Penny Hardaway has extinguished the Tyreek Smith fire.
The SMU transfer—after stepping away from Memphis basketball Sunday—returned to practice with the Tigers on Tuesday morning, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.
Smith, a 6-foot-8 forward, was mainly disgruntled over not being in the starting lineup in last Tuesday’s Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic exhibition against No. 9 North Carolina, where he recorded 8 points on 75% shooting.
Nick Jourdain, Memphis’ only returning scholarship player, started instead and put up 11 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals in the Tigers’ 84-76 loss. Sources tell Bluff City Media that Smith came to Memphis under the pretense that he’d compete for the starting power forward position, but Hardaway later switched him to a small-ball center.
Smith was also unhappy with his NIL compensation, though he has been receiving his payments on time via FedEx since arriving on campus this summer.
His mentor and NIL representative Hellion “Boog” Knight took to X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter, numerous times Monday to claim that Memphis made several promises during his recruitment that haven’t “been fulfilled.” Multiple sources have indicated to Bluff City Media that his claims are false.
”This ain’t on Coach Penny, so you got Coach Penny trying to clean up messes that he didn’t help make. I respect him for that,” Knight said in a video. “But at the end of the day, there were other things discussed that didn’t happen—that aren’t happening at the moment, that we’re trying to work out.”
Hardaway and Memphis spent Monday trying to work out a resolution for the matter—whether that meant Smith returning or being gone for good, which culminated in his return to practice.
The 24-year-old averaged 8.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks on 58.4% shooting last season for SMU. He made 13 starts in 33 appearances in 2023-24, and helped the Mustangs advance to National Invitational Tournament (NIT) before losing to Indiana State in the first round.
Smith also had two solid outings against Memphis throughout the campaign. He led SMU with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks during Jan. 7’s showdown inside FedExForum, which the Mustangs lost 62-59 thanks to a last-second bomb by Jahvon Quinerly. Rob Lanier’s club later demolished Memphis 106-79 on Feb. 18 inside Moody Coliseum, where Smith recorded 10 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks.
Smith’s college career has also featured stops at both Texas Tech (2020-21) and Oklahoma State (2021-23) respectively. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana native put up 5.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while making nine starts for the Cowboys in 2022-23.
He and the Tigers play No. 2 Alabama in another exhibition on Oct. 28 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama before beginning the regular season at home against Missouri on Nov. 4.