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Welcome to this week’s Tigers Basketball Insider. Below you’ll find the latest news and analysis from The Daily Memphian’s Parth Upadhyaya, John Martin, Tim Buckley and Geoff Calkins.
Penny Hardaway will have to build almost an entirely new roster for the 2023-24 season.
As it stands now, Memphis is losing six of its 13 scholarship players from this past season’s squad. Those six individuals — Kendric Davis, DeAndre Williams, Elijah McCadden, Alex Lomax, Damaria Franklin and Kao Akobundu-Ehiogu — combined to average 61.7 points per game.
That accounted for 77.7% of the Tigers’ 79.4 points per game as a team.
And that doesn’t include players who could transfer or choose to end their collegiate careers in the coming weeks.
The Tigers have seven commits as part of their fifth-ranked incoming freshman class. But Hardaway has learned in recent years that simply having talented underclassmen doesn’t cut it in today’s game of college basketball.
So, he’ll have to again utilize the transfer portal.
“I’m looking to be older,” Hardaway said Friday after Memphis’ loss to FAU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. “But there is a little blend of young players plus older players, and that seems to work, as well.”
Here are a few transfers Memphis has been in contact with, according to recent reports (from On3, Stock Risers, etc.):
SG Khalif Battle, Temple
- 6-foot-5, 175 pounds
- High school class: 2019 (four-star prospect, per 247Sports)
- 2022-23 per-game stats: 17.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists
C Eddie Lampkin, TCU
 TCU center Eddie Lampkin Jr. celebrates during an NCAA college basketball game against Kansas, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
- 6-11, 300
- High school class: 2020 (three-star prospect, per 247Sports)
- 2022-23 per-game stats: 6.3 points, 5.9 rebounds
PG Nicolas Timberlake, Towson
 Pittsburgh's Jamarius Burton, left, reacts as Towson's Nicolas Timberlake (25) grabs the ball after a foul was called against Towson during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won 63-59. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
- 6-4, 200
- High school class: 2018 (unranked, per 247Sports)
- 2022-23 per-game stats: 17.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists
PG Taran Armstrong, California Baptist
 California Baptist guard Taran Armstrong (1) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona, Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
- 6-5, 185
- High school class: 2021 (unranked, per 247Sports)
- 2022-23 per-game stats: 11.3 points, 5.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds
SG Denver Jones, Florida International (FIU)
- 6-4, 195
- High school class: 2021 (unranked, per 247Sports)
- 2022-23 per-game stats: 20.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists
PG Amaree Abram, Ole Miss
 Mississippi guard Amaree Abram (1) dribbles up court during an NCAA college basketball game against Texas A&M, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Oxford, Miss. Texas A&M won 69-61. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
- 6-3, 180
- High school class: 2022 (four-star prospect, 247Sports)
- 2022-23 per-game stats: 8.0 points, 2.0 assists, 2.0 rebounds
PF Robert Jennings, Texas Tech
 Texas Tech forward Robert Jennings (4) shoots under pressure from West Virginia forward Tre Mitchell (3) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the first round of the Big 12 Conference tournament Wednesday, March 8, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
- 6-7, 220
- High school class: 2022 (three-star prospect, per 247Sports)
- 2022-23 per-game stats: 2.7 points, 1.9 rebounds
G/F Teafale Lenard, Middle Tennessee
 Middle Tennessee guard Teafale Lenard Jr., center, shoots past Florida Atlantic guard Jalen Gaffney, front left, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
- 6-7, 175
- High school class: 2021 (three-star prospect, per 247Sports)
- 2022-23 per-game stats: 8.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists
PF Langston Wilson, Washington
- 6-9, 210
- High school class: 2021 (four-star prospect, per 247Sports)
- 2022-23 per-game stats: 1.7 points, 1.9 rebounds
More from your Insider:
Here’s what we currently know about the Tigers’ 2023-24 roster.
Memphis jumped out to a 20-0 lead and never trailed in the 79-62 win over Ball State. The Tigers will face Bowling Green in the third round of the WNIT tournament.
Forty-four of our 400-plus participants have higher scores than the members of The Daily Memphian’s sports team.
The 6-foot-10 Memphis forward plans to pursue a professional career, multiple sources confirm to The Daily Memphian.
Following its first WNIT win in more than a decade, Katrina Merriweather’s Memphis Tigers basketball team will host Ball State on Monday, March 20, at Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
Here are some answers following the Tigers early exit following a crushing loss to FAU.
The Memphis Tigers had it all in their grasp. The win, the celebration, maybe even a trip to the Sweet 16. Instead, they lost to Florida Atlantic Friday. And now they are headed home.
Memphis lost a heartbreaker to Florida Atlantic Friday night. A promising season came to a crushing end.
NCAA East Regional first-round box score for the game between the Memphis Tigers and Florida Atlantic University Owls played Friday, March 17, in Columbus, Ohio.
The 1972-73 Memphis State Tigers NCAA Tournament team’s impact on the city still is examined and debated 50 years later.
DeAndre Williams had a GoPro. Alex Lomax (and his big ones) are on a T-shirt. Yes, Memphis, the Tigers seem to be having a high old time.
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