Memphis basketball staff upheaval under Penny Hardaway continues with four departures at ‘not ideal’ timing

Memphis basketball is undergoing a significant staff makeover just two months before coach Penny Hardaway’s seventh season begins, as the program announced Wednesday that four staff members will not return for the 2024-25 season. The purge comes during a period of significant change at multiple levels of the program.

The headline departure was Rick Stansbury, the former coach at Mississippi State and Western Kentucky who was with the Tigers for the 2023-24 season as Hardaway’s lead assistant. The others not returning are assistants Faragi Phillips and Jamie Rosser and special advisor Demetrius Dyson.

“I want to thank Rick, Faragi, Jamie and Demetrius for their service to the University of Memphis and our basketball program,” Hardaway said in a statement. “These are good coaches that I’ve worked with closely over the past few seasons, but I made the difficult decision to go in a new direction with our staff. The timing is not ideal, but I want to give this team the best opportunity to reach our goals of winning the American Conference and advancing in the NCAA Tournament. With the season rapidly approaching, we are going to move quickly to complete the staff.”

Former Indiana coach Mike Davis is among the incoming assistant hires for Hardaway, a source confirmed to CBS Sports. Davis was most recently the head coach at Detroit Mercy. Former Duke and Louisville assistant Nolan Smith has also been in talks with Hardaway about joining the Memphis staff, according to the Commercial Appeal.

Tuesday’s wave of personnel changes came after several other staffers left the program or were let go earlier in the offseason. Hardaway is also working with a new athletic director, Tim Scott, who was hired in June.

Staff upheaval is nothing new for Hardaway, who has cycled through several assistants since accepting the job in 2018. But the timing and scale of this year’s moves stand out. Memphis opens the 2024-25 season against Missouri on Nov. 4 and plays in a loaded Maui Invitational in late November. 

That leaves a short window for Hardaway to onboard new staff members and get them acclimated to a program that has just one returning scholarship player from the 2023-24 season. Early-season success is paramount for the Tigers to build a postseason resume as they compete in a league (the AAC) that will provide few, if any, Quad 1 opportunities during conference play.

Hardaway has kept the floor high at the program where he once starred. The Tigers have won at least 20 games in all six of his seasons, and he owns a 133-62 (69-36 AAC) record. However, Memphis has just two NCAA Tournament appearances and only one NCAA Tournament victory under his direction.