Memphis basketball lands former Vincennes forward Damarien Yates

Memphis basketball head coach Penny Hardaway is adding a little bit of hometown blood to next season’s roster.

Damarien “Dink” Yates, who was named Tennessee Class 3A Mr. Basketball in 2023, is committed to Memphis, he announced on social media Monday evening.

The former Fayette-Ware star spent his freshman season in the junior college ranks at Vincennes (Indiana), where he averaged 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds on 43.4% shooting. Yates also helped the Trailblazers reach the second round of the NJCAA Tournament. He enters 2024-25 with three years of eligibility remaining.

Yates, a 6-foot-8 forward, is the ninth player to join the Tigers via the transfer portal this offseason, joining PJ Haggerty (Tulsa), Dain Dainja (Illinois), Colby Rogers (Wichita State), Tyrese Hunter (Texas), Baraka Okojie (George Mason), Tyreek Smith (SMU), Moussa Cisse (Ole Miss) and PJ Carter (UTSA). Memphis also welcomes freshman guards Jared Harris and Daniel Viera-Tuck, and returns senior forward Nick Jourdain.

Yates likely projects as a depth piece on the wing for a Memphis team that’s already built a solid foundation in both the frontcourt and backcourt. The 6-foot-4 Rogers (16.4 points per game and 40.9% 3-point shooting last season) and 6-foot-5 Carter (9.5 points per game and 40.3% 3-point shooting last year) should handle most of the workload at small forward.

Haggerty (6-foot-3) averaged 21.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game for Tulsa last year, which helped him earn the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Freshman of the Year award. Hunter (6-foot) averaged 11.1 points and 4.1 assists for Texas in 2023-24. He also won the Big 12 Freshman of the Year award at Iowa State in 2021-22, and is 6-3 in NCAA Tournament games.

Cisse (7-foot) and Smith (6-foot-8) averaged a combined 3.1 blocks per game last year. Jourdain (6-foot-9) started 25 of 32 games for the Tigers in 2023-24, and put up 6.5 points and 4 rebounds per contest. Dainja (6-foot-9) averaged 6.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in limited minutes for an Illinois team that made the Elite Eight last season.

Yates is expected to be a walk-on, so Memphis still has two open scholarships remaining for next season.