The NCAA has suspended Memphis head basketball coach Penny Hardaway for the first three games of the 2023-24 season for recruiting violations committed during the fall of 2021.
The violations committed were dubbed as Level II-mitigated. The panel for the Committee on Infractions found that Hardaway and an assistant coach that is no longer at the school broke NCAA rules by making two separate in-home visits with a recruit when that’s not allowed.
In interviews with enforcement staff members, Hardaway said he wasn’t aware of the NCAA rule that doesn’t allow in-home visits before April of a recruit’s junior year in high school. The only in-person contact allowed with a recruit at that time has to be at his school.
“Ignorance of the rules is not an excuse,” the panel said in its decision. “The head coach’s inattentiveness to compliance — particularly at a time when his program was under scrutiny related to a different infractions case — resulted in careless violations. Head coaches must remain diligent in monitoring their staff and promoting compliance at all times and cannot delegate those responsibilities to compliance staff members and administrators.”
The school released a statement following the NCAA’s announcement.
