Penny Hardaway talks Tyreek Smith, Alabama exhibition

Tyreek Smith stepped away from Memphis basketball last Friday.

Bluff City Media then reported Smith wasn’t expected to return to the program on Sunday, but the SMU transfer emerged at practice two days later.

“He came to me and asked me for a couple personal days, and I gave them to him. And then that turned into people not seeing him at practice, and then it just became a wildfire,” Memphis coach Penny Hardaway told reporters Thursday. “He never once told me he was quitting.”

Comments from multiple sources contradict Hardaway’s claims, however. Smith, a 6-foot-8 senior, came to Memphis after an assistant coach who’s no longer on staff promised him the starting power forward position, but Hardaway later switched him to a small-ball center.

Smith expressed significant frustration after he didn’t start in last week’s Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic exhibition against No. 9 North Carolina, where he recorded 8 points on 75% shooting. Nick Jourdain, Memphis’ only returning scholarship player, started instead and put up 11 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals in the Tigers’ 84-76 loss.

The 24-year-old was also unhappy with his NIL situation, though he has been receiving his payments on time via FedEx since arriving on campus this summer. His mentor and NIL representative Hellion “Boog” Knight took to X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter, numerous times Monday to claim that Memphis made several financial promises during his recruitment that haven’t “been fulfilled.”

Sources indicate these allegations are false, and Knight’s posts violate the confidentiality agreement in Smith’s NIL contract with FedEx and Bluff City Collective.

“There’s so much pressure with NIL, with playing time, with family members, with all kinds of stuff happening,” Hardaway said. “Most coaches are leaving, like Tony Bennett (former Virginia coach), one of the coaches that we need on this level. Some coaches just can’t stomach showing up every day and thinking it’s about money or something’s always wrong. You got a different team every year. Like, you can’t have your same team. You gotta re-recruit your guys.

“For the basketball purists, that’s tough. It’s like a gut punch. Every day, having to see something on social media or hear a young man or lady isn’t happy about this or that. It’s just our life that we have to deal with right now, but nothing surprises me anymore in today’s game.”

Hardaway is “ramping things up” against Alabama.

Hardaway told reporters postgame that Memphis didn’t throw its full arsenal at UNC.

“We tried not to run any sets. We tried not to really show much. I just allowed the guys to get out there and play,” he said on Oct. 15.

He plans to change that when the Tigers face No. 2 Alabama at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Monday (7 p.m., ESPN+).

“I’m ramping things up,” he said Thursday. “All the quiet teams are losing teams, so I’m challenging [the Tigers] to talk. We’re not gonna hold [their] hand. We’re doing these exhibitions for a reason…We’re gonna play our style against Alabama. We didn’t play our style against North Carolina.”

Memphis is also expecting to be healthier when it takes on the Crimson Tide.

Ole Miss transfer Moussa Cisse, who played for the Tigers in 2020-21, should suit up after missing the UNC game with a groin injury. Illinois transfer Dain Dainja tweaked his back against the Tar Heels, but has fully participated in practice since then.