Meet Jamie Rosser, Penny Hardaway's newest assistant: 'I'm a Memphis guy to the core'

James H. Rosser Sr. had never formally met Penny Hardaway face-to-face.

So in August, when the Memphis Tigers basketball coach attended a funeral at LaGoshen Missionary Baptist Church — where Rosser has been pastor for 29 years — the former postman introduced himself.

“Jamie’s dad?” Hardaway asked, referencing the former Overton point guard, one of the top players in the city in the mid-1990s, who at the time was head coach at Gaston College, a small junior college near Charlotte. The proud father beamed, posed for a photo with the former NBA superstar, then called his son and told him all about the chance encounter.

Two weeks later, Rosser called his dad back. He had some news.

“I said, ‘I’m going to be working for Coach Hardaway,’ ” Rosser told The Commercial Appeal. “He said, ‘You talking about Penny?’

“It’s kind of funny how things work out, isn't it?”

Hardaway brought Rosser on as an assistant coach and the program’s director of player development. He is one of several key hires Hardaway made this offseason, joining assistant Rick Stansbury, strength coach Darby Rich, director of analytics Andy Pennington and equipment manager Peter Warden.

But Rosser is the only addition with Memphis branded in his DNA.

“I love Memphis — let me just start with that,” he said. “In my heart, I’m a Memphis guy to the core. And to be able to coach under Coach Hardaway, and add him to my list of mentors, it’s an absolute blessing.”

Jamie Rosser's journey

The homecoming has been a long time coming.

He starred at Overton, and with the help of former Tigers player Marcus Moody, led the Wolverines to a district championship in 1997. Rosser became an All-American at Northwest Mississippi Community College, and Slam Magazine named him the No. 1 junior college point guard in the country.

Initially committed to Minnesota, Rosser turned to a familiar face when former Golden Gophers coach Clem Haskins resigned in 1999 amid an academic scandal. Tony Madlock — a former Memphis State standout entering his third season as an assistant at Arkansas State that year — was Rosser’s AAU coach (Idlewild) years earlier, and they remained close.

“I’ve always considered him my little brother,” Madlock said.

After two years at Arkansas State and a year spent playing professionally in Lithuania, it was time to take the next logical step.

“We both knew we were going to coach and give back,” said Moody, head coach at Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering since 2015. “We talked about it even back then (playing at Overton).”

Following a successful stint leading the Overton girls basketball program, Rosser joined David “Dickey” Nutt (his head coach at Arkansas State) at Southeast Missouri State. After seven seasons there, he returned to Memphis, coaching at Kingsbury and Whitehaven.

Then, Nutt came calling again. As athletic director and head coach at Gaston College, he was tasked with resurrecting an entire athletic program that had been dormant for 50 years.

“They didn’t have a facility — and still don’t, if I’m not mistaken. No cafeteria, no dorm. They play in one of the toughest juco leagues in America, Region 10,” said Nutt, now an assistant at Missouri. “I knew the only way I could do it was to hire Jamie Rosser.”

The key ingredient

Nutt’s reasoning boiled down to four essential cornerstones.

The first three, he said, are simple. A good assistant coach can evaluate talent, sign players and get them eligible. The fourth is the separator, and according to Nutt, can’t be taught. He said he has marveled at Rosser’s ability to develop relationships. He believes it’s an innate skill that few have mastered.

But Nutt said Rosser has. His father has seen it, too, noting that if a player is willing to put in extra work, Rosser will stay at the gym for untold hours.

“He knows his players. He spends time with his players. He goes out of his way for his players,” James said. “That’s him.”

“I guarantee you, every player on that (Memphis) roster already loves Jamie Rosser,” Madlock said.

A dream realized

Two months in, Rosser admits he’s finally had time to process the gravity of a dream realized.

Once a point guard prodigy from Orange Mound, he turns reverent when running down the list of Tigers he grew up idolizing. He rattles off names like Keith Lee, Elliot Perry, Larry Finch, Andre Turner, Madlock and Hardaway, nearly rhythmically.

Rosser grew up just minutes from the university. He attended Sherwood for both elementary and middle school — both within walking distance from where his idols became his idols. He still wishes he could have worn the same uniform they did.

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"Ask any kid who grew up in this town and they'll tell you they want to be a Tiger. If they don't, it's the biggest fib of their life," he said.

Hardaway admits that sentiment works both ways.

“Guys from the city understand what it’s all about,” he said.

“I wanted to be a player (at Memphis)," Rosser admits. "That didn’t happen. But I put my head down, worked hard and, as it turns out, now is my time to be a Tiger. So I'm here and striving to help these young men grow, develop and be successful along their journeys."

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: How Jamie Rosser finally made his way to Memphis Tigers basketball