The Memphis Tigers are back in the NCAA tournament. This is progress. Even better would be a pair of wins and the program’s first trip to the Sweet 16 in well over a decade. But let’s think ambitiously. With six wins needed to cut down the nets as national champion, here are six factors that could make this March memorable for Memphis.
Forget history, especially the previous six seasons. With the exception of forward Nicholas Jourdain, Penny Hardaway’s first six years as Tiger coach mean absolutely nothing to the current roster. The Wiseman Affair. The Lost Postseason of 2020. The Missed Timeout against FAU in the 2023 NCAA tournament. And (blech) the Nosedive of 2024. Sure, this is Tiger basketball history, but it cannot so much as enter the brainwaves of the last man on the Memphis bench.
Following the Tigers’ season-opening win over Missouri way back in November, PJ Haggerty (new to the program from Tulsa) emphasized the good chemistry he felt with his new teammates, actually emphasizing “no beef,” no tension between players just establishing their roles. Guard Tyrese Hunter (new to the program from Texas and this season a first-team All-AAC selection) said this Memphis team has “no ego,” that he and his teammates have “blinders on” for a shared mission.
Read between those lines and you recognize the after-effects of a 2023-24 season where egos were indeed a variable, where a beef or two seemed to compromise any mission, let alone that of a deep NCAA tournament run. Three weeks after that opening win, the Tigers beat both Connecticut (the two-time defending national champions) and Michigan State in Maui to more than clean the slate for a new team, a new campaign. The slogan for the 2024-25 Memphis Tigers should be … This is now. What can today bring?
When asked about his current team and a strength that can help it succeed in tournament play, the 2025 AAC Coach of the Year doesn’t hesitate: “Our unity. We all have the same goal. It hasn’t been that way around here in past years. It’s been kind of selfish. Some people have been so good, they felt they could do it on their own. With this group, our biggest attribute is our unity. We’re together as one.”
Stars must star. While the players must keep those blinders on, we can turn to history for some guidance in what to expect when the Madness tips off. And every Final Four run the Memphis Tigers have made has featured a Leading Man: Larry Finch in 1973, Keith Lee in 1985, and Chris Douglas-Roberts or Derrick Rose (take your pick) in 2008. A sophomore sensation by the name of Hardaway took the Tigers to the Elite Eight in 1992. You get the idea.
PJ Haggerty is this team’s alpha, and he will need to seize that role — maybe even inflate it — for the Tigers to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in 16 years. The AAC Player of the Year is already just the seventh Memphis player to score 700 points in a season. (He needs 22 to break Dajuan Wagner’s program record of 762.) Haggerty scored 13 points in six minutes to fuel a second-half comeback at UAB on March 2nd that essentially clinched the AAC title for the Tigers. He poured in 42 in the AAC tournament quarterfinals, a win over Wichita State in which his teammates combined to score 41.
“He’s a dreamer,” says Hardaway. “He sat home and watched the NCAA tournament when he was young, like we all have. To have this situation now — ranked the number-one shooting guard in the country, conference player of the year — he’s still dreaming. He may have hoped for all this to happen, but now that it’s actually here, he’s excited.”
Dainja! Dainja!! FedExForum announcer Geoff Mack found his muse with the arrival of Dain Dainja. The Tigers’ big man with soft hands (a transfer from Illinois) has often raised the arena’s energy level with a gentle hook shot or follow-up slam. And when that energy peaks, Mack will bellow into his microphone, “DAINJA! … DAINJA!!” It’s the happiest reaction to something, yes, dangerous we’ll witness near a basketball court.
Hardaway inserted Dainja into the Tigers’ starting lineup for their showdown with UAB on January 26th, a game that would determine first place in the American Athletic Conference. Dainja hit 10 of 12 shots and pulled down eight rebounds in only 25 minutes of what proved to be an easy (100-77) Memphis victory. Memphis has only lost one game since.
How critical is Dainja to a deep run for the Tigers? He and Moussa Cisse are the only “bigs” Hardaway has in his rotation, the closest players — in body and style — to an old-fashioned center. They will be needed to protect the rim on the defensive side and provide interior threats (particularly Dainja) when the Tigers have the ball. Pay attention to fouls for either of these players. And expect Hardaway to leave them on the floor even if they accumulate four. “Going small” might be a strategy, but not when it’s forced.
Dainja vanished in a game at Wichita State on February 16th (four points and a single rebound in 20 minutes of playing time), and the Tigers lost in overtime to a very beatable Shockers team. A week later at FedExForum, Dainja (Dainja!) scored 22 points, pulled down 11 rebounds, and blocked four shots in a 19-point victory over FAU. “It shows me that he cares,” said Hardaway after Dainja’s resurrection against the Owls. “These guys care. They want to come back and do better [after an off game]. He knew he let himself down [against Wichita State]. He has so much pride and he came back hungrier.”
As for the now of it all, Dainja — yet another first-team All-AAC honoree — actually mentioned “getting old” after the Tigers beat Temple last month. (He’s 22.) His basketball life is about winning. The busier Dainja finds himself this postseason, the more danger Memphis opponents will experience.
Clean the glass. There’s one unifying thread when you examine the Tigers’ five losses this season: more rebounds by their opponent. If you consider every rebound an extra chance to score, Temple had 24 more opportunities (49-25) in the Owls’ seven-point win in January. That ugly loss at Wichita State? The Shockers pulled down 54 rebounds to the Tigers’ 45.
Memphis is not a big team. Dainja, Cisse, and Jourdain will be trusted with much of the rebounding responsibility, but smaller players — Haggerty and Colby Rogers, to name two starters — must earn a few extra possessions for the Tigers to win the close games to come. And beware foul trouble for the 6’9” Dainja or the 6’11” Cisse. Losing either for an extended stretch would force Hardaway to play “small ball,” and against the wrong opponent, that can go sideways fast.
“Once Dain gets going,” notes Hardaway, “you have to double-team him. And we can tee up threes; we love that advantage. He’s bought into the role we have for him. He knew Moussa was coming and didn’t know how much time he would get. We need him to score, so we make him comfortable.” If the Tigers are to advance this month, they need Dainja to rebound, too.
Unheralded hero. Or two. The margin between victory and defeat in the NCAA tournament is miniscule. Three years ago, in the second round, the Tigers led the top-ranked team in the country (Gonzaga) at halftime, only to stumble in the second half. Two years ago, had an official granted the Tigers the late-game timeout players requested during a scramble, it may have been Memphis (and not FAU) that advanced to the Final Four.
Remember that win over Connecticut last November? The Tigers found themselves going to overtime against the second-ranked team in the country, but with Haggerty having fouled out. Into the spotlight strides another PJ, last name Carter. The UTSA transfer proceeded to make six consecutive free throws and drain a three-pointer to all but personally deliver a season-changing upset to his new team.
Haggerty and Dainja must have a productive supporting cast for Memphis to advance in the Big Dance. Will Carter be the one to grab some national attention off the bench? Maybe it will be Rogers, at times a long-distance threat (and others virtually invisible). If the current Tigers have a “glue guy,” it’s Jourdain, the lone veteran, now wrapping up his second season under Hardaway. The senior has started every game this season after starting 25 upon his arrival from Temple for the 2023-24 campaign. Jourdain had a pair of late put-backs at UAB that helped seal the Tigers’ biggest win in conference play. His averages of 6.4 points per game and 5.6 rebounds are mere whispers of his value. Depth is an overrated factor for a 40-minute basketball game, but a surprise performance is always welcome. One or two can shift that precious margin for victory in the right direction.
Embrace the unlikely. Hardaway is associated with the number 1, and for obvious reasons. But the retired jersey number below his name that has hung from the rafters above the Tigers’ court for 30 years now is … 25. Could such a celebrated-but-forgotten pair of digits be an omen for a 2025 tournament run under Coach Hardaway’s watch?
Consider that these Tigers won the first AAC regular-season crown in program history. This was not predicted back in November. (UAB was picked to win.) These Tigers climbed to a ranking of 14th in the AP poll, the highest Memphis has been ranked after Valentine’s Day since 2009 (John Calipari’s last season as head coach). This was not predicted back in November, as the Tigers began the season outside the Top 25. These Tigers have nabbed a 5 seed in the NCAA tournament. Also not predicted, and how significant, you ask? Memphis has reached the Sweet 16 ten times since seeding began in 1979, but never seeded lower than sixth.
As for the crucible of NCAA tournament play, consider the Tigers’ record this season away from FedExForum: 16-3. Not only have they won an ocean away from home (Maui), but they’ve won at Clemson, at Virginia, at Tulane, and at UAB, smaller arenas packed with crowds loudly rooting against their success. This Memphis team may encounter an opponent with more talent, maybe more luck. But it’s hard to imagine the Tigers being intimidated by what’s to come with all the madness.
“They want to be champions,” emphasizes Hardaway. “They’ve come together and bonded. They’ve set out on a mission, and they’re not letting anything distract them. We’ve had a couple of bad games in conference, but these guys are locked in. They’re together. That’s why we’re so resilient.”
Seeded 5th in the West Region, Memphis (29-5) opens play on Friday in Seattle against Colorado State (25-9).
Joe Murphy 
Dave Eggen/Inertia 
