Why Penny Hardaway said returning to state title game has been personal for him, East

Tom Kreager
The Tennessean
Memphis East Head Coach Penny Hardaway gestures during a Division I Class AAA semifinals game between Bearden and Memphis East at the TSSAA boys state basketball championships at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on Friday, March 16, 2018.

MURFREESBORO — The sign behind the basketball goal says, "Now it's personal."

That's perhaps the best way to start the conversation as Memphis East inches a step closer to a third consecutive gold ball while its basketball coach is reportedly the next basketball coach at Memphis.

This week and season has been personal for coach Penny Hardaway and the East boys basketball program.

More:Penny Hardaway expected to be named new Memphis Tigers basketball coach

But it's not for the reason you may have expected. The team battled distractions since the opening tip of the season when two standout players that transferred to East were initially declared ineligible.

The TSSAA ruled that East had violated its coaching link rule and declared James Wiseman and Ryan Boyce ineligible as the two transfers played for Team Penny, an AAU basketball program Hardaway founded five years ago and remains active within the organization.

By playing for that program and then transferring, both violated the rule, the high school association ruled.

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A Memphis chancellor, though, ruled both could play through a temporary injunction. The ruling has kept both on the court all year. But TSSAA executive director Bernard Childress said this week that the legal battle isn't over despite no upcoming court dates being set.

"That's a part of the TSSAA's job," Hardaway said of the high school athletic association's handling of the athletes' eligibility. "We understand that. It wasn't personal with the TSSAA. It's just with what's going on, and then we lost those three games in a row."

No, this week has been personal for other reasons.

It's personal for lack of fan support at home games. It's personal for those that don't want to see the Mustangs win, Hardaway said.

More:Penny Hardaway will be 'very successful' at Memphis, says former Iowa St. coach Fred Hoiberg

"We've built up that anger to want to let it out when we play," Hardaway said.

And this team can play.

Memphis East reached the Class AAA championship game with a 72-60 win over  Bearden on Friday. East trailed 38-30 in the third quarter before the Mustangs kicked it in high gear with Wichita State signee Alex Lomax and Wiseman, a 6-foot-11 post player who transferred from Ensworth and is considered the top player nationally in the Class of 2019.

Bearden coach Jeremy Parrott described East as having a "Division I (college basketball) lineup" after the game.

Indeed, it is. This team may be talented enough to be a 16-seed in the other basketball tournament going on this week.

Maybe that will help Hardaway's transition to coaching in college next season if the reports are true.

Calkins:Now that Tubby Smith is gone, can Penny Hardaway save Memphis basketball?

Perhaps that much talent has helped ease the distractions from social media and news organizations reporting that Hardaway will be named the next Memphis coach as early as next week.

"You read it, but you don't let it get in the locker room," Hardaway said. "I think these guys have done a great job in reading it and not letting it get to them because we have  a goal, and that goal is to win the third gold ball in a row.

"If you can't focus enough for that, then you should be here. You should be focusing on one thing right now. I know that's what they are doing."

And that's what Hardaway is doing. He has not let the published reports or the barrage of questions this week get to him.

"It hasn't been hard for me," said the former NBA star. "I'm used to it."

Reach Tom Kreager at tkreager@tennessean.com or 615-259-8089 and on Twitter @Kreager.