Report: Penny Hardaway Hiring Larry Brown as Assistant Coach at Memphis

Penny Hardaway is staying in Memphis and he's adding another basketball legend to his coaching staff. 

According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, Hardaway is hiring Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown as an assistant coach for the Tigers. The 80-year-old coach is expected to be formally announced soon.

As noted by The Commercial Appeal, this marks the second time in Brown's coaching career that he will serve as an assistant. The first opportunity came in the 1960s when he spent two seasons at North Carolina under the legendary Dean Smith. 

Brown last served as a head coach in 2018 for Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino in Italy. He is the only person in the history of men's college basketball to coach a team to an NCAA men's championship (Kansas, 1988) and lead a team to an NBA title (Detroit Pistons, 2004).

Brown spent 11 seasons with three different college programs (UCLA, Kansas, SMU) where he recorded a 266-99 record. His teams made the NCAA tournament nine times with three Final Four appearances. UCLA's run to the national championship game in 1980 was vacated. 

He is also the only coach in NBA history to lead eight different franchises to the playoffs.