Penny Hardaway Finally Realizing He Needed To 'Grow Up' Has Memphis Basketball Rolling To Begin Season

Penny Hardaway has not led the Memphis basketball program to the point many envisioned he would when he took over the program in 2018. A single NCAA Tournament game win, missing out on the tournament entirely four times, and an NIT trophy in six seasons doesn't exactly scream success. 

‘Okay’ is the one, albeit simple word one could use to describe Hardaway's first six years at the helm, and ‘okay’ buys you a bit more time in charge when you are Memphis royalty such as Penny. 

Heading into year seven, however, his coaching seat was undeniably getting warmer with Memphis finishing fifth in a pretty mediocre American Athletic Conference and missing out on March Madness last season after being ranked inside the Top 10 as late as January.

As the nightmare scenario unfolded last season, Hardaway pointed the finger in many different directions, but never in the mirror. 

He blamed his team's loss to Ole Miss on a toothache while the reality was that Chris Beard coached circles around him in the closing minutes. He later publicly reminded Tiger fans that he isn't a loser while not exactly complimenting his team before eventually eviscerating his squad late in the year. Memphis' incredible amount of turnover on the assistant coaching staff over the years hasn't exactly shed the brightest of lights on Hardaway taking responsibility for the program's struggles either.

Elderly Memphis fan goes viral. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

It may have taken Hardaway a full six seasons to realize it, but prior to the start of year seven, he finally realized that maybe it was something he was doing that was holding the program back.

"I just basically had to blame everything on me and just say, ‘Hey, I have to get control of me,’ " Hardaway said on Monday during his weekly coach’s radio show. "It was some dark days. Just for me personally, just to check myself and say, ‘Hey, it’s time for you to grow up. It’s time for you to get this done, because you know you can get it done."

While it's still very early in the year, and Memphis fans saw last year's team get off to a quick start, there appears to be a different vibe with this year's Tigers.

Memphis is sitting at 6-1 after picking up wins over both Connecticut and Michigan State in the Maui Invitational before losing to Auburn to close out their trip on the island. A season-opening win against Missouri followed by a road win at UNLV aren't victories to completely overlook either.

"I thought I needed certain things, which I didn’t," Hardaway said. "The organizational side of it is where I faltered. The way I run my team, the way I run that building. It wasn’t my work ethic. Nobody’s going to say they’ve watched more film. Nobody’s going to out-X and O me. Now, everything is starting to fall into place with God’s help."

The Tiger still have a few non-conference tests ahead of them with trips to Clemson and Virginia before returning to the Bluff City to take on Mississippi State and Ole Miss in back-to-back games. 

A conference championship in a bad AAC is expected by the fanbase, but continuing to build the resume to make noise of any kind in the NCAA Tournament is not a want, but a need for anyone involved with this Memphis Tigers team.