Whether any student-athletes in the 2022 high school recruiting class are eventually ruled eligible for the 2026-27 season remains to be seen.
But, no matter what happens, it won't matter to Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway.
Shortly after walking off the 18th green at TPC Southwind on Aug. 12 following his round at the FedEx St. Jude Championship
Pro-Am, Hardawaysaid his roster is set and will remain that way."(Adding a Class of 2022 transfer now), that would be telling a young man that spent the entire summer with us that he’d have to give up his scholarship and sit out a year," he said. "(We're) not even close to even exploring that. I love my team. Who we’re going to war with is who we’re going to war with. Obviously, there are some
really good players out there. But we’re locked and loaded with 15 now."
The Tigers had 14 players on campus for the entirety of summer workouts. Serbian center Nemanja Popović was the only exception. He arrived July 3, in time for the second session.
Memphis is still awaiting confirmation from the NCAA on Popović's eligibility status. But the program is expected to eventually get it.
"I’m just leaving it up to compliance. We’ll hear when you hear," Hardaway said. "We’re happy to have 'Pop.' We’ll see where it goes from here."
The Tigers are set to open the regular season against Iowa State (Nov. 2) at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The game marks the start of another stout non-conference gauntlet facing Memphis.
"We're trying to schedule as many hard games as we can in non-conference, because we're trying to give ourselves multiple opportunities to get into the (NCAA) tournament," said Hardaway.
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This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Penny Hardaway says Memphis basketball roster is set no matter what
