Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway fires back at critics calling for his job
Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway hears his critics loud and clear.
And he’s pushing back.
“I don’t need any sympathy from anybody,” he said Monday night after his weekly radio show at Brookhaven Pub & Grill. “(But) it’s just, it’s funny to me how guys are always talking about how I need to be fired. I’m not resting on anything. I want to be in the NCAA tournament, making it to Final Fours. Everybody has their opinion. They can do whatever they want.
“But I feel like my résumé's pretty damn good for coaches that have just started.”
Hardaway's comments were a continuation of the sentiments he published in an Instagram post Sunday that read: "It will never be enough in some people's eyes. Damned if you do or don't. God, I thank you for it all. I know that you got me."
Hardaway, in his sixth season with the Tigers (22-9), is preparing his team for the AAC tournament, which begins Wednesday in Fort Worth, Texas. Memphis, the No. 5 seed, will face the winner of Wichita State vs. Rice on Thursday (1:30 p.m. CT, ESPNU).
After a 15-2 start to the season and a No. 10 ranking in the AP Top 25 poll, the Tigers went 11-7 in conference play. That included a four-game losing streak and back-to-back road losses at North Texas and SMU. The regular season culminated last week with a 92-84 loss at FAU in what many viewed was a make-or-break game for the team’s NCAA tournament at-large chances. Most expect the Tigers will miss out on March Madness unless it wins the AAC tournament, which comes with an automatic berth.
Since then, Hardaway has faced increasing criticism not only for the direction a once-promising season went, but also the program’s overall results with him at the helm. Memphis has made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, winning one game. It has an NIT championship under Hardaway, as well as an AAC tournament championship in 2023.
“I look at (my career so far) in four years,” he said. “I inherited a group, we went to the second round of the NIT, granted. The next group (2020-21) was an NIT group. So I’ve really had four years to try to do what I’ve done, and I feel like I’ve done pretty well.”
Despite the level of talent Hardaway assembled last offseason, he has made it clear that part of the team’s struggles stemmed from chemistry issues among players.
“When you’re putting teams together, 12 to 13 guys every year, you never know when that’s gonna jell,” he said. “When we won early, it spoiled all of us. Then, when you go the other way, it’s weird. I’m the first to say, we had some really bad losses at home and didn’t take care of business. But the chemistry has to be there.
“It’s not just about talent.”
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As far as Hardaway’s job security, he emphasized how prolific his recruiting acumen has been. The Tigers have landed two No. 1 recruiting classes during his tenure. Since the rise of the transfer portal era, he has brought in multiple high-level players, including former All-American Kendric Davis, DeAndre Williams and current star David Jones.
“How long do you get before they say, ‘OK, it’s time for you to go,’ and then start it all over?” Hardaway said. “The standard of the program has gone way up since I’ve been the coach. It’s not easy to recruit in Memphis. It’s not easy to get players here. And I’ve done a great job of getting players to come here to Memphis and represent us in a great fashion.”
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: Penny Hardaway fires back at vocal critics
