We are now in the best part of Memphis Tigers’ basketball season: the off-season. For the past several years, we have been excited by the presence of Penny Hardaway and his recruiting accomplishments—only to be severely disappointed by the in-season results.
Yet despite the failures of Penny to exact any significant success beyond recruitment, he is still snagging some of the best players.
While Memphis Tigers basketball seasons are impossible to predict, below are five bold predictions for the upcoming 2022-23 season.
We Find Out What Kind of Coach Penny Is (Or Can Be)
We could also call this: #timesup. By now, it has become evident that it doesn’t matter the talent Penny recruits if he cannot coach, organize, motivate, and win with such a talented roster. We have heard all the EXCUSES [link] from Penny as to why they haven’t found expected success—with some being legitimate and some being, well, just excuses—but eventually a team has to actually win. Especially if that team is constantly netting a top recruiting class. Penny’s fourth year as coach will determine whether or not he is as capable at coaching as he is at recruiting. This goes for how he handles not only his talented players but also the media, staff/personnel, retention, and his forthcoming discipline from the NCAA (many of the violations which are directly attributable to Penny). This upcoming season will either be a long-awaited, full embrace of Penny, or we will be talking much more seriously about the future of Memphis Tigers basketball post-Penny.
Tigers Miss the Big Dance
Nobody wants to hear this, but it seems the prudent call. If the disciplinary consequences of Memphis’s alleged infractions don’t prevent them from entering the post-season, there is little reason to think that Memphis’s new team will be able to handle business and make the Big Dance. Bonus prediction: Memphis Tigers finish 3rd or lower in the AAC.
Kendric Davis Finishes His Collegiate Career With Memphis, Wins Aac Player of the Year, and Gets Drafted in the First Round
This will be a familiar, albeit bittersweet, conclusion to the season. Kendric Davis is going to ball out. Straight up. He is primed to dominate the AAC and position himself as a first-round draft pick for the NBA. Enjoying watching Davis while you can!
NIL Changes the Future of Memphis Tigers Basketball
With the passage of SB2392 in the Tennessee State Senate, and with Penny as the Tigers’ coach, will change the future of Tigers’ basketball. At least insofar as Penny is coach. While a different coach could also help secure NIL contracts for players, few could do it as well as Penny. Watch NIL change the face of Memphis Tigers’ basketball this upcoming season—and for many seasons to come.
Larry Brown Emerges As Unlikely Hero
Face it: it’s as much a certainty as nearly anything that Penny is going to have to be suspended for at least a few games, as consequence of the alleged NCAA violations. Enter: Larry Brown. Anybody who attended games in-person last year saw when Brown would draw up the plays. They rarely failed. Given the chance to coach entire games, one should have every reason to believe that Brown emerges as an unlikely hero. Bonus prediction: if the Tigers do, in fact, make it to the Big Dance (meaning #1 is wrong), then Brown will be thanked for such.
