Amidst March Madness, Shaquille O’Neal Reflects on Penny Hardaway’s Career as Memphis Tigers HC
Shaquille O’Neal recently praised Penny Hardaway for her incredible work with the Memphis Tigers. Hardaway began his NBA career in 1993 with the Orlando Magic and was a teammate of Shaq for four years in Orlando. He retired from the NBA in 2007 with the Heat and about eight years later took his first coaching job.
In 2018, Hardaway joined the Memphis Tiger men’s basketball team as its head coach and has held the position since. Recently, Shaq uploaded a post of ‘The field of ’68’ about his instagram story to appreciate the NBA veteran’s success in Memphis.
The publication noted that Hardaway, in his six seasons in Memphis, has a 133-61 record and one NCAA tournament victory in two appearances. He also won the 2023 AAC Championship and the 2021 NIT Championship with the team.
Hardaway is a former Memphis player and has received legendary status on the team over the years. His number 25 jersey was retired by the Tigers. He represented them in 66 games, averaging 20 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists with 45.6% shooting from the field.
Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers have to look elsewhere this season
There were a lot of expectations placed on the Memphis team at the beginning of the season. However, this season they have not lived up to those expectations. From the looks of things, it looks like their streak is over for the time being, as they finished with a 22-10 record after losing to Wichita State 71-65 in the second round of the AAC tournament.
Even though they started the season on a solid footing, the Tigers’ run this season completely derailed at the end. They will miss March Madness for the first time since 2021.
After the loss, Coach Hardaway stated that they would not accept the offer to participate in the NIT. When a journalist asked him about his chances of playing, he said, “Zero. No sir. I do not accept any invitation.”
Overall, his tenure so far in Memphis has been good. With back-to-back NCAA appearances, multiple titles, and a winning record, the addition of Hardaway has only put things in better shape for the team.
