Memphis Coach Penny Hardaway Willing to Spend up to $2.6 Million of His Own Money to Pay for Roster
Hardaway said the added funds helped Memphis reach a $9 million roster budget and close deals for key transfers.
- Penny Hardaway personally contributed $2.6 million to Memphis' revenue-sharing budget on Monday, bringing the total available for the 2026-27 season to $9 million.
- Funding gaps had forced Memphis to lose Andrija Vukovi to George Washington earlier, prompting the coach to secure Nemanja Popovi and Maxim Logue from his own resources.
- Citing urgency to avoid failure, Hardaway said, "I didn't want to fail two years in a row," while emphasizing, "We can't let this kid pass."
- Reflecting on timing, Hardaway said he wishes he had moved sooner than mid-June: "If I had $9 million in the beginning and not $5 million, it would've just been a different mindset."
- As Memphis prepares for a scrimmage against Jacksonville State on Oct. 18, Penny Hardaway said this year's roster has the same buy-in his other NCAA Tournament teams had.
24 Articles
24 Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
Memphis coach Penny Hardaway willing to spend up to $2.6 million of his own money to pay for roster
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis men's basketball coach Penny Hardaway says he's willing to pay up to $2.6 million this year toward the program's revenue-sharing total in order to field a competitive team.
Memphis coach Penny Hardaway says he paid $2.6 million of his own money to Tigers' revenue share – Democratic Accent
It is no secret that this upcoming college basketball season is a make-or-break year for Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers, and the head coach is doing everything he can to make it a successful campaign, including putting nearly his entire annual salary back into the team’s roster budget. Hardaway, entering year nine as the Tigers’ head coach, revealed to the Memphis Commercial Appeal during American Conference media day that he is contribut…
Magic Legend Penny Hardaway Faces ‘Death Sentence’ Pressure After Spending $2.6M to Build NCAA Roster
Orlando Magic icon Penny Hardaway has taken an unprecedented financial step as the Memphis Tigers head coach. In a very intense college athletics landscape, he’s taken extra measures to secure his team’s competitiveness. The NBA legend, who earned over $120 million in his playing career, revealed that he personally contributed $2.6 million of his own […]
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