With the 2024-25 college basketball season tipping off, the Memphis Tigers are once again a team with serious NCAA tournament ambitions. They looked to be on track last season, starting 15–2 and ranked within the top 10, only to finish with a 22-10 record and no tournament appearance. Despite some less-than-ideal personnel losses, Penny Hardaway’s team should have the talent and depth to make a postseason run this year, but the margin for error is razor-thin.
Competing in the American Athletic Conference (AAC), Memphis faces a frustrating hurdle. That hurdle is that the AAC is a one-to-two-bid league, meaning only the absolute top teams have a chance of securing an NCAA tournament berth. For Memphis, this makes every non-conference game, every big opponent, and every opportunity to shine on the national stage critical. A strong resume built against elite competition is the ticket to the postseason, meaning the Tigers cannot afford any slip-ups like they had last year.
Memphis Tigers 2023-34 Season Recap
The 2023-24 season was a rollercoaster ride for the Tigers, filled with promise and excitement early on, but ultimately ending in disappointment. Despite the team’s potential, Memphis struggled to maintain its footing in conference play and fell short of postseason expectations. AAC matchups that should’ve been routine victories became struggles, and a few crucial factors consistently undermined Memphis. Strong performances from David Jones, who led the team with 21.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, and Jahvon Quinerly, who averaged 4.9 assists and 13.5 points per game, weren’t enough to overcome the Tigers’ frustrating inconsistency and lack of cohesion on offense. Combined with several defensive lapses, they ended up with an underwhelming 7-8 record over their last 15 games.
Nevertheless, the early season success still meant that Memphis held a respectable fifth-place seeding for the AAC tournament. However, their defeat to the number 12-ranked Wichita State was an unfortunately fitting way for the 2023-24 campaign to end. While there were some standout individual performances to be proud of, it was clear that significant improvement would be needed in this upcoming 2024-25 season. Unfortunately, those improvements were only going to be harder to find, thanks to some high-profile departures. Now, let’s dig into those in more detail and see which players have been brought in to fill their shoes.
Memphis Tigers Offseason Moves
The Memphis Tigers head into the 2024-25 season without their top three scorers from last year, a major blow that raises significant questions about how this revamped team will produce points. David Jones, widely regarded as one of the best players in the conference, led the Tigers with 21.8 points per game, chipping in with a team-leading 7.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals. Jahvon Quinerly is another significant departure, leading the team with 4.9 assists and ranking third in last year’s team with 13.5 points per game. To make matters worse, the team’s second-highest point scorer last year, Nae’Qwan Tomlin, is also no longer on the roster, and the Tigers will undoubtedly miss his 14 points and six rebounds per game.
That is a lot of production to replace, so head coach Penny Hardaway has been busy overhauling the roster. PJ Haggerty, the AAC Freshman of the Year transfer from Tulsa, is headlining the incoming talent. He was a huge get for Hardaway and arguably the top transfer in the conference, bringing his average of 21.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. Haggerty has good finishing ability and a knack for drawing fouls as he drives into the paint. Joining Haggerty in Memphis is Tyrese Hunter, a former guard for the Texas Longhorns. This is Hunter’s second transfer as a college basketball player, having initially started his career at Iowa State, where he got off to a very promising start. His numbers declined slightly over his time in Texas, but he still averaged a respectable 10.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.
Hardaway has also brought in the big-bodied Dain Dainja at center. At 6’8″, Dainja is known for his shot-blocking and rebounding, adding great height and physicality to this Memphis team, who can feel pretty happy with their offseason additions.
Memphis Tigers 2024-25 Season Outlook
Looking at the upcoming season, the Tigers’ ability to succeed in achieving their goal of an NCAA tournament appearance will hinge on building a résumé that impresses the NCAA selection committee. This means they must be as unforgiving as possible when going up against non-conference opponents. With Memphis being one of the favorites within the AAC, these non-conference games can give them an advantage over their conference rivals in the hunt for the AAC title while also being the clashes that will draw the most attention from the selection committee.
This year’s non-conference schedule includes matchups with at least seven power conference opponents, including Missouri, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State at home, along with road clashes against San Francisco, Virginia, and Clemson. Their schedule also includes an appearance in the prestigious Maui Invitational, where they face UConn, the defending national champions, with several other intriguing matchups that could follow, depending on how their first-round games go.
The 2024-25 Memphis Tigers team looks well-equipped to handle the challenges they will face throughout the long and arduous season. The combination of Tyrese Hunter’s playmaking ability, PJ Haggerty’s scoring prowess, and the big-bodied presence of Dain Dainja in the middle gives Tigers fans plenty to be excited about. While it was a shame to see their three top scorers head out the door, the retention of players like Nicholas Jourdain and the new additions should make this team competitive in every game.
The margin for error is small, given that Memphis is in a one-to-two-bid league, but their schedule and exciting new roster should be enough to make them a contender in next year’s NCAA tournament. A ceiling of the second round in the tournament sounds like a sensible prediction at this stage, laying the foundations for more success down the road. Anything short of that, though, will heap plenty of pressure on head coach Penny Hardaway.
2024-2025 Projected Ceiling: NCAA Tournament Appearance (2nd Round)
