Memphis's Penny Hardaway Purges Staff With Four Abrupt Assistant Firings

Memphis' head coach Penny Hardaway yells to a player during the game between University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of Memphis at FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn., on Sunday, March 3, 2024. | Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Two months before Memphis's first scheduled game of the 2025 men's college basketball season, Tigers coach Penny Hardaway has conducted a purge of the program's assistants.

Memphis is sacking assistant coaches Faragi Phillips, Jamie Rosser, and Rick Stansbury along with special adviser Demetrius Dyson, the Tigers announced Wednesday morning.

"I want to thank Rick, Faragi, Jamie, and Demetrius for their service to the University of Memphis and our basketball program," Hardaway said in a statement via Jeff Borzello of ESPN. "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."

Three of the fired assistants have playing experience at the Division I level, while the one who doesn't—Stansbury—coached Mississippi State and Western Kentucky for over two decades.

Memphis athletic director Ed Scott declined to comment on the firings.

Our @buckleytim18 asked Memphis AD Ed Scott this morning to weigh in on Penny Hardaway's massive coaching staff changes.

Scott: "I have no comment on that. … Penny put out his statement, and I’ll address it if and when necessary. But, no, I have no further comment on that."

— Parth Upadhyaya (@pupadhyaya_) September 4, 2024

The Tigers are entering their seventh season under Hardaway, whose leadership has resulted in a 133-62 record but just two NCAA tournament appearances.