Memphis coach Penny Hardaway announced the hiring of assistant coaches Nolan Smith and Mike Davis on Wednesday, just two weeks after parting with four staff members on the eve of his seventh season. Smith and Davis are high-profile hires and will be latest on a carousel of assistants who’ve worked under Hardaway since he took the Memphis job in 2018.
Both have been to Final Fours as coaches but found themselves out of work after the 2023-24 season. Now, they will join forces with Hardaway, who faces mounting pressure entering the 2024-25 campaign.
Smith starred at Duke from 2007-11 and was a Blue Devils assistant from 2016-22 under Mike Krzyzewski before joining the Louisville staff in 2022. Though Louisville was his hometown school, the jump proved ill-fated as the Cardinals bottomed out under head coach Kenny Payne during Smith’s two years on staff.
Davis just wrapped up a six-year tenure as head coach at Detroit Mercy, which ended after the Titans posted a 1-31 record in 2023-24. He famously succeeded Bob Knight as Indiana’s head coach and led the Hoosiers to an appearance in the 2002 national championship game. Davis went on to serve as head coach at UAB and Texas Southern, guiding both programs to Big Dance appearances before his stint at Detroit Mercy.
Collectively, the two will help round out Hardaway’s staff following a strangely timed purge earlier this month. Among the departures from Hardaway’s staff was Rick Stansbury, the former coach at Mississippi State and Western Kentucky who was with the Tigers for the 2023-24 season as Hardaway’s lead assistant.
The announcement on the hirings of Davis and Smith comes less than a month before the Tigers are scheduled to take on North Carolina in an exhibition and during a tumultuous time for the program. Memphis is under NCAA investigation for a third time during Hardaway’s tenure, this time over allegations of academic fraud. An anonymous letter acknowledged by the university also came to light this month, bringing more scrutiny on the program.
Additionally, the Tigers are led by a new athletic director, Ed Scott, who is taking a more hands-on approach with the men’s basketball program than predecessor Laird Veatch, who is now at Missouri. Memphis is also reportedly among the teams the Pac-12 is considering in its continued expansion.
As for the team itself, Memphis returns just one scholarship player from a 2023-24 squad that rose as high as No. 10 in the AP poll during a 15-2 start before missing the NCAA Tournament with a 22-10 record.
Despite the chaos, there is still reason for optimism on the court for Memphis in 2024-25. The Tigers landed 247Sports’ No. 11 ranked transfer class headlined by three of CBS Sports’ top-80 transfers. They are likely to be the preseason favorites to win the AAC.
