Penny Hardaway’s youngest son is leaving Memphis basketball after just one season.
Sources confirm to Bluff City Media that Tigers freshman Ashton Hardaway has submitted his paperwork to enter the transfer portal, as first reported by On3’s Joe Tipton.
The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 2.3 points per game this season while shooting 33.3% from 3-point range in 30 appearances. He joins Jonathan Pierre, Jayhlon Young and Carl Cherenfant as first-year Tigers who’ve joined the open market.
Ashton Hardaway, who enters next season with three years of eligibility remaining, seemed poised for a prominent reserve role earlier this season when he scored 17 points in a 71-67 win over Michigan during November’s Battle 4 Atlantis. But he never recorded more than 8 points in a game for the rest of the season and averaged 1.8 points per contest during American Athletic Conference (AAC) play.
Memphis, despite a 15-2 start and a No. 10 ranking in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 on Jan. 15, missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021 after winning just seven of its final 15 games. The 19-year-old Hardaway played just two minutes in the Tigers’ 71-65 loss to Wichita State in last month’s AAC Tournament.
The Tigers are also expected to lose Jahvon Quinerly, Nae’Qwan Tomlin, Caleb Mills, Jaykwon Walton, Jordan Brown, Jayden Hardaway (Penny’s oldest son) and Malcolm Dandridge due to expired eligibility. This means Penny Hardaway must replace at least eight players this offseason with transfers PJ Haggerty and Dain Dainja in the fold for next year.
Forward Nick Jourdain, a rising senior, publicly announced his return to Memphis back in February. But sources have recently indicated that he’s still deciding his plans for next year. The Tigers can also bring back David Jones, Joe Cooper and Noah Stansbury. Four-star guard Jared Harris is the program’s only incoming high school recruit as of now.