|
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 has set the bar high for himself when it comes to acquiring talent.
Hardaway has landed two No. 1-ranked recruiting classes in his six offseasons as Memphis’ head coach, and he’s also snagged players like Kendric Davis and DeAndre Williams out of the NCAA’s transfer portal.
And after a 2022 cycle in which he didn’t bring in any true freshmen, it looked like he’d get back to his old ways of snagging star-studded high school recruits in 2023. The Tigers’ 2023 class was ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation following November’s early signing period, after all.
But that once top-five class — which has shrunk in size from seven players to five — has now dropped to 14th in the nation, per 247Sports. The recruiting network finalized its rankings for the top 150 players in the 2023 class on Thursday, April 4.
Memphis has four of its five recruits in the top 125 of 247Sports’ composite rankings:
- G Mikey Williams (No. 49)
- F JJ Taylor (No. 81)
- F Ashton Hardaway (No. 107)
- G/F Carl Cherenfant (No. 111)
Those players, plus guard Ryan Forrest — who ranks No. 231 in the class — are signed.
It’s a good-not-great class — which, without further context, is fine. But the Tigers don’t yet have an incoming transfer who moves the needle the way Davis did a year ago, nor do they have a lot of production returning (Chandler Lawson and Jayden Hardaway are currently the only players from last season’s team set to return).
So, the metrics confirm what most of us already knew: There’s a chance Memphis’ 2023-24 squad could be one of the least collectively talented groups in Hardaway’s time so far as head coach.
The Tigers are also bringing in the following five transfers: former Florida State guard Caleb Mills, former MTSU wing Teafale Lenard Jr., former Temple forward Nick Jourdain, former Division II Nova Southeastern guard Jonathan Pierre and former UCF guard Jayhlon Young.
Of that bunch, only Mills and Pierre were top three in scoring on their former teams — and Pierre is coming up from the D-II level.
All of that’s not to say that Memphis won’t be successful next season. Hardaway proved just this past season that he can win games with less talent than he’d had in the past when he won an AAC Tournament title with a roster primarily composed of former mid-major role players.
What it does mean, though, is that Hardaway will have an even more difficult challenge on his hands in 2023-24 unless the Tigers land one or two big fishes this summer.
More from your Insider:
After missing on Alabama transfer guard Jaden Bradley, it raises questions about if Memphis can keep up its previously torrid recruiting pace in the era of name, image and likeness.
Jayhlon Young averaged 4.5 points, 2.0 assists and 2.2 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per game last season at Central Florida.
So far, five total players from coach Penny Hardaway’s squad have opted to enter the transfer portal ahead of the May 11 deadline.
The former Memphis Tigers star guard will have an opportunity to showcase his skills in front of NBA and NBA G League scouts, coaches and front-office executives.
..... |
