4 NCAA basketball coaches most likely to jump to the NBA
By Brian Kinel
3. Penny Hardaway – Memphis
Penny Hardaway became a first-time college head coach in 2018. And while he didn’t quite play 20 years in the NBA like Howard, he did play for 16 seasons. Hardaway is on this list because of his history of working with great, young players. When NBA teams look for a young coach for their young players, he should be on their list.
Hardaway has been on the cutting edge of youth basketball. He started Team Penny on the Nike EYBL circuit and has sent many players to big-time college programs like Kansas, Florida, Gonzaga, Alabama, Kentucky, and Arkansas. Cameron Payne with Phoenix, Dennis Smith Jr. with Detroit and PJ Washington with Charlotte have made it to the NBA after playing on Team Penny.
Kevaughn Allen went to Florida and is now in the G League as is Braxton Key who played at Alabama. Jonathan Williams is now playing professionally in Germany after a college career at Gonzaga.
Hardaway’s 2019 Memphis recruiting class was one of the best in the country. Gatorade Player of the Year James Wiseman highlighted the class before becoming the second pick in the 2020 NBA draft. That 2019 Memphis class also included the 15th ranked player in Precious Achiuwa, 38th Boogie Ellis and 52nd DJ Jeffries. Hardaway’s 2020 class had 10th ranked Moussa Cisse and 13th Ahmad Rand.
Hardaway is a relevant name to great, young players, even if they never saw the “Little Penny” commercials.