Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway has heaped repeated praise upon his 2026-27 team throughout the offseason for its alignment and buy-in.
Such harmony can be difficult to pull off when roster turnover is so drastic from one year to the next, like the Tigers' has been. Last season, Hardaway started from scratch — 15 players, with every last one playing the previous season at another school — and the incompatibility was unmistakable.
There are 13 new players, with two returners (guard Julius Thedford and forward William Whorton), on this Memphis roster. Before the Tigers play their first of two open exhibition games (at Mississippi State, 7 p.m. CT, Oct. 23), let's familiarize ourselves with all of the newcomers Hardaway has so much faith
in.
Jayden Reid, point guard
The 5-foot-10 senior from Westbury, New York, is entering his fourth year of college basketball, having played two seasons at South Florida before spending a year at Northwestern. His 171 assists for the Wildcats ranked 48th among all Division I players, and his 5.0 assists per game average was sixth-best in the Big Ten. Reid is the only Tigers player to land on the preseason all-conference first team.
Josh Holloway, point guard
A 6-2 fourth-year player from Memphis, Holloway began his career at Samford and spent his junior season at Texas A&M. He is a high-energy, max-effort two-way guard who was the Southern Conference Sixth Man of the Year and made the league's all-defensive team as a sophomore.
Brandin Cummings, guard
The 6-3 Pitt transfer from Midland, Pennsylvania, has three seasons of eligibility remaining. He averaged 12.5 points, 2.1 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 19 games for the Panthers last season before going down with a season-ending ankle injury. A solid shooter with microwave scoring capabilities, he has hit 42.6% of his shots at the collegiate level, including a 34.9% rate from the 3-point line.
Luke Almodovar, guard
Almodovar (6-3) out of Noblesville, Indiana, is a pure scorer. He led Southeast Missouri in scoring (14.1 points per game) as a junior last season, garnering first-team All-OVC honors in the process. He also led NAIA Saint Francis (Indiana) in scoring both seasons he played there, and he was the leading scorer on his high school team as a senior.
Tylik Weeks, forward
Weeks, a 6-7 Brooklyn, New York, native, is another player with major scoring potential. The preseason second-team All-American Conference selection out of Southern Miss led the Sun Belt last season with 19.7 points a game (good enough for 36th in the country) in 2025-26, landing him on the All-Sun Belt first team. A solid rebounder (5.4 per game last season) and passer (2.3 assists), one of the best parts of Weeks' game is his ability to get to the free-throw line (7.8 attempts) and convert (82.3%).
Rihards Vavers, wing
The 6-7 senior forward from Adaži, Latvia, was a top-30 3-point shooter in the country in 2025-26. Vavers comes to Memphis after two seasons at Washington State, where he shot 47.9% beyond the arc his first season, then connected on 41.2% of 177 attempts last season.
Jerry Deng, wing
Deng (6-9) comes to Memphis from NC State. Before that, he spent single seasons at Florida State and Hampton. A career 37.2% 3-point shooter on 263 attempts, he played sparingly for the Wolfpack in 2025-26, before he and former NC State coach Will Wade agreed he should redshirt. "I’ve always been known to be able to stretch the floor, but I can affect the game all-around," Deng told The Commercial Appeal earlier this year.
Maxim Logue, center
The 6-9, 232-pound big man from Lyon, France, who played last season at FAU, was initially committed to North Carolina. In just 11 minutes a game in 2025-26, Logue averaged 4.8 points (on 67.4% shooting from the field) and 3.1 rebounds in 28 games for the Owls. He added 15 blocks and 14 steals.
Nemanja Popović, center
The 24-year-old big man (6-9, 215) from Topola, Serbia, is expected to be a starter for the Tigers. After beginning his professional overseas career in 2019, Popović enjoyed the finest season of his career while playing for King Wilki Morskie Szczecin (the King Szczecin Sea Wolves) of the Polish Basketball League (PLK) last season. He averaged 13.9 points and 6.4 rebounds in 27 games, earning first-team All-PLK honors in the process.
Corneilous Williams, center
An athletic 6-9 big man, Williams (from Beaumont, Mississippi) was a top-20 rebounder (9.1 per game) nationally in 2024-25, and a top-30 rebounder (9.3 per game) in 2025-26 at North Alabama. Williams was particularly productive on the offensive glass, grabbing 3.8 offensive rebounds per game (12th in the nation) last season.
Cello Jackson Jr., guard
Jackson (6-4, 205) is one of three true freshmen and one of five players from Memphis suiting up for the Tigers. The former four-star recruit played his junior and senior seasons at Columbus (Miami) High, where he was teammates with Grizzlies first-round pick Cam Boozer in 2024-25.
Fred Smith Jr., forward
Smith (6-7, 210), another true freshman and a two-time Mr. Basketball in the state of Tennessee, enjoyed one of the more decorated prep careers in Memphis history at Briarcrest. The former four-star prospect averaged 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists as a senior.
Parker Pounds, wing
Also a true freshman, the 6-6, 190-pound Pounds was teammates with Smith at Briarcrest. A sharpshooter during his prep career (48.7% of 304 attempts beyond the arc during his junior and senior seasons), Pounds initially committed to Air Force before flipping to the Tigers.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com, follow him @munzly on X.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Meet Memphis basketball's 13 new players for the 2026-27 season
