Penny Hardaway has fired four members of his coaching staff at Memphis.
Assistant coaches Rick Stansbury, Faragi Phillips and Jamie Rosser, as well as special adviser Demetrius Dyson, were all let go. Neither Hardaway nor the school provided a reason for the firings.
“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.”
According to ESPN:
Hardaway’s tenure has also been mired by off-court issues. There was an 18-month NCAA investigation due to alleged violations involving James Wiseman and other recruits; the independent accountability resolution process eventually concluded that Hardaway didn’t violate NCAA rules because of his long-standing philanthropy in Memphis.
Last summer, Hardaway was suspended three games by the NCAA for recruiting violations and violating head-coach responsibility rules in a separate investigation.
Toward the end of last season, senior Malcolm Dandridge missed the team’s final five games as the school conducted an investigation into his eligibility.
