Tyrese Hunter, Dain Dainja discuss offseason Memphis basketball workouts
Hideki Matsuyama and caddie Taiga Tabuchi share a moment after the FedEx St. Jude Championship Sunday in Memphis.
For all the turmoil this week’s unbecoming developments has apparently thrust upon the Memphis basketball program, it doesn’t seem to have negatively affected the Tigers’ roster.
Some of those closest to multiple players on coach Penny Hardaway’s team spoke to The Commercial Appeal Thursday about where things currently stand and their outlook on the situation.
“’Reek’ is fine. Him and Penny are tight,” said Hellion “Boog” Knight, senior big man Tyreek Smith’s mentor and confidant. “’Reek’ trusts (Hardaway’s) leadership. He’s not scared of adversity. When you make decisions, you’ve got to ride with it.
“He’s showing no signs of wavering.”
As soon as news of Hardaway’s relatively radical coaching staff shakeup was made public Tuesday night, it reverberated across the country. Rick Stansbury, Faragi Phillips, Jamie Rosser and Demetrius Dyson were let go.
Then, less than 24 hours later, when the school acknowledged the existence of an anonymous letter containing potentially damning allegations of multiple serious NCAA violations, the reaction was even stronger.
Fear of an epic fallout was at a fever pitch. Among the primary concerns was whether Hardaway could keep players from transferring and keep his promising roster intact.
All 10 of the Tigers’ scholarship players have already started taking fall semester classes. According to NCAA compliance regulations, if a player wants to transfer, step one is finding a school they could get admitted to this far into a semester. If admitted, they could be eligible as long as they didn’t play in a regular-season game. The Tigers’ regular season begins Nov. 4.
If a player transfers to a new school when the fall semester ends in December, they would not be eligible for the spring semester unless they have already graduated.
As far as LaTasha Kilgore − center Dain Dainja’s mother − is concerned, none of that pertains to her son.
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“Nothing’s changed,” she said. “Dain’s just gonna keep working hard to help the team win. Can’t let this stop the show. The players are still there, right? OK, let’s go.”
John Eurey coached guards PJ Haggerty and Jared Harris on the AAU circuit in Texas.
“Ain’t no problem with Jared and PJ,” said Eurey. “Still gotta play the game. They’re just keeping their heads down and grinding.”
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
