Having entered the offseason with practically nobody on the roster, Hardaway and Memphis were always set for a rebuild after making an appearance at the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
However, Hardaway went out and secured a total of eight transfers this offseason, and while this Tigers roster will be fairly new look for next season, I believe this to be the best transfer class of Hardaway tenure.
It all starts with a pair of guards in Alabama transfer Jahvon Quinerly and Florida State’s Caleb Mills. In Quinerly, Hardaway gets a veteran guard to help lead the offense this season while in Mills, Hardway gets a piece to develop into his next guard success story.
Joining them will be a trio of high impact front court pieces including Louisiana transfer Jordan Brown, former St. John’s standout David Jones, and Wichita State’s Jaykwon Walton.
Brown arrives after a season of averaging 19.3 PPG and 8.6 RPG while helping the Ragin’ Cajuns to NCAA Tournament contention, while Jones finished second in scoring for the Johnnies averaging 13.2 PPG and 6.8 RPG.
Walton joins the Tigers after having committed to three separate programs this offseason, and averaged 13.9 PPG and 5.3 RPG for the Shockers across 2022-23.
Rounding out the grouping, Hardaway brought in a young contingent of rising juniors that includes Temple transfer Nick Jourdain, and former UCF guard Jayhlon Young.
Each offers something to the consistent future development of Hardaway’s roster and gives the Tigers a foundation to build on now for multiple season’s to come.
Between several high profile acquisitions, a couple guards to develop, and a young core to build upon, Hardaway and Co. have done an incredible job this offseason and it’s easy to see why this might just be his best transfer class at Memphis s0 far.
