Penny Hardaway parts ways with Rick Stansbury, 3 other Memphis staffers

What’s going on in Memphis? That’s a question we’ve asked a lot during the Penny Hardaway era, but especially last night, when news broke that Hardaway was parting ways with four staff members, including lead assistant Rick Stansbury.

The drama started Tuesday evening when reports came out that assistant coaches Faragi Phillips, Jamie Rosser, and player development assistant Jermaine Johnson would not return to Memphis’ staff. Later that night, word broke that Stansbury, who recruited most of the Tigers’ current roster (including his son, Noah), was gone too. The former Mississippi State and Western Kentucky head coach joined the staff in 2023. Earlier this summer, Hardaway also decided not to retain Andy Borman, an assistant coach on the staff for two seasons, along with support staffers Garrett Kelly (Director of Basketball Operations), Jeremy Kipness (Director of Recruiting), Andy Pennington (Director of Analytics), and Darby Rich (Strength Coach).

Hardaway confirmed the departures of Stansbury, Phillips, Rosser, and special advisor Demetrius Dyson this morning.

“I want to thank Rick, Faragi, Jamie, and Demetrius for their service to the University of Memphis and our basketball program. These are good coaches that I’ve worked with closely over the past few seasons, but I made the difficult decision to go in a new direction with our staff. The timing is not ideal, but I want to give this team the best opportunity to reach our goals of winning the American Conference and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. With the season rapidly approaching, we are going to move quickly to complete the staff.”

What will that staff look like? Mike Davis, the former Indiana coach (2000-06) most recently at Detroit Mercy (2018-24), joined the staff as a consultant and could be promoted to a full-time assistant, along with former Memphis great Andre Turner. Former Duke and Louisville assistant Nolan Smith was set to join the staff this summer but the deal has yet to be finalized. All of this turnover and turmoil just two months before the season begins.

It’s a pretty important season for Penny, too. Memphis missed the NCAA Tournament last season after back-to-back appearances in 2022 and 2023. The Tigers started the season strong, winning 15 of their first 17 games and cracking the Top 25, but lost eight of their final 15 games to finish 22-10. Memphis only has one returning scholarship player, Nick Jourdain. Former Tulsa guard PJ Haggerty and Ole Miss center Moussa Cisse headline Memphis’ hefty haul from the transfer portal.

The Tigers host Missouri to start the season on Nov. 4. Who will be on the sidelines remains to be seen.