself?

Though he didn't directly say it, Hardaway was alluding to high-profile recruits Curtis Givens III and Billy Richmond III, who left the Memphis area after their sophomore years. Givens transferred from Memphis University School to Montverde Academy in Florida and signed with LSU. Richmond transferred from East High School and landed at Camden High School in New Jersey before committing to Kentucky.

It was, for Hardaway, a rare instance in which he missed out on a local player the Tigers had prioritized.

"It meant everything to me," Givens said of considering Memphis before he committed to LSU. "Obviously I hate I couldn't stay here in Memphis, but it is what it is. I made the best decision for me. I had a great relationship with most of the Memphis coaching staff. Those are great guys."

It harkened to another generation of Memphis basketball players.

Robert O'Kelley, who starred at White Station High School and now is an assistant coach at MUS, always believed former Memphis coach Larry Finch recruited East High's Tony Harris a lot harder than he did O'Kelley.

O'Kelley said without hesitation that Harris, who was a McDonald's All American pick, was the best player of the acclaimed trio to emerge from the city in 1997. Corey Bradford, from Raleigh-Egypt High School, wound up at Illinois. Because O'Kelley thought he was not a priority at Memphis, he spurned the Tigers for Wake Forest. Harris opted for Tennessee.

A year later, Finch was fired after 11 seasons, and his inability to land any of those top local players reportedly played a role in the decision.

"You want Memphis guys to stay here," he said. " . . . It was a great culture to have Memphis players be here in Memphis and go to Memphis. I hope my class didn’t start that kind of era."

FROM 2022: What happens to the Memphis HS basketball legend when the best players leave?

What's it going to take to revive the tradition?

Fred Smith said he speaks all the time with Cello Jackson and MJ Hayes — sophomores at First Assembly Christian School and marquee prospects in the 2026 class — about staying in Memphis and what it means to them.

Briarcrest coach John Harrington said those conversations are key in getting more players to see the value in staying.

"It’s going to take some kids from Memphis to say, 'You know what, I want to stay home and I want to play for the blue and the gray,’ ” Harrington said. “That’s what it’s going to take.”

But in this new era of college sports, the transfer portal and the earnings potential of name, image and likeness have become paramount in the recruiting process. The effort to keep players home becomes more complicated.

"Unfortunately, I think the business standpoint of ‘Where can you get the most money’ takes precedent over ‘This is my hometown,’ ” said Bubba Luckett, the coach at Christian Brothers and a former Memphis Tigers player.

This season, Memphis has just two players from the city on its roster — outgoing senior Malcolm Dandridge and walk-on Joe Cooper — and none committed in the future. With Givens and Richmond headed elsewhere, the focus shifts to the area's talented 2026 class that just finished its sophomore season of high school basketball.

They could be the catalyst for change — or they could reinforce a pattern that's playing out more and more in recent years.

"I feel like it would be a pretty good story,” Smith said. “For me and my guys to go through our high schools and go to the University of Memphis, if God has it planned that way. I think it would be pretty good for us.”

Memphis Tigers basketball beat reporter Jason Munz contributed to this story.

Reach Wynston Wilcox at wwilcox@gannett.com and on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @wynstonw__.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: Penny Hardaway's path to keeping top recruits home