Penny Hardaway can still vividly picture the scene in his mind’s eye.
When he was hired as Memphis basketball coach in 2018, the Tigers' legend gave the program, the school and the city a booming spark that had been missing for far too long.
On Oct. 20 — less than two weeks before his new team opens the 2026-27 regular season against Iowa State (6 p.m., Nov. 2) — Hardaway stood before a group of more than 50 during a Memphis Rotary Club luncheon at the Pink Palace and reckoned with reality.
“Along the way, we’ve kind of lost the luster,” said Hardaway, whose job security has been heavily scrutinized (internally and externally) in the wake of a miserable 13-19 season. “I don’t know if it’s me being here too long or whatever it may be.
“(But) people go, ‘Why do you still do it?’ Because I know we can turn it over. I really feel in my heart that we can turn it over.”
But there are a couple of catches, according to Hardaway.
The first one involves perspective and understanding. College athletics as an industry has changed dramatically over the past half-decade with the landmark advent and subsequent seismic escalation of NIL and revenue sharing payments for players. The more money a team has to spend, the better the odds become for that team to stockpile more talented players.
Some teams spend upward of $20 million — even $30 million — on roster payroll. Memphis put $9 million toward its roster-build for this season ($2.6 million of which only came through a fundraising-slash-donation backstop deal Hardaway worked out with the university’s athletic department).
“Louisville has two players worth my entire roster,” Hardaway said, noting the Cardinals will visit FedExForum for a game on Nov. 15 (noon, ESPN). I just want people to understand, it doesn’t matter if they fire me after this year or not, the next person coming in needs to understand that.”
The second catch involves support. If the Tigers are to get things back on track, according to Hardaway, they won’t be able to do it on their own.
“It’s going to take all of us,” he told the Rotary Club. “For us to keep this going, for me to continue to go at a high level, there just has to be a shift somewhere outside of the university for people to understand what’s really going on.
“If everybody in this city wants to win and wants us to truly win, then we’ll all try to find a way to get back involved on whatever level. This is ‘The City’s Team,” and we need to get that back.”
As difficult as the landscape has become — and as different as it is from the job he accepted eight-plus years ago — Hardaway reiterated he is committed to it.
“I love my job,” he said. “I’m fighting all of that, less money and all of that and still trying to grind and fight and work for the city. It’s why I came back home. I didn’t stay in Orlando. I didn’t stay in (Los Angeles). I came back here for this reason.
“You’re gonna love this group (of players). We’re going to fight as hard as we’ve ever fought. Not for any other reason than that’s what I do for the city. No matter what’s going on, I’m always going to fight for this city.”
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com, follow him @munzly on X.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: What Memphis basketball's Penny Hardaway says when people ask, 'Why do you still do it?'