Penny Hardaway and his All-Star coaching staff landed the top prep player and Memphis is primed to jump back into the spotlight
- Former Memphis Tigers standout and NBA star Penny Hardaway was hired to coach at his alma mater in March of 2018.
- The Tigers were once a big name in the world of college basketball but have fallen out of the spotlight in recent years.
- Hardaway has hired an All-Star coaching staff in an attempt to revamp the program, but securing a commitment from James Wiseman - the top recruit in the ESPN 100 for the Class of 2019- could be the spark Memphis needs to return to relevancy.
When former Memphis Tigers standout and NBA star Penny Hardaway was hired to coach at his alma mater in March, he was tasked with restoring a weak Memphis program to its former glory.
He promptly hired an all-star cast of assistant coaches - including NBA sharpshooter Mike Miller, former NBA Coach of the Year Sam Mitchell, and former Tigers point guard Tony Madlock - to begin piecing together a program that had fallen apart in recent years.
But on Tuesday, Hardaway secured arguably the biggest piece to the puzzle.
James Wiseman - the top recruit in the ESPN 100 for the Class of 2019 - took to SportsCenter to announce his decision to play college basketball at Memphis. The 7-foot, 230-pound center chose the Tigers over Kentucky, Kansas, Florida State, and Vanderbilt.
Like many other basketball stars with unique abilities given their size, Wiseman has often been referred to as a unicorn. He played on that characterization by pulling out a stuffed animal unicorn donning the Memphis logo during his announcement.
According to ESPN's Jeff Borzello, Wiseman was widely considered to be leaning towards joining John Calipari in Lexington, but the tables turned once Memphis hired Hardaway as the new head coach of the Tigers.
A Memphis local, Wiseman played for teams coached by Hardaway since early in his childhood. Not only did the coveted recruit play for Hardaway's Team Penny/Bluff City Legends program, but he also won a state championship at East High School under Hardaway's leadership.
When the former NBA great was brought on to coach the Tigers, one of his priorities was focusing the bulk of his attention on recruiting Wiseman, who visited Memphis' campus multiple times this fall. Now that Wiseman has become the first top-10 recruit to choose the Tigers since Adonis Thomas committed in 2011, Hardaway hopes that Wiseman will be able to attract other top prospects to Memphis. The big man's decision itself should be enough to put the Tigers on a lot more people's radars, but he's also expressed a commitment to recruiting more players to join him in Bluff City.
Check out some of what Wiseman will bring to Memphis next year below: