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Memphis Basketball Begins Practice Today. What Can Fans Look Out For?
The Tigers begin practice today.
By Roman Cleary - August 29, 2023, 2:14 pm - 0 comments
Memphis basketball has had its most eventful off-season of the Penny Hardaway era.
After losing nine scholarship players from last season’s team that won the American Athletic Conference Tournament title and earned a 9-seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Memphis managed to completely revamp its roster with some of the most talented and experienced players the transfer portal had to offer. Among the Tigers’ notable acquisitions from the portal are Caleb Mills (Florida State), David Jones (St. John’s), Jordan Brown (Louisiana), Jahvon Quinerly (Alabama), Jaykwon Walton (Wichita State) and more.
Memphis also returns at least two scholarship players from last season’s team and welcomes in at least three highly touted prospects from the high school ranks.
The team begins practice today in preparation for the 2023-24 campaign which unofficially begins on Oct. 29 with an exhibition against Lane College inside FedExForum. Its regular season opener will take place eight days later on Nov. 6 against Jackson State.
Fans have much to keep an eye on over the next two months as the Tigers gear up for yet another season under Hardaway in which they’ll have both high-level talent and expectations.
Determining a Pecking Order
The 2023 Tigers were the most successful team of Hardaway’s tenure despite being one of his least talented groups.
One of the reasons for that success was the coaching staff’s ability to establish a pecking order or, in simpler terms, a clear role for everyone on the team and get all the players to buy in to it. The pecking order itself was pretty simple: Kendric Davis, DeAndre Williams and then basically everyone else.
This will admittedly be a much bigger challenge for Hardaway and staff this season. Memphis consists of a lot more star-power than it did last year, which means there will be more egos to manage and mouths to feed on this year’s roster.
Quinerly is a former SEC Preseason Player of the Year, and was recognized as one of the best point guards in America prior to tearing his ACL in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Mills is a former AAC Preseason Player of the Year from his time at Houston, and also just had two productive years at Florida State. Brown is one of the best big-men in the country, and won the Lou Henson Award—given to the country’s best mid-major player—last season. Both Jones and Walton were top-2 leading scorers on their teams last season. In Walton’s case, he led Wichita State in scoring.
And of course, things could be in an even bigger flux if DeAndre Williams, Mikey Williams or both are able to play for the Tigers this season.
The good news is that Memphis’ returners—Jayden Hardaway, Malcolm Dandridge and DeAndre Williams (if he’s eligible)—should be able to help the new Tigers integrate into the team’s system and hopefully its culture.
Will Mills, Jones or Walton Take a Backseat?
With the way Memphis’ roster is shaping out, Quinerly, a 6-foot-1 point guard, Brown, a 6-foot-11 center, and DeAndre Williams (if he’s eligible), a 6-foot-9 forward, will all assumingly find their way into the Tigers’ starting lineup.
This leaves the team with two vacant starting spots and three worthy contenders in Mills, Jones and Walton. Now, if DeAndre Williams isn’t eligible, all three will likely start. But assume that he is for this exercise.
Mills, a 6-foot-5 guard, has been on campus since late May. He’s also managed to establish himself as a locker room leader throughout the summer. Jones and Walton don’t have that advantage. Mills is also an extremely skilled scorer and reliable with the ball in his hands. The fifth-year senior averaged 13 points, 3.4 assists and 3 rebounds per game last season while shooting 41% from the field. He could ultimately prove to be the best option for a secondary ball-handler next to Quinerly.
Jones, a 6-foot-6 wing, is arguably the most gifted player of the three. A phenomenal slasher and overall scorer, the Dominican Republic native averaged 13.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game for St. John’s last season. Jones also showed his potential as shooter, ironically enough, while playing for the Dominican Republic National Team against Memphis on Aug. 2. He scored 12 points while shooting 5-5 from the field and 2-2 from three-point range in just over 16 minutes played. The Tigers are significantly more talented than the St. John’s team Jones played for last season, so Memphis can reasonably hope for similar efficiency. Additionally, Jones is a rock-solid perimeter defender, an important trait when playing for Penny Hardaway. Sources tell Bluff City Media that he has yet to arrive on campus.
Walton, a 6-foot-7 wing, instantly became the team’s best perimeter shooter upon arriving to campus in late July. The former Wichita State Shocker averaged 13 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 53.5% from the field and 40% from three-point range last season. Those shooting splits alone could be enough to earn Walton a starting nod. Like Jones, Walton is also a good perimeter defender.
He originally signed with Alabama this off-season shortly after entering the transfer portal. But the Crimson Tide revoked his scholarship after he was arrested on second-degree marijuana charges in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Authorities found 32 grams of marijuana and three firearms—only one belonged to Walton—in a vehicle that he was a passenger in. He then signed with UCF in May before flipping his commitment to Memphis last month.
Mills, Jones and Walton all scored at least 13 points per game last season for their respective schools. Each of them is used to being a premier option for whatever team they play for. But with how talented this Memphis team is, that simply isn’t possible for everyone. One of these three will inevitably be forced to take a sixth-man role in this instance.
Though the next two months will be important in deciding who that person is, this battle could certainly extend into the season itself. In fact, it likely will.
Will Any of the Freshmen Earn Significant Roles?
As of now, Memphis has three freshmen on its roster: Carl Cherenfant, Ashton Hardaway and JJ Taylor.
All three had their moments in the Dominican Republic earlier this month, with Cherenfant proving to be the most consistent of the bunch. The 6-foot-5 wing showed great efficiency in the Tigers’ three exhibition games, scoring 10 points in game one, 9 in game two and 9 in game three. He also played well defensively and gave the team a spark on both ends of the floor. A 4-star recruit, Cherenfant has a chance to be a fan-favorite this season.
Ashton Hardaway made his presence felt in the Tigers’ final two exhibition games, showing off both his range and scoring ability. In game two, he scored 11 points while shooting 3-6 from three-point range. In game three, he put up 13 while shooting 3-8 from beyond the arc. The youngest Hardaway can certainly find his way into the rotation if he proves to be a valuable asset from the perimeter.
Taylor is probably the biggest project of the three, but he also might be the most talented. Though he didn’t do much in Memphis’ first two exhibitions, he exploded for a monster performance in the third. The 6-foot-7 wing was the team’s second leading scorer with 22 points while shooting 64.3% from the field and 33.3% from three-point range in an 85-63 Memphis victory. Brown just beat him out with 23 points. Taylor also showed good instincts defensively throughout the trip and played better than almost anybody expected. He may not earn much playing time this season, but he could definitely be an important piece in the future if Memphis can convince him to stick around long-term.
Will DeAndre and/or Mikey Williams be Tigers this Season?
The biggest question on all fans’ minds right now is undoubtedly the status of All-AAC forward DeAndre Williams. Right behind it is the status of 4-star recruit Mikey Williams (no relation).
Both want to play for Memphis basketball this season, and both have unique obstacles that could prevent them from doing so. The two have situations that are very similar, yet very different at the same time, as neither of them control their destiny in terms of being a Tiger in 2023-24.
Starting with Mikey Williams, he’s still dealing with six gun-related felony charges that stem from an incident at his (San Diego, Calif.) home in March. The 6-foot-3 guard allegedly shot at a moving car filled with five people—including three minors—as it was driving away from the house.
He has been photographed several times over the past few weeks in the City of Memphis, but hasn’t been able to join the team despite this. His preliminary court hearing, which has been rescheduled twice, takes place on Sept. 5. A final decision on his status could be made shortly after that date.
DeAndre Williams, a 26-year-old senior who turns 27 in October, is currently awaiting the NCAA’s decision on his waiver for an additional year of eligibility. His attorney, Don Jackson, reportedly submitted all required documents for the waiver to Memphis’ compliance department last month.
This waiver application stems from the 2018-19 season, in which DeAndre Williams was enrolled at Evansville but didn’t play due to being academically ineligible. The NCAA still counted that year of eligibility against him, however, citing a “delayed enrollment” violation. DeAndre Williams and his legal team allege that he received bad advice from people in position of authority while in high school, which includes having him enroll in an online institution that wasn’t NCAA accredited, and that the violation would’ve never happened without that poor advisement. To clarify, he used his COVID-19 waiver to play last season, and is now trying to get that first year of eligibility back to play this season.
There is growing optimism within Memphis’ program that the NCAA will declare DeAndre Williams eligible, per sources.
Penny Hardaway confirmed as such during a session with the media on July 27.
“I’m definitely optimistic about it happening because of the case [DeAndre Williams] has and looking at other similar cases around the country that have been given a waiver,” he said. “So, I’m just hoping that [trend] stays true.”
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