Penny Hardaway talks Memphis basketball offseason, transfer additions
Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway talked about his team’s offseason at TPC Southwind on Wednesday.
Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway has added junior college post player Bouna Kebe for the 2024-25 season.
Kebe’s commitment was first reported by Yuval Shaham, his name, image and likeness representative.
The move bolsters a Tigers’ roster that is somewhat light on depth. Kebe’s addition is expected to leave Hardaway with two open scholarships.
Kebe (6-8) spent last season at Gillette (Wyoming) College and played the 2022-23 season at Independence (Kansas) Community College. The native of Senegal averaged 11.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 28 games (15 starts) for the Pronghorns. In 31 games at Independence, he put up 6.9 points and 4.1 rebounds.
Kebe, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining, also held an offer from Long Island.
Hardaway had the bulk of what figures to be his primary rotation on campus for the entirety of summer workouts. Guards Tyrese Hunter, PJ Haggerty, Baraka Okojie, Colby Rogers and Jared Harris arrived in June, as did big men Dain Dainja, Moussa Cisse, Tyreek Smith and Nicholas Jourdain (the only scholarship player back from last season). Wing PJ Carter joined the mix in July.
Last month, Hardaway said summer workouts showed him he made the right moves in putting this roster together.
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“It’s gone really well, because we have a group of young men who get it,” he said. “They bring toughness. They buy in. There’s no bad body language. I haven’t had any of that. It’s just all about whatever we teach, they want to learn.”
Kebe’s commitment comes the week after a busy one for Hardaway. First, he made a series of changes to his coaching staff, opting not to retain Rick Stansbury, Faragi Phillips, Jamie Rosser and Demetrius Dyson. Those moves were announced Sept. 4. Later that day, the university said it was aware of an anonymous letter alleging the program had committed multiple potential major NCAA violations in recent years.
In a subsequent interview with College Sports Today’s Jon Rothstein, Hardaway touched on the public backlash he has faced in recent years.
“I’m not above criticism, but I know that I’m being judged harsher,” he said. “I have thick skin, but if we’re talking about facts and you’ve been in the business longer than I have, about someone being in their first six years — from someone who you respect who’s the best in the business to the worst in the business — if those guys were given up on after their fifth or sixth season, they wouldn’t have become who they became. That’s what is so funny to me. Is it harsher because I came from the NBA?”
The 2024-25 regular season tips off against Missouri (Nov. 4) at FedExForum.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
