Memphis basketball is many things under Penny Hardaway, but it is never boring. Late Tuesday night, reports began to surface of mass firings of Penny Hardaway’s staff, only two months away from the start of the season. These were confirmed with the announcement this morning from the athletic department that assistant coach Rick Stansbury, advisor to the head coach Faragi Phillips, director of player development Jamie Rosser, and director of player development and recruiting coordinator Demetrius Dyson had all been removed from their positions.
Dyson was the only one of the fired staff members to publicly address the situation, with an instagram story that said, “The man behind the scenes. The man who invested blood, sweat, and tears daily for our city’s team. The one who worked w/o any notority (notoriety) or appreciation until being negatively mentioned, some s*it doesn’t make sense. But God got me.”
Continuity, both on the coaching staff and roster, continues to be a struggle. After already letting assistant coach Andy Borman go this summer, Hardaway now has let go of all three of this past year’s assistant coaches, as well as many other support roles in the program. There is only one player returning from last season’s team, Nick Jourdain.
The prevailing questions for this abrupt change are why now and what's next.
For the first question, being only two months out from the season, this dramatic change to the makeup of the staff could greatly impact the success of this upcoming season. A new administration looking to clean up the basketball program is part of the reason, with Athletic Director Ed Scott formally beginning his job in July and Senior Deputy Athletic Director Tim Duncan beginning his job overseeing the basketball team in mid-August. Scott mentioned the NCAA is investigating the Malcolm Dandridge academic scandal, so some of this staff turnover could be related to that as well.
As for what’s next, much of this coming season’s main staff is in place, with former Indiana and UAB head coach Mike Davis joining as an assistant. Nolan Smith, former Duke guard and assistant coach and Louisville assistant coach is reported to join the staff as well. Andre Turner, who led Memphis to the 1985 Final Four, will also be a member of the staff, likely as an assistant, along with Jermaine Johnson, who has had many different roles on Penny’s staff since the 2020-21 season.
Memphis must complete this staff quickly, as time is of the essence with a whole new roster and staff. Memphis plays a charity exhibition vs Alabama on October 27th, and opens the season vs Missouri on November 4th.
