Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="selles, post: 3323580, member: 1176"] To really understand this situation I think we need to recall articles like this from 18 months ago: [URL="https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/sports/college/memphis-tigers/basketball/2018/03/09/memphis-basketball-tigers-tubby-smith-penny-hardaway-high-school-recruiting-aau-tulsa-cincinnati-aac/411485002/"]Smith's lawyer: Is Penny hurting Memphis recruiting?[/URL] "With rumors continuing to swirl about the future of Memphis men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith, his longtime attorney on Friday questioned former Tigers star Penny Hardaway’s role in Smith’s inability to recruit Memphis area players during his two years on the job. “[B]If you’ve got somebody that wants the job and they’re controlling most of the talent in the city, I’m not casting aspersions. I’ll let you draw conclusions[/B],” Ricky Lefft said before the Tigers pulled off a dramatic win over Tulsa in the American Athletic Conference quarterfinals. “But (Smith) gets hit with by the local media that he’s not getting the Memphis kids. They’re recruiting the Memphis kids. They’re bringing them on official visits. They’re making the phone calls. They’re going to the games. They’re talking to the parents … It would only be speculation on my part on what’s going on there, but it’s the worst kept secret in America that (Hardaway) wanted the job and there may come a time when coach has exited that he’ll get the job.”" Now, how was Penny "controlling" the talent in the city? The Wiseman situation suggests it wasn't just the force of his personality and his NBA history. It appears likely that Penny was paying guys to (1) get himself the Memphis job and (2) come play for him after he did. I'm as card-carrying anti-NCAA as you can get, but come on. That's so dirty it would make Bruce Pearl blush. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach