How Memphis basketball freshmen Ashton Hardaway, Carl Cherenfant are making things hard for Penny Hardaway
LA ROMANA, Dominican Republic — Penny Hardaway picked apart the transfer portal as precisely as anyone in 2023.
The Memphis basketball team had needs pretty much everywhere, so the sixth-year coach went to work. He landed fifth-year guard Caleb Mills and veteran forward Nick Jourdain early. He got Division II star Jonathan Pierre about the same time. Later, he scored fourth-year wing David Jones, 24-year-old point guard Jahvon Quinerly and a few more well-traveled, highly experienced players. There could be one or two more to come.
After all, experience equals success in the new age of college basketball, right? Few will argue that.
Problem solved, right? If only it were that simple. If only the freshman class Hardaway put together more than a year ago — largely overshadowed since then by the riches mined from the portal — was content to sit back and learn from the ones who have been at this a lot longer. If only Ashton Hardaway wasn’t already confident beyond his years and Carl Cherenfant wasn’t among the most athletic players on the team, regardless of age and amount of wisdom.
If only. Early returns from Memphis’ preseason exhibition tour of the Dominican Republic this week suggest those freshmen aren’t conceding anything. The early returns suggest Ashton Hardaway and Cherenfant might, in fact, be ready to contribute right away.
“Those guys are gonna make it hard for me,” Penny Hardaway said. “They’re not afraid, and they produce out on the floor. Our freshmen are really good.”
How good? Cherenfant is scoring 9.5 points per game his first two times out this week. His 60% field goal percentage (9-for-15) is tied with Jaykwon Walton (15-of-25) for tops on the team. Ashton Hardaway, after a rough outing Wednesday against the Dominican national team, bounced back with 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists versus the Dominican Republic select team (Los Trenes Del Este) in Friday’s overtime win.
Ashton Hardaway, a 6-foot-8 small forward, even flashed the clutch gene. Down 90-89 late in the fourth quarter Friday, Penny Hardaway called timeout to call his son’s number. Ashton calmly stepped into a 3-pointer with a self-assured stroke of someone who has played at least one game against another Division I college basketball team — which he hasn’t yet and won’t until November.
“I told JQ (that) if he threw me the ball, I was gonna make it regardless,” Ashton said with sincerity. “It’s kind of a crazy experience, especially for me being a freshman, having a big moment this early in the season. But it’s kinda what I’m here for. I’m, like, a big shotmaker. Tough shotmaker.
“I’ve kinda been doing it, humbly speaking.”
Cherenfant, too. The Tigers early on identified and targeted the brawny, bouncy 6-5 wing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He took two official visits to Memphis — the first in March 2022, the second in October. And when the program’s once seven-member 2023 recruiting class began dwindling, neither side turned away.
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“He’s a pro,” Penny Hardaway said Friday after Cherenfant scored nine points in 11 minutes before fouling out. “We watched Carl for a year and a half. His athleticism and defense is what drew us to him. But those two poster dunks — yeah, we knew exactly what he could do.”
The same cannot be said by others.
“I didn’t even know who this dude was,” Jourdain said.
He quickly learned. He and Cherenfant arrived on campus in late May, and Jourdain has become a big fan.
“Just what he’s capable of defensively,” he said. “And his athleticism and how he’s able to apply it to his offense. He’s just an overall dog.”
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: How Memphis basketball freshmen are making things hard on Penny Hardaway
