Penny Hardaway's first evaluation period as Memphis coach is full of 'swag'

DUNCANVILLE, Texas — Memphis men’s basketball coach Penny Hardaway walked into the Drive Nation Sports Facility on Friday night wearing a flat-brimmed Memphis Tigers hat, black Nike Air Force 1 shoes and a gray sweatsuit.

Trey Draper heard about it while standing on a basketball court 30 minutes away.

Draper, the former Memphis basketball player, was working at an Under Armour event at the Duncanville Fieldhouse this past weekend when a group of recruits approached him with a picture they had seen on Twitter.

It was Hardaway with his head resting on his hand watching a Nike Elite Youth Basketball League game. But all the teenagers noticed was the fact that he appeared to be the only college basketball coach in the country wearing a flat-brimmed hat.

“They knew I was from Memphis and they came and showed it to me,” Draper explained. “They said, ‘Man, that’s some real swag there.’”

Why this trip was different for Hardaway

Hardaway stood out among his new colleagues this weekend during his first evaluation period as a college head coach, the intrigue surrounding his hiring at Memphis still palpable in Dallas area gyms full of the sport's movers and shakers.

Some discussed what he’d already accomplished, reeling in a top-30 recruiting class for next season after only a month on the job at Memphis. Others talked about what might be next, with the Tigers chasing several high-profile prospects for their 2019 recruiting class.

But for many of the players, Hardaway’s outfits were more relevant than all of that.

More: For Penny Hardaway's former players, life on recruiting trail is 'weird' without him

On Saturday, he wore Chinese New Year’s-themed Nike Air Penny Foamposite shoes. On Sunday, he donned rainbow-colored Air Pennys and another flat brimmed hat with “Nike” written in large letters under the bill.

It was different than the team-issued polo shirt, sweats and sneakers usually worn by coaches at these events.

“That’s just my swag. It’s just a part of me,” Hardaway said when asked Sunday whether his clothing choices were intended to draw attention. “Maybe I started doing it strategically when I was coaching, to wear my own shoes being out on the circuit, and now it’s just habit.”

This experience, however, was entirely different than what Hardaway went through leading Team Penny in the EYBL in recent years.

Look no farther than when he walked into the gym Friday night using the public entrance, unaware there’s a separate door for coaches in order to avoid potential NCAA violations.

More: James Wiseman 'doesn't see any difference' between Kentucky, Memphis as recruitment heats up

“I’m just so used to going in, so I've started looking for signs now,” Hardaway said with a laugh Sunday afternoon. “That’s kind of been killing me on this trip. But if I do go through the public entrance, I try to scurry through and get right over to where I’m supposed to be.”

NCAA rules stipulate that coaches can watch recruits play games during evaluation periods, but can’t say more than hello to players or their families. At one point, for instance, Hardaway stood just a few feet away from top 2019 prospect James Wiseman, who played for him at East High School this past winter, and the two didn’t say a word to each other.

What other coaches told Hardaway

Coaches can, however, speak with other coaches, and many offered their congratulations upon seeing Hardaway in public for the first time since he was named the head coach at Memphis last month.

Hardaway said the best advice he got came from Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton, who told him, “Take it all in one day at a time. It’s going to be a lot.”

ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla approached Hardaway on Saturday night to say, contrary to what the perception might be, “He paid his dues. He went to coach at high school.”

More: Mike Miller answers the big question: Why he chose Memphis

Hardaway’s three predecessors at Memphis — Tubby Smith, Josh Pastner and John Calipari — were also in the same gym as him at various times.

Pastner and Hardaway had a conversation Saturday that made Pastner think back to his first four years as the head coach at Memphis. He said he offered Hardaway a job on his staff heading into each one of those seasons.

“He didn’t want to do it, but I knew as he kept going the itch to coach college was strong,” Pastner said. “He’s got a good aura about him, a good presence, and I would be highly surprised if he’s not successful at Memphis.”

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Hardaway attended games at events sponsored by Nike, Under Armour and Adidas over three days, riding around the Dallas area in a rented Cadillac Escalade. He often was joined by assistant coach Tony Madlock and director of basketball operations Rodney Hamilton.

Hardaway sat at the mid-court line Saturday to watch five-star recruit Trendon Watford, who received a scholarship offer from Memphis last week. He also took in two games featuring Memphis-based Team Thad and looked closely at Montgomery, Ala., guard Jaykwon Walton, a potential 2019 target for the Tigers.

On Friday night, Hardaway sat in the bleachers near the entire Kentucky coaching staff, including Calipari. They were all there to see Wiseman, Kentucky commitment D.J. Jeffries, forwards Chandler Lawson and Malcolm Dandridge, and the rest of the Bluff City recruits who played for Hardaway in the past.

Who did Hardaway watch the most?

Despite the change in his job title, Hardaway spent more time watching his former players than anyone else. He appeared to be the only head coach to attend every game played by the Bluff City Legends, formerly known as Team Penny.

But unlike last year, when Hardaway chastised officials over questionable calls and stood up to celebrate big plays during games, he remained mostly stoic. He did, however, accidentally refer to the Bluff City Legends’ prospects as “our players” in an interview.

“I’m the head coach at the University of Memphis and you can’t show bias,” Hardaway said. “Even though those are my guys and I’ve been with them for a while, I’m just watching the game and noticing tendencies more now than actually cheering for the game. You’re looking for the players. You’re really focusing in on their skill-set.”

Hardaway said he observes a prospect's tendencies, toughness, unselfishness and motor because those traits are often “hard to find in today’s game.”

But it’s difficult to draw conclusions after only one weekend, and another evaluation period awaits starting Friday.

Hardaway is scheduled to be in Indianapolis. Until then, he will spend the next few days reaching out to the prospects who impressed him to let them know Memphis is interested.

This is one of the many new hats — flat brimmed or not — that Hardaway now wears as a college head coach.

“We’re out here fighting, and working,” Hardaway said in an Instagram post before boarding a flight back to Memphis on Sunday afternoon.