Memphis basketball schedules two visits after recruiting dead period

Memphis basketball hopes to add at least two pieces to its backcourt in the next week.

Sources confirm to Bluff City Media that head coach Penny Hardaway and Co. have scheduled visits with transfer guards Arturo Dean and John Buggs III. Dean enters next season with two years of eligibility remaining, while Buggs has just one.

Dean, a 5-foot-11 sophomore from Florida International, will be on campus this weekend. He averaged 13.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4 assists on 41.8% shooting for the Panthers last season.

But the Miami native is perhaps even better on the defensive end of the court. Dean led the nation with 104 steals (3.4 per game), which earned him his second Conference USA All-Defensive team selection and an All-CUSA Third Team nod. He also became FIU’s only conference Freshman of the Year in 2022-23.

Buggs, a 6-foot-2 redshirt junior, will reportedly visit Memphis starting next Thursday. The 23-year-old has made four different stops in the past five years, and has never lasted more than one season at any school.

He started his collegiate career at UMass in 2019-20, but suffered a season-ending injury after just four games.

After sitting out the 2020-21 season, Buggs played at Hill College—a junior college—in 2021-22. He averaged 15.2 points, 4 rebounds and 2.9 assists on 47.3% 3-point shooting for the Rebels, and was named to the JUCO Honorable Mention All-American team.

Buggs then returned to the Division I level at UTSA, where he put up 10.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while shooting 39.6% from the perimeter in 2022-23.

He increased that mark to 45.1% at North Texas last season, and scored 7.3 points per contest. He also compiled 12 points and 4 assists on 80% 3-point shooting in a 76-66 win over Memphis on Feb. 15. Buggs and the Mean Green advanced to the second round of the 2024 National Invitational Tournament (NIT) before falling at Seton Hall 72-58.

Dean and Buggs would fill two of many open scholarships for Memphis. The Tigers are expected to lose Jahvon Quinerly, Nae’Qwan Tomlin, Caleb Mills, Jaykwon Walton, Jordan Brown, Jayden Hardaway and Malcolm Dandridge due to expired eligibility. They also lost Jonathan Pierre, Jayhlon Young, Carl Cherenfant and Ashton Hardaway to the transfer portal, so 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 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.

Besides Dean and Buggs, Memphis has reached out to the following players in the transfer portal:

Southeastern Louisiana guard Roger McFarlane

Texas State forward Brandon Love

Iona guard Greg Gordon

Michigan center Tarris Reed Jr.

BYU center Abou Ousmane

Wichita State guard Colby Rogers

Louisiana-Monroe forward Nika Metskhvarishvili

North Texas forward Aaron Scott (visiting Memphis this weekend)

Creighton forward Johnathan Lawson

Washington State center Rueben Chinyelu