What to expect in Memphis basketball’s regular season tip-off versus Jackson State

It’s finally here.

Eight months after losing to Florida Atlantic in the 2023 NCAA Tournament Round of 64, the Memphis Tigers will play meaningful basketball once again. Granted, an early November clash against Jackson State doesn’t quite bring the same big-fight feel Memphis’ last game did. But that’s the beauty of a matchup like this.

Beginning a whole new season, wiping the slate clean with a mostly new team, is widely considered a victory for most schools. This is especially true in Memphis’ case. The Tigers—even after the NCAA denied All-AAC forward DeAndre Williams an additional year of eligibility—boast one of the nation’s most talented and experienced rosters. A group that features 11 new scholarship players, including 8 transfer portal acquisitions.

Five of these transfers—Jahvon Quinerly (Alabama), Jordan Brown (Louisiana), David Jones (St. John’s), Jaykwon Walton (Wichita State) and Caleb Mills (Florida State)—were among the most sought after in America. But solid depth pieces like Nick Jourdain (Temple), Jonathan Pierre (Nova-Southeastern) and Jayhlon Young (UCF) don’t hurt either. Seniors Malcolm Dandridge and Jayden Hardaway, Memphis’ only two returners from last season’s team, will also play crucial roles.

This gives Memphis lots to look forward to this season, even without an AP Top 25 preseason ranking. CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander ranked the Tigers No. 27 in his Top 100 and 1 teams, Jon Rothstein—also of CBS Sports—has called them a dark-horse for this season’s Final Four and Memphis still received seven votes in the AP poll. Additionally, computer metrics like KenPom and barttorvik.com rank Memphis No. 32 and 30 respectively. 

The Tigers were voted the preseason No. 2 team in the AAC behind—oddly enough—Florida Atlantic, which joins the league after using its win over Memphis as a catalyst to advance to the 2023 Final Four. The Owls return all five starters from last season’s team that won more games than any other in the country, including guards Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin, and are the preseason No. 10 team in the AP Poll.

Memphis received two All-AAC preseasons selections, with Quinerly landing on the first team and Brown landing on the second team. The former was also named to the watchlist for the Bob Cousy Award—given annually to the nation’s best point guard—and the latter is on the watchlist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award—given annually to the nation’s best center.

The Tigers tip off their much-anticipated campaign versus JSU tonight at 7 p.m. inside FedExForum. Fans unable to attend can watch the game live on ESPN+, listen live on New Talk 98.9—The Roar of Memphis or follow the game’s live stats on gotigersgo.com.

Here’s what to expect for tonight’s season-opener.

Penny Hardaway’s 3-game suspension begins

Tonight will be the first of three outings the Tigers will be without sixth-year head coach Penny Hardaway.

The NCAA suspended Hardaway for the first three games of the 2023-24 season earlier this summer after citing him for a minor recruiting violation. Hardaway and an unnamed former assistant conducted two illegal in-home visits with a high school junior recruit in Dallas, Texas during the 2021-22 season.

The assistant made the initial visit on Sept. 15, 2021, and Hardaway visited the recruit two weeks later on Oct. 1, 2021. According to NCAA rules, coaches are not allowed to have in-home visits with a recruit until April of their junior year. Any visits made with a recruit prior to that must be at their high school during the fall months of their junior year.

Hardaway confirmed after the Tigers’ exhibition win versus LeMoyne-Owen that assistant coach Rick Stansbury will be Memphis’ acting head coach during his suspension. Stansbury boasts a lofty résumé in the college basketball world with long tenures at both Mississippi State (1998-2012) and Western Kentucky (2016-2023). But Hardaway also says filling his absence will be a collective effort amongst the entire coaching staff.

“I think we’ll do it by committee,” he said. “Whatever I’m allowed to do, I’m gonna do it. And then the rest of the staff will be able to handle it together.”

Hardaway will be barred from the arena during each game of his suspension, and will also be forbidden from contacting anyone in the program within a certain number of hours before each game. This means he’ll have to watch the three games at home on tv, and he isn’t exactly looking forward to that.

“I’ve never been in that situation, so it’s gonna be weird,” he said.

A step up in competition

The Tigers plastered both Lane College and LeMoyne-Owen, two Division II schools, in their exhibition affairs last week.

They’ll get a slight jump in competition from Jackson State (14-19, 12-6 SWAC last season), which returns its two leading scorers from last season’s team—those being Ken Evans Jr. (11.3 points per game) and Coltie Young (10.9 points per game).

JSU also added Jackson, Miss. native Daeshun Ruffin, who transferred from Ole Miss after two seasons. The 5-foot-10 guard, however, will miss the 2023 campaign with a torn ACL.

Ruffin starred for the Rebels in his freshman season, averaging 12.6 points, 3.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game in 2021-22, but his year ended after 14 games due to a knee injury. He played in 11 games last season before stepping away from the team to focus on his mental and physical health.

Jackson State—headed by 2009 NBA All-Star Mo Williams—still returns all five starters from 2022-23, and hopes to improve upon its No. 3 finish in the SWAC last season. Memphis can certainly get more of a fight than expected from JSU if it’s not careful, especially if the Tigers turn the ball over 19 times like they did against LeMoyne-Owen.

Will David Jones’ emergence continue?

Jones, a 6-foot-6 wing, was the star in both of Memphis’ exhibition victories last week.

The Dominican Republic native compiled exactly 17 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists in each of the two games. Jones also shot extremely well in both contests, going 4-6 from the field and 2-2 from 3-point range against Lane and making 5 of his 10 attempts against LeMoyne-Owen. As someone who has averaged double-figure points at two different Big East programs (St. John’s and DePaul) and is a member of his country’s national team, chances are his dominance can continue in the games that actually count.

Fans and media alike are already beginning to pin Jones as the alpha player on Memphis’ star-studded roster. All he cares about, however, is helping the team in any way he can.

“Every good player—it don’t matter if it’s in the NBA or anywhere [else] in the world—you gotta have another weapon you can help the team with,” he said after Memphis’ win over Lane College. “If you’re not scoring one night, you gotta get rebounds, steals and play defense. Ever since I got [to Memphis], Penny [Hardaway] has been talking to me about being a great leader….I didn’t even know I had 17 points. I was just asking how many rebounds I got.”