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Can someone explain Memphis?

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superfan01

All American
May 29, 2003
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How has Penny Hardaway and Memphis landed multiple 5 stars and the top class in country and top overall recruit? How are they getting all these kids in a mid major conference and out recruiting Duke, UNC and Kentucky in almost every recruiting battle
I know calapari did it at Memphis a few backs but wasn’t he busted for cheating.

Something doesn’t smell right. This is like the UNLV teams from early 90s.
 
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I don't think it's dirty. Penny Hardaway previously coached the #1 or #2 overall player, James Wiseman, so his commitment was pretty easy. Two other guys in this class are also from Memphis.

Combine the fact that he had the #1 player in his pocket and he's a former NBA star and it's easy for him to position himself as a stud recruiter and open up doors that few others can open.

Memphis as a school and a city also have the infrastructure and desire for a winner.
 
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As RU Ohio already stated.

Penny Hardaway
Penny Hardaway
Penny Hardaway
Mike Miller

He has a name and developed enough of a brand for himself as a pro player that it now is a huge selling point for him and the Memphis program. Their AD was no dope when he hired him. It’s played out just as he thought it potentially could/would.
 
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Don't know if they cheat or not, but they have been good to very good going back to the 60's. I don't know how close the arenas are to their campus, but they keep getting to play in new arenas too. I think they have had three since the 60's--Mid South Coliseum , The Pyramid, and the Federal Express Center/Arena/Coliseum ?
 
HeavenUniv. said:
Don't know if they cheat or not, but they have been good to very good going back to the 60's. I don't know how close the arenas are to their campus, but they keep getting to play in new arenas too. I think they have had three since the 60's--Mid South Coliseum , The Pyramid, and the Federal Express Center/Arena/Coliseum ?
Click to expand...

Memphis is like Louisville -- a big city that doesn't have much professional sports action. I think they keep building new facilities hoping to attract teams, and MSU moves in each time.
 
I’m not saying they shouldn’t have a top 15 class but the way they have come out of the blue and are just smashing the big boys on every recruit just raises eyebrows.
 
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Penny is a God in Memphis basketball circles...from Memphis, played at Memphis, coached 3 years of HS ball in Memphis. Once he got the #1 recruit in the country from Memphis other top recruits took notice.

Hired Mike Miller who played 17 years in the NBA...so, the top recruits will listen to him.

Another assistant is veteran NBA coach Sam Mitchell......that will also attract recruits.

The Perfect Storm !!
 
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superfan01 said:
I’m not saying they shouldn’t have a top 15 class but the way they have come out of the blue and are just smashing the big boys on every recruit just raises eyebrows.
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They're not exactly coming out of the blue. They've been a winning program for 40 years and have been to the Final Four multiple times. Their head coach is not only a living Memphis legend, but was an NBA All-Star multiple times. Penny Hardaway is not exactly Eddie Jordan. It shouldn't be that big a surprise that they're successful recruiting.
 
superfan01 said:
I’m not saying they shouldn’t have a top 15 class but the way they have come out of the blue and are just smashing the big boys on every recruit just raises eyebrows.
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What is happening now is why Memphis fans wanted their school to hire Penny Hardaway 3 years ago. Instead they hired Tubby Smith who, actually did a solid job there, but he was not going to generate the type of recruiting results that Penny Hardaway would.
 
ScarletKid2008 said:
In a sport where it is strife of cheating in recruiting, they somehow dominated the schools that notoriously cheat AND have a recent championship history AND they have coaches with far more moxy than some exNBA guys.

Seems like long odds to pull in that kind of insane class without participating in any of those said above factors.
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This. They are beating out schools who hsve much better reputations and who cheat themselves. And they haven’t lost a single recruiting battle. Hmmm.
 
When your HC doesn't need a dollar from the school via his actual contract, you have someone that wants the job and is hungry to prove things......factor in that Penny has buried multi-millions from his NBA career and the assistant coaches have also made tens of millions of dollars, there is no fear of retribution via the NCAA...there is no fear of being blacklisted to never coach again in the NCAAS.

Add in a "motivated" alumni or fan base that outdraws the NBA and is the heartbeat of the City and things get done.

Another former NBA player, Jerry Stackhouse just took over at Vanderbilt and landed Kenyon Martin Jr out of California. Not the elite 1 and dones at Memphis but getting kids with pedigree, can be important selling points.
 
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superfan01 said:
This. They are beating out schools who hsve much better reputations and who cheat themselves. And they haven’t lost a single recruiting battle. Hmmm.
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They did not get Trendon Watford. But I think they may have backed off of him.

Also, Wiseman, Dandridge, Jeffries and Baugh are all kids from Tennessee. I think all of them are from Memphis except Wiseman, who I believe is from the Nashville area.

Wiseman and Dandridge played for Penny at Memphis East HS and in the EYBL on Team Penny (now Bluff City). Jeffries may have played for Team Penny but Baugh ran with Team Thad.

LQ and Precious are the out of state guys. Mike Miller has been down to Florida about 7 times to see LQ.

None of these commits are too surprising. It's not like Memphis is landing a bunch of guys from Southern California...yet.
 
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Russ Wood said:
Memphis is a high major program that just happens to be in a mid major conference.
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I have always thought the fall of UConn basketball was due to the conference they are in..... maybe the conference Memphis is in is not
The negative that the AAC is in regards to UConn
 
wheezer said:
I have always thought the fall of UConn basketball was due to the conference they are in..... maybe the conference Memphis is in is not
The negative that the AAC is in regards to UConn
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UConn won a national championship in that conference. UConn fans didn't complain about the conference until Kevin Ollie started losing games.
 
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Memphis fans had to be bugged when they were in the Big East, had a big announcement event, and then they weren’t in the Big East after about five minutes, but it looks like it has worked out fine for them.
 
Russ Wood said:
UConn won a national championship in that conference. UConn fans didn't complain about the conference until Kevin Ollie started losing games.
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I thought of it more of a slow decline that was inevitable. Tough to get a team of national players as time went on in the AAC. Now if they had gotten into the ACC they would still be top 20. Imo
 
wheezer said:
I thought of it more of a slow decline that was inevitable. Tough to get a team of national players as time went on in the AAC. Now if they had gotten into the ACC they would still be top 20. Imo
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ACC wasn't letting them in. Not as long as Coach K has anything to say about it.
 
HeavenUniv. said:
Russ, do you think he was ok with Pitt, Syracuse, and Boston College getting ?
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Yes, but that was football driven.

Honestly, the word was that most of the original ACC schools had issues with Connecticut due to academics.
 
If I recall correctly, it was pretty apparent to many that Hardaway it would have a lot of recruiting success if hired.

I still don’t think fans up in the North East comprehend how much college sports can dominate the sports landscape in some parts of the country. Hiring Hardaway was hiring a local legend for a lot of these kids.
 
sport2231 said:
If I recall correctly, it was pretty apparent to many that Hardaway it would have a lot of recruiting success if hired.

I still don’t think fans up in the North East comprehend how much college sports can dominate the sports landscape in some parts of the country. Hiring Hardaway was hiring a local legend for a lot of these kids.
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Now he has to Coach em up.

Last season Memphis struggled on the road. They got hot late and won six of their last eight regular-season games including one at Wichita State. Which is one of the toughest places for a road team to win.

Memphis made it to the semi-finals of their conference tournament, granted the tournament was played in their home arena. But they did beat UCF, who ended up an 8 seed in the NCAA tournament, before losing to Houston. The cougars made it to the Sweet 16.

Memphis will likely be a preseason pick to win its conference next season.
 
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