Memphis AD Ed Scott addresses Memphis basketball coaching changes, anonymous letter

The past six weeks have been a whirlwind for new Memphis athletic director (AD) Ed Scott.

Tigers football is in the midst of significant renovations to Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. The university announced it’s building a new soccer and track and field stadium in honor of Eliza Fletcher, a Memphis mom who was infamously kidnapped and murdered on Sept. 2, 2022.

Scott made his first coaching hire in new softball coach Trena Prater last month. He’s also hired Tim Duncan and Terrence Lollie as senior deputy AD and senior associate AD respectfully.

But the events that have taken place in Penny Hardaway’s men’s basketball program this week almost certainly top the chaos meter.

Hardaway first announced the departures of assistant coaches Rick Stansbury, Faragi Phillips and Jamie Rosser, as well as special advisor Demetrius Dyson, in a statement on Wednesday morning. Memphis had already parted ways with five other staffers earlier this offseason.

“Penny Hardaway is our head basketball coach, and these were his decisions. My job as the athletic director is to support Penny in creating the environment that he wants to try to win,” Scott said during an appearance on 92.9 ESPN’s “The Geoff Calkins Show” Friday. “I have to trust him to run the program. Otherwise, I should coach basketball, and trust me when I’m telling you Memphis fans, you do not want that…The timing is not ideal in the sense that we have two months before the season…But leadership is hard and I’m proud of Penny for doing what he thinks is in the best interest of his program.”

The University of Memphis also acknowledged an anonymous letter alleging numerous major NCAA violations committed by Hardaway and the program, sources confirmed to Bluff City Media Wednesday night. The letter, which Bluff City Media obtained a copy of, has officially been turned over to the NCAA.

“The timing of this was coincidental [with the coaching staff changes] in the sense that the move was made by Penny with these four individuals, and then later that day is when I first saw the contents of that letter. This was not a reactionary move to any NCAA pending investigation,” Scott said. “Terrence Lollie texted me and said, ‘Hey, you need to see this. [Sports Illustrated reporter] Pat Forde just sent this to our staff.’ That’s the first time I saw the contents of the letter.

”I did know about the letter. I found out about the existence of a letter during the interview process.”

The letter alleges Hardaway’s personal involvement in major recruiting violations—a $30,000 payment to former Tiger DeAndre Williams for his commitment to Memphis in 2020 and a $60,000 payment along with apartment arrangements for then-Boise State-transfer Emmanuel Akot for his commitment to Memphis in 2022. Akot, though he signed with Memphis, never enrolled at the school and instead played for Western Kentucky in 2022-23.

The letter also alleges the academic fraud violations involving former Tiger Malcolm Dandridge that took place during the 2023-24 season, which Bluff City Media reported on Feb. 23. Dandridge was suspended for Memphis’ final five games of the campaign once his alleged involvement in the scandal became apparent.

Memphis also fired former athletic academic advisor Leslie Brooks shortly after it began investigating the allegations. The letter claims that she and her sister were paid to complete academic work for Dandridge and three other players.

Memphis self-reported its findings from the investigation to the NCAA in April. The NCAA has since visited Memphis’ campus in May to further investigate the case. Memphis now awaits the NCAA’s ruling and potential punishments regarding the matter.

”We have not received a formal notice of allegations from the NCAA regarding this letter,” Scott said. “I don’t know enough really to be able to say [if the allegations are true or not]. My position right now is with the NCAA. I’m gonna let them do their job as I’ve done at every stop. After that process works out, if there are things that we need to be held accountable for that we did wrong, we’ll stand up as I told everyone in Memphis and we’ll be accountable for it. But if there’s things that we haven’t done that we’re accused of doing, I’m gonna defend us vigorously.”

Hardaway’s program has already been involved in two other NCAA investigations in his six-year tenure. The first was in 2019 when Memphis played 5-star freshman James Wiseman despite being advised not to by the NCAA due to eligibility concerns. This triggered an investigation of the entire program, which was later charged with four Level I violations in March 2022, including a Lack of Institutional Control charge against Hardaway. The now-defunct Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP), however, opted to soften Memphis’ penalties in October 2022. The Tigers ultimately received three years of probation and no postseason ban.

But the program earned a fourth year of probation after Hardaway was suspended for three games last season season due to a recruiting violation, which was triggered after he and a former assistant illegally visited a Texas high school recruit in 2022.

These incidents have caused some to mark Hardaway as a dirty or shady leader. Others have called his running of the program dysfunctional or chaotic. Many are calling for the seventh-year coach’s resignation after Wednesday’s events.

But Scott says he’s had a great experience in building a relationship with Hardaway and the men’s basketball program since he officially took office on July 22.

”Penny is a wonderful human being. He’s been gracious to me. I’ve had dinner with Penny and the team at his house already. I treat him no differently than Ryan Silverfield, Brooks [Monaghan] or any of our head coaches,” Scott said. “What I’ve learned about Penny is that he really cares…He’s not doing this to get paid. He’s doing this because he believes he can win and he cares about Memphis and he cares about the institution.”

Memphis tips-off the 2024-25 campaign against Missouri on Nov. 4 inside FedExForum. Scott expects Hardaway to coach the Tigers in not only that game, but every other game this season as well.

”Absolutely, unequivocally, based on every piece of information I have today, Penny Hardaway is gonna be on that sideline trying to get us a victory against Missouri. Hands down,” Scott said.