What Memphis Basketball Will Do After Retaining Penny Hardaway
After finishing its worst season since 1969-70, Memphis will retain coach Penny Hardaway, athletic director Ed Scott announced Monday.
The decision, however, sets up an offseason full of change. Here is what that could look like.
Hire a General Manager
Memphis is expected to add a general manager for the first time. The position is still relatively new in college basketball, but most high-major programs have added one as the transfer portal has reshaped roster building.
The role mirrors professional sports in one key way: building the roster.
Hiring someone to focus on roster construction and player evaluation would take some of that burden off Hardaway and allow him to spend more time coaching. The way Memphis handled last off-season’s transfer portal cycle was a major reason the 2025-26 season unraveled.
Hire New Assistants
Hardaway announced that assistant coaches Mike Davis, Jermaine Johnson and Roy Rogers will not return in 2026. Strength and conditioning coach Todd Forcier also will not return.
This will mark the third time in Hardaway’s tenure that he has replaced his entire assistant coaching staff in one offseason. He hired Rick Stansbury, Faragi Phillips and Andy Borman after the 2021-22 season. He then hired Davis and Nolan Smith just 47 days before the start of the 2024-25 season.
Build a New Roster
Whoever Memphis hires as general manager will likely help assemble a mostly new roster for 2026. The Tigers have 3-star guard Cello Jackson committed out of high school and could return up to eight players from the 2025-26 roster.
Those potential returners are guards Quante Berry, Curtis Givens III and Julius Thedford; forwards Ashton Hardaway and William Whorton; and centers Simon Majok and Arop Arop.
Still, attrition is likely, and Memphis should not expect all of those players to return.
