Four-time NBA All-Star Penny Hardaway now serves as the head coach of the University of Memphis Men’s Basketball team. In his second season on the job, Hardaway produced the best recruiting class in the country – besting Kentucky, Duke, Oregon, Villanova and others.
However, with multiple big-name high-schoolers opting to bypass college and instead play in the G-League next season, Hardaway believes that these decisions can be likened to “tampering:” In a video released by Memphis, he had this to say:
“I didn’t think the G League was built — and I could be wrong — to go and recruit kids that want to go to college out of going to college … I thought they were going to be the organization that was going to be, if you want to go overseas or you absolutely did not want to play college 100 percent, that this would be the best situation for you before you go into the NBA. But taking guys out of their commitments [or] they’ve already signed and continuing to talk to their parents, it’s almost like tampering. I really don’t agree with that.”
Hardaway was able to recruit a whopping five players in the RSCI Top 100 in 2019, including the No. 1 overall player James Wiseman, along with No. 14 player Precious Achiuwa, No. 36 players Boogie Ellis, No. 45 player D.J. Jeffries and No. 60 players Lester Quinones. And he likely doesn't want to potentially lose any of them to the G-League.
Of course, Hardaway is no stranger to elite competition, as he played alongside — and sometimes one-upped — Shaquille O’Neal during their peak in the mid-90s with the Orlando Magic. But he also thinks what the G-League is doing goes beyond competition, to potential tampering.
Follow Us
Subscribe