Memphis alums/friends at church told me today...
....to expect U.of Memphis to buyout Tubby Smith to the tune of 9.5 million within the week and replace him with Memphis East High School Coach and former NBA star Penny Hardaway. Hardaway would bring in as an assistant, Larry Brown and one other big name coach. While this seems wild to me, it could have merit. Tubby has not signed one single Memphis area player in his two years which is considered blasphemy in these parts. Memphis's regularly sold out FedEx Forum has dropped 6,000 per game in attendance down to a paltry 13,000 per game during Tubby's two years and the decline actually started under Pastner's last year. Another important note.....Penny has many contacts with 4 and 5 star Memphis area high school recruits who would very seriously consider playing for him or dern near trip over their own feet to get at an offer from him. The 2019 nation's #1 overall recruit currently plays for Hardaway's East High team and another 5-Star recruit that would jump at the chance is Olive Branch's DJ Jeffries. East High also has another solid 4 star player and a projected 4/5 star player coming up. All would be locks with Hardaway and Larry Brown at the helm. Stay tune I'm told. Should hear something about this within several days if this has any truth to it at all.
Update.....here's an article detailing the same I found.......Penny&LarryBrown