Penny Hardaway is adding a familiar face to his coaching staff.
Sources confirm to Bluff City Media that Memphis is hiring Andre Turner as an assistant coach. Turner, who played for Memphis from 1982-1986, spent the past three seasons as the head coach at Lane College. He led the Dragons to a 36-47 record in that span while meeting Hardaway’s Tigers in three exhibitions.
The 60-year-old also spent six seasons (2015-2021) leading Mitchell High School, his high school alma mater, before joining the college coaching ranks. He joins Rick Stansbury, Andy Borman, Faragi Phillips and Jamie Rosser on Memphis’ staff, though he’ll likely replace either Borman, Phillips or Rosser.
Turner is one the greatest players to ever don a Memphis basketball jersey. In four seasons, he earned two First Team All-Metro Conference selections in 1985 and 1986 and an Associated Press (AP) All-America Honorable Mention in the latter year. Turner also helped the 1985 Tigers reach the Final Four before losing to eventual National Champion Villanova.
The 5-foot-11 guard went on to garner a professional career than spanned 22 seasons. He played for six NBA franchises from 1986-92—his most successful campaign coming in 1990-91 when he averaged 5.9 points and 4.4 assists per game as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. After leaving the NBA, Turner spent another 16 seasons playing overseas before retiring in 2008.
Though Turner is Hardaway’s first new coaching hire this offseason, he’s far from the only piece in the Tigers’ retooling project after missing the NCAA Tournament last season.
Memphis is expected to lose Jahvon Quinerly, Nae’Qwan Tomlin, Caleb Mills, Jordan Brown, Jayden Hardaway and Malcolm Dandridge due to expired eligibility. It’s also losing Jonathan Pierre, Jayhlon Young, Carl Cherenfant, Ashton Hardaway and Jaykwon Walton to the transfer portal, so Penny Hardaway must replace at least six players this offseason with transfers PJ Haggerty, Dain Dainja, Colby Rogers, Tyrese Hunter and Baraka Okojie onboard for next season.
Forward Nick Jourdain, a rising senior, publicly announced his return to Memphis back in February. The Tigers can also bring back star forward David Jones, who declared for the 2024 NBA Draft while maintaining his college eligibility earlier this month. Jones has until May 29 to withdraw his name from the draft and return to school.
Walk-on guards Joe Cooper and Noah Stansbury could also come back next season. Four-star guard Jared Harris is the program’s only incoming high school recruit as of now.