Why Penny Hardaway believes he might never get over Memphis' NCAA Tournament loss to FAU
Penny Hardaway is already well into the next chapter of his story as Memphis basketball coach.
The Tigers legend took most of his new team to the Dominican Republic earlier this month, where it went 2-1 in exhibition games. He learned a lot there. About his team. About himself. Seeing his new cast of characters on the court versus relatively unfamiliar faces was a welcome change of pace and a pseudo-preview for the new season.
If only Hardaway could fully enjoy it. If only he could completely turn the page on the old one.
But he can’t.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get over that,” Hardaway said during an exclusive interview with The Commercial Appeal from La Romana’s Casa de Campo Resort.
Hardaway was referring to Memphis’ gut-wrenching season-ending loss to Florida Atlantic in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers, leading 65-64 with 19 seconds left and possession of the ball, threw it away near half-court with 11 seconds on the clock. Then the Owls coughed it up, a scramble ensued, and Jayden Hardaway came up with the loose ball. Video replays showed Alex Lomax and Kendric Davis frantically signaling for a timeout. But while multiple FAU players reached for the ball as Hardaway tried covering it up, referees blew the play dead with 5 seconds left and called a jump ball.
The possession arrow favored FAU, which scored the winning basket with 2 seconds remaining. Memphis was just one stop in the Owls' path to the Final Four.
To say Hardaway is tormented by the loss is probably a bit much, according to him. But he acknowledges that game might forever go down in the annals of his own personal coaching history as the one that got away.
For two reasons.
“They were talking so much trash,” Hardaway said. “You know me. My pride is big. They talked from warmups to the beginning of the game.”
And apparently not just the players.
“Everybody was just talking smack, from their (athletic director) to their president,” Hardaway said. “(Not to my face), but enough where people could hear it, and people were bringing it back to me. But the players were talking to me.”
Hardaway concedes it’s difficult to quibble too much with FAU’s bold pregame gabbing. In fact, in a way, he respects it.
“They did it before the game, during the game and after the game,” he said. “And (they) backed it up.”
What makes the loss sting much more is the feeling of what could’ve been had the Tigers executed in those critical final seconds. After FAU defeated Memphis, the Owls went on to beat 16-seed Fairleigh-Dickinson, Tennessee and Kansas State before falling by one point to San Diego State.
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“You just looked at the road and how we matched up. It was like, ‘Man, I would’ve loved to have the opportunity to do that,’ ” Hardaway said.
Instead, the Tigers left Columbus, Ohio, disappointed. Hardaway watched the rest of the NCAA Tournament, attended the Final Four, then disconnected for a while.
“I just really tried to appreciate what we had accomplished (a 26-9 record and an AAC championship),” he said. “I just kind of looked at it like, ‘Hey, this is where I wanna be next year.’ ”
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: Why Penny Hardaway may never get over FAU loss
