Two months before Memphis’ first game of the 2025 college basketball season, Tigers coach Penny Hardaway has conducted a purge of the program’s assistants.
Memphis is firing assistant coaches Faragi Phillips, Jamie Rosser and Rick Stansbury as well as 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 fine coaches that I have worked closely with over the past few seasons, but I have made the difficult decision to take our team in a new direction.”
Three of the fired assistants have Division I playing experience, while Stansbury, who has none, coached Mississippi State and Western Kentucky for more than two decades.
Memphis athletic director Ed Scott declined to comment on the firings.
Our @buckleytim18 asked Memphis AD Ed Scott this morning to comment on the massive changes to Penny Hardaway’s coaching staff.
Scott: “I have no comment on that. … Penny has released his statement and I will respond to that if necessary. But no, I have no further comment on that.”
— Parth Upadhyaya (@pupadhyaya_) 4 September 2024
The Tigers are entering their seventh season under Hardaway, whose leadership has resulted in a 133-62 record but only two NCAA tournament appearances.
