Penny Hardaway can’t hide it. He’s smitten with the 2024-25 Tigers.

Penny Hardaway’s last trip to Maui didn’t go as planned.

Hardaway—as a player—led Memphis State to a third-place finish in the 1992 Maui Invitational. But the former first-team All-American committed a crucial turnover in the second round against BYU in overtime that partially cost the Tigers an opportunity to face Duke in the championship game.

Hardaway—now a coach—finally avenged that loss 32 years later when Memphis defeated Michigan State 71-63 in the 2024 Maui Invitational semifinals Tuesday night. The Tigers will face either No. 4 Auburn or No. 12 North Carolina in the championship game Wednesday (4 p.m., ESPN).

“It is really weird because we went to overtime against BYU…I got my ball stolen at half court at an inopportune time, and I still remember that play,” Hardaway told reporters. “To be here now full circle, to be in the championship game as a coach, man, that’s just God.”

Memphis (6-0) broke plenty of sweats on its way to this point, though. It just about emptied its tank to edge No. 2 UConn in overtime Monday. And while things didn’t go that far against Michigan State, the Tigers still had to win an extremely physical battle with both of their centers Dain Dainja and Moussa Cisse fouled out for the final two minutes and 52 seconds.

This team doesn’t care about those kinds of details, though. Its only objective is achieving victory by any means necessary, which has Hardaway beaming with pride.

“I saw grit, I saw toughness, I saw execution, I saw winners, just saw guys that really wanted this tournament,” he said. “These young men, they need all the credit because we push them really hard. Even though they don’t like it all the time, they respond. Right now you’re seeing the response, like a reset. They put in so much work. These guys live in the gym. When it’s time to compete, they get up to compete.”

The 2024-25 Tigers are infectious in every way imaginable. Their approach is simple, yet effective. Their intensity on both ends of the floor is wonderous. Their unselfishness is quite remarkable, considering today’s era of basketball marred by players’ desires for the individual spotlight.

Simply put, this group resembles Hardaway as a coach more than any other he’s had in his seven-year tenure.

Hardaway can’t hide it anymore. He’s smitten with this team.

“I just thank God to have these guys on my team,” he said.

His opposing coaches can tell too.

“I mean, I think Penny really likes his team,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “We were kind of neighbors in our hotel there and talked a few times. I think he likes his team, and rightfully so. They play incredibly hard.”

Memphis’ high-motor engine is ignited by Texas transfer Tyrese Hunter, who’s scored 49 total points on 60% 3-point shooting in Maui thus far. The 6-foot guard is as intense a player there is—from his attacking offensive style to his aggressive, in-your-face defensive pressure. After all, there’s a reason he’s won six NCAA Tournament games at two different schools in three seasons.

A freshman Hunter helped aid Iowa State to a 78-59 blowout over Memphis on Nov. 26, 2021. Hardaway knew then he had to have him at some point.

“When he got in the portal, he was a guy that I targeted. I was like, ‘We need him,'” Hardaway said. “It was like, ‘I just want to get back to who I am and my roots.’ And I told him, ‘If you come here, we’re going to put the ball in your hands, we’re going to allow you to be able to play.'”

Hardaway definitely made due on his promise.

Hunter finished Tuesday’s contest with a game-high 23 points while shooting 7-for-15 from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. He made a fan out of Izzo, who’s made 26 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, in the process.

“You’ve got to give Hunter a lot of credit. He made some shots that I’m sure Penny—I don’t know if Penny made those shots when he played, and I mean that. He was falling right, falling left, end of the shot clock, and he drained them,” Izzo said. “Someone is going to have to really play well no matter what they do, not to be MVP of this tournament the way he shot it.”

Hunter never shot better than 34% on 3-pointers in his first three seasons. But he’s now hitting 52.6% of his attempts this year.

It turns out all he needed was a mentality shift.

“Just my confidence, putting in the work. I know when I came to this program, just talking with Penny, it’s like, ‘You’re shooting good, but you got to get more of them up,'” Hunter said. “And just trusting in that, trusting in my work ethic and just letting it play out through the summer, practice, into the games.”

Hunter’s attitude reflects on his teammates too, especially redshirt-sophomore PJ Haggerty. Memphis’ other star guard also scored 16 crucial points to go with 9 rebounds and 4 assists against MSU.

Haggerty focuses on the little things, much like the rest of the Tigers.

“I just try to do whatever we need to win the games,” he said. “Really just staying locked in, just the whole first and second half, just being us really, the Memphis way, and just out-toughing them. That’s really been the motto.”

Memphis scored its fifth top-100 KenPom win of the season against the Spartans. The Tigers are quickly building one of the best resumes in college basketball.

But with that comes expectations and heightened media attention. Memphis is now a No. 6 seed in ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology. CBS Sports personality and Grind City Media host Gary Parrish moved the Tigers from unranked to No. 13 in his Top 25 and 1 after their victory over UConn. An Associated Press (AP) Top 25 ranking is surely on the way too come next Monday.

Hardaway isn’t shying away from that, however. In fact, he embraces it.

“You want to be a part of the rare air in the NCAA. You want to be a part of that group that they mention with the Dukes and the Kansases. You want Memphis’ name to be there,” he said. “We want that attention because we work so hard, we want it. We want to be a part of that.”