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‘We’re all underdogs’: New-look Tigers head into 2025-26 season with something to prove

By , Daily Memphian Updated: October 07, 2025 3:44 PM CT | Published: October 07, 2025 3:09 PM CT

Perhaps Dug McDaniel said it best.

Days after Memphis concluded its first week of official practice last Friday, the Tigers’ new point guard called his team’s 2025-26 season — now just a little more than a month away from beginning Nov. 8 against San Francisco at FedExForum — a “do-or-die” campaign for him.

McDaniel, who transferred to Memphis in April after one season at Kansas State and two before that at Michigan, is hungry to return to form in his final season of eligibility following a somewhat underwhelming showing at K-State.

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Memphis Tigers Basketball Penny Hardaway Dug McDaniel 2025-26 college basketball season Subscriber Only

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Parth Upadhyaya

Parth Upadhyaya

Parth Upadhyaya covers the Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team. A Raleigh, N.C., native and a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Media and Journalism, Upadhyaya is a longtime college hoops junkie. Prior to joining The Daily Memphian in 2022, he covered high school sports in western Pennsylvania for the Beaver County Times and Penn State football for the Centre Daily Times.


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