Coach Penny Hardaway enters his 8th season as the Head Coach at Memphis as the preseason favorites to win the American Conference for yet another year, and has a roster filled with preseason All-American Conference selections, and is on the cusp of taking the Memphis Basketball program back to the second or third weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Once again, Coach Hardaway went into the transfer portal this offseason and reloaded his roster ahead of another season at the helm. Unlike years past, the Tigers come into another year a bit under the national radar, yet they feel confident in their talent and depth to make a splash once the season starts. 

Last season, the Tigers won the AAC regular season championship, then ran the table in the conference tournament, earning another conference tournament championship for the second time under Coach Penny Hardaway. However, the Tigers’ run in the NCAA Tournament was short-lived as they lost to a scrappy Colorado State in the first round, experiencing the annual five-seeded loss to a twelve-seeded seed. As far as this season goes, the way Coach Hardaway built this team gives them the depth and experience needed for success in the NCAA Tournament. 

So, let’s take a look at the 2025-2026 Memphis basketball roster makeup. 

Memphis has a lone freshman, Simon Majok, from Akak, South Sudan. Simon brings height and a natural frontcourt build to the Tigers’ roster this season. Simon Majok measures in at 7’1, 210 pounds, giving Coach Hardaway a tower in the middle. 

On to the sophomore class, Memphis has three guys in Curtis Givens, Julius Thedford, and William Whorton. Julius Thedford came to Memphis via Western Kentucky, while Curtis Givens arrived through LSU, where he never found his identity in that system. 

The junior class for the Tigers’ season includes several transfers: Aaron Bradshaw from Ohio State, Quante Berry from Temple, Arop Arop from Columbia, and Ashton Hardaway, who returns to Memphis after spending time with the Saint Mary’s program. 

As far as seniors go, Memphis has four guys in Zachary Davis, Mason Matthews from Lane College, Hasan Abdul-Hakim from UTRGV, and Dug McDaniel. 

Memphis added one graduate transfer this season in Tariq Ingraham, who played his college ball prior to coming to the 901 at Rider. 

Overall, Memphis should be right back in contention to win the AAC regular season and tournament, despite having a completely different team from last season. We’ll learn a lot about the guys in a few weeks when they welcome Coach John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks to the FedEx Forum for the 2025 Hoops For St. Jude event. A loss wouldn’t be the end of the world for the Tigers, but a starting point to build off of before the real deal gets underway about a week or so later. Unlike last season, Memphis has two preseason games against NCAA Tournament caliber teams during the last week of October, the first against Arkansas, and the second against the Auburn Tigers in Huntsville. Neither game counts towards your tournament resume, but they provide an inexperienced team quality in game minutes to prepare for the grind of the regular season. 

Memphis will open the regular season on November 8th as they welcome the Dons of San Francisco to Memphis. 

Photo Credits- Memphis basketball on X