Less than 24 hours after Penny Hardaway said he put $2.6 million “of my own money” toward Memphis basketball’s revenue sharing total, athletic director Ed Scott publicly clarified those comments.
“We have not received a check from Penny and then given that money to players,” Scott told Gary Parrish during an appearance on Grind City Media on Oct. 13. “That would be a clear violation of the CSC (College Sports Commission) and the House settlement. We don’t operate that way.”
Scott felt compelled to set the record straight after Hardaway, in an exclusive interview with The Commercial Appeal at American Conference media day in Tampa on Oct. 12, said he decided to dip into his own funds to land big men Nemanja Popovic and Maxim Logue.
But Scott said
those comments were potentially misleading.
“For anybody who thinks that Penny wrote us a check, (that) we took that money and went and paid Nemanja Popovic or (Tylik Weeks) or any of these guys, I want to clear that up,” he said. “Memphis is not creating violations. Penny did not commit a violation. We’re not doing that.”
Scott broke the timeline down this way: During the offseason, Hardaway told university officials he needed a total of $9 million in order to field a team that could realistically have a chance to reach the Sweet 16. Scott said $6.4 million (a $1.4 million increase over the season before) was the best he could do – that he couldn’t do any more than that because he is not permitted to run the athletic department at a deficit.
So, according to Scott, they met in the middle.
“That’s when Penny said, ‘Look, I think I can raise the $2.6 million,’ “ Scott said. “I said, ‘Listen, if you can raise the $2.6 million and have pledges that say it will be paid by the end of the fiscal year, we can front the money.’ “
Then, Scott asked the obvious question: What happens if you can’t raise the money?
“Penny’s response to me was, ‘I will put up my own money for whatever I can’t raise,’ “ Scott said. “We’re paying the $9 million now. That money is being paid without receiving any money from Penny Hardaway.
“Then, at the end of the year, whatever the shortfall is, if he hasn’t been able to raise that, then he will go ahead and make a contribution on his own. So, that part is true. He’s willing to put up his own money. (But) that money he gives us will not go to the men’s basketball players, because they will have already been paid. We don’t need this money until the end of June (2027). Those guys will be off these contracts by then.”
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com, follow him @munzly on X.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis AD Ed Scott clarifies Penny Hardaway's comments about $2.6 million
