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Weekend Brunch: Why Penny Hardaway feels “no outside pressure” to make the NCAA Tournament in 2022

A new offseason means a new weekly column!

Check out below for the first installment of “Weekend Brunch”, a new project that will be published each and every Friday on all the latest happenings in the world of college basketball.

Buon Appetit!

A La Carte

Penny Hardaway isn’t flinching.

For Memphis’ favorite son — who has averaged 21 wins in his first three seasons as head coach of his alma mater — it’s a matter of when the Tigers will reach the NCAA Tournament under his stewardship, not if.

“I’m pissed that we haven’t gotten to the NCAA Tournament yet,” Hardaway said this week, after leading Memphis to back-to-back appearances in the Postseason NIT, including a tournament championship this past year. “We should have made the NCAA Tournament the last two years, but two years ago we had the whole James Wiseman situation and then last last year, we didn’t have DeAndre Williams for the first seven games of the season because he wasn’t eligible. I don’t feel any outside pressure to make the NCAA Tournament from anybody else. The only the pressure that I feel is the pressure that I put on myself because I know that we’re going to get there. I know that’s where we’re headed.”

Could that be in 2022?

Memphis fans certainly hope so.

The Tigers lost four of their top nine scorers — Boogie Ellis, D.J. Jeffries, Moussa Cisse, and Damian Baugh — via the transfer portal, but also added two potential starters in Earl Timberlake (Miami) and Chandler Lawson (Oregon) while welcoming back Tyler Harris — who started his career at Memphis — as a transfer from Iowa State. The 6-6 Timberlake (9.3 points, 5.0 rebounds) battled injuries and only appeared in seven games as a freshman for Miami, but is a former top-50 recruit and should be an impact newcomer along with 6-8 freshman Josh Minott, who was rated as a four-star prospect according to 247 Sports.

Hardaway also returns five players — Williams, Landers Nolley, Lester Quinones, Alex Lomax, and Malcolm Dandridge — who averaged double-figure minutes last season, with Williams, Nolley, and Quinones all playing key roles during the run to the Postseason NIT title. The Tigers were 16-5 last season with Williams (11.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals) in the lineup and 4-3 when he was not.

“We finally have a veteran team,” Hardaway said. “You have to be old to win and you have to be healthy. Two years ago, we had the youngest team in the NCAA and last year, we didn’t have DeAndre (Williams) for seven games. My three years here so far — they’ve been like the spring, summer, and the fall — all different. I first inherited a veteran team from Tubby (Smith) and then the past two years, we had different challenges. But we have a core group back and some really good pieces.”

Everyone in college basketball knows that Hardaway wasn’t brought to Memphis to coach in the NIT. His presence instantly added juice to the Tigers’ program when he was hired a few years ago, but his average win total (21) in his first three seasons is only one victory more than his predecessor — Smith — had in his two years at Memphis; Smith finished his brief tenure on Beale Street with an overall mark of 40-26.

If Hardaway and the Tigers are ready to be a national factor during the upcoming season, America will know quickly.

Memphis will participate in the Preseason NIT at the Barclays Center with Iowa State, Xavier, and Virginia Tech and also play a neutral site game in Nashville against Tennessee. There’s also three road games against SEC opponents — Ole Miss, Georgia, and Alabama — along with a home game at FedEx Forum against Saint Louis. That’s seven games in November and December against quality competition for a team that Hardaway feels is a bit underrated at this juncture. Memphis is currently ranked 41st the ROTHSTEIN 45.

“I know we lost Boogie (Ellis), D.J. (Jeffries), and Moussa (Cisse), but I feel like we’ve got a Top-25 caliber team,” Hardaway said. “I really like our group and we’re just starting to scratch the surface in terms of our culture.”

And the 2022 NCAA Tournament?

“We’ve got huge chips on our shoulder when it comes to that,” Hardaway said. “That’s what we’re playing for.”

Assorted Pastries

  • Oklahoma State is a legitimate Big 12 dark horse that not many people are talking about. The Cowboys lost Cade Cunningham to the NBA, but are still set to return seven players who averaged double-figure minutes on last season’s NCAA Tournament team while also adding Kansas transfer Bryce Thompson.
  • Looking for a potential All-American next season who doesn’t play in a power conference? Try Nevada’s Grant Sherfield. The Wolf Pack’s star guard averaged 19.4 points and 7.7 assists during the final 10 games of last year. Remember the name.
  • Houston and Virginia are finalizing a home-and-home series that will begin this season at the Fertitta Center. There will be a return game in Charlottesville during the 22-23 season.
  • Four power conference programs have not taken a transfer this offseason: Villanova, UConn, Purdue, and Stanford.
  • As of last weekend, 35.1% of the players in college basketball who entered the transfer portal had not found a new school.

Leftovers