Former Memphis Tigers teammate Tony Madlock will join Penny Hardaway's staff

In the days leading into Penny Hardaway’s introduction as the new Memphis men’s basketball coach, he relied on one former backcourt mate to give him “the lay of the land” for what to expect in the college ranks.

Tony Madlock, who served as an assistant coach and interim head coach at Ole Miss this past season, played with Hardaway for one season at Memphis, and the duo helped get the Tigers to the Elite Eight in 1992. They’ll be back together again soon.

Hardaway announced Tuesday during an interview session with reporters that he plans to have Madlock on his assistant coaching staff beginning this week.

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Madlock, 48, is a Memphis native with more than 20 years of college coaching experience with previous stops at Auburn, UTEP and Arkansas State. He spent the previous four seasons at Ole Miss and compiled a 1-4 record upon taking over for fired coach Andy Kennedy on an interim basis.

Hardaway said he is still looking for an associate head coach and another assistant coach to round out his staff. He did, however, have some parameters in mind when asked about potential candidates.

“I’m looking for veteran guys that have been in the game a long time,” Hardaway said, “that can go out there and hit the pavement and grind and go in and make families and kids believe that this is the place to have their kids to come. Just tireless workers. Guys that are going to be grinding all day and all night non-stop trying to get this school back to its rightful form and to continue to keep us ranked highly by getting those kids.”

One name that surfaced in recent weeks as a possibility was Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown. Whether he’s a viable option remains to be seen considering all of his previous stints as college coach ended with NCAA sanctions of some kind.

But Hardaway was asked what coach had the most influence on him, and he didn’t hesitate before referencing Brown.

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"The NBA is really a business, but he kept the team close," Hardaway said of Brown, who coached him for one season with the New York Knicks (2005-06). "He cared about the people, he cared about the players, and that’s what I loved about him the most.”

Why Hardaway wants to play 'the big boys'

Hardaway made clear he would like to see the Tigers’ non-conference schedule upgraded in the coming years and indicated facing “all the big boys” would become a trademark of his program at Memphis.

“I don’t knock any schedule that’s been here, but I want to play the big boys,” Hardaway said. “I want to know where we stand. I want to go against the guys so I can learn and see this is what makes them great. I don’t want to hold anything back when it comes to scheduling. I’ll be calling (Kentucky Coach John Calipari). I’ll be calling Michigan State, Duke.

"I’ll be calling all the big boys because I want to play all of them at some point — a home and home. I really do. I think the city wants that. I want that. Never run away from competition at all. You can only learn from it.”

Memphis is already scheduled to be in the Advocare Invitational in Orlando over Thanksgiving along with Villanova, Florida State, LSU, Oklahoma State, UAB and Charleston. The Tigers will also face LSU on the road in December.

Prior to coach Tubby Smith’s firing, Memphis had also been in negotiations with Tennessee to begin a home-and-home series next year.

Hardaway can keep Grizzlies, Nike ties

Hardaway confirmed after Tuesday's media availability that he will not have to give up his minority ownership in the Memphis Grizzlies, nor will he have to give up his personal sponsorship agreement with Nike, as a result of being hired by the university.

Hardaway said the university's compliance office checked into both matters and said neither relationship would represent an NCAA violation.

Hardaway noted that his ownership stake in the Grizzlies is allowable because he doesn't have any decision-making power with the organization.

All-star congrats

Once news of Hardaway’s hiring started leaking nationally on Monday, NBA superstar LeBron James was among those to congratulate the former Memphis star on his new job. Hardaway noted he planned to call James on Tuesday to thank him.

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“That’s big time when you have the King tweeting out that it’s a game changer for me to come to a college,” Hardaway said.

Hardaway went on to mention that former NBA stars Isaiah Thomas, Gary Payton, Nick Van Exel, Sam Cassell and Baron Davis sent him a group text message on Monday upon hearing of his hiring at Memphis and told him, “they were going to be coming to some of the games.”

They “want to do an actual point guard camp here this summer,” Hardaway added.