Buckley: Aaron Bradshaw got the message. Now Penny Hardaway’s Tigers hope he continues to get it.
Memphis’ Aaron Bradshaw (left) battles Ole Miss forward James Scott (right) for a loose ball during action on Nov. 11, 2025. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
Tim Buckley
Tim is a veteran sportswriter who graduated from CBHS in Memphis and the University of Missouri. He previously covered LSU sports in Baton Rouge, and the University of Louisiana football and basketball for The Daily Advertiser/USA TODAY Network in Lafayette, the NBA’s Utah Jazz for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning for the St. Petersburg Times in Florida, and West Texas State basketball for the Amarillo Globe News in Texas.
Aaron Bradshaw was benched.
Forced to sit an entire game, miss an opportunity to pad stats against an inferior opponent.
When Bradshaw returned to face Baylor last Saturday at FedExForum, after being denied minutes in a home win over New Orleans one outing earlier, things could have gone either way.
Memphis Tigers coach Penny Hardaway, however, wasn’t concerned about where they’d go.
“The beauty, for me, is that I build relationships with these young men, right?” Hardaway said. “And me and Aaron are really close.
“So I knew what I could do with him. … I understood what was gonna happen out of that; that was happened (Saturday) was gonna happen, and that he wouldn’t go the opposite way.”
What happened was a wow game.
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