Tradition matters to Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway.
It’s why the Tigers continue to host two exhibition games every season. Because it’s how it was done when he played under coach Larry Finch.
Each year, some combination of Christian Brothers, LeMoyne-Owen (both city schools) or Lane College comes to FedExForum. Lane College, coached by former Tigers great Andre Turner, made the trip from Jackson, Tennessee, on Sunday. LeMoyne-Owen is next on Memphis’ exhibition schedule (7 p.m. Thursday).
But as the overall strength of the American Athletic Conference continues to wane, Memphis is being forced to schedule nonconference opponents with a higher degree of difficulty. And Hardaway soon might have to start making some other adjustments to account for that on his preseason slate. Because the Tigers’ nonconference scheduling is likely to remain daunting for the foreseeable future, he said he is considering adding a “secret” scrimmage in place of an exhibition to better prepare for the grueling early-season games.
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“I think that’s fair to us and the team now with us having a hard nonconference schedule,” he said after Sunday’s 106-49 win over Lane. “For us to actually see a Power Five school in a closed scrimmage to see where we fare against, you know, maybe we can get an Ohio State. Or, you can go and get one of these other teams you’re probably not going to see in the regular season, and just do a closed scrimmage.
“Like a Marquette or somebody. And then, just go in there and battle it out.”
The popularity of closed scrimmages has increased in recent years. NCAA rules permit teams to compete in preseason scrimmages as long as neither program publicizes the game nor its results. The NCAA also prohibits fans and media from attending the scrimmage in-person. The upside of participating in such contests is it provides better competition than the average exhibition game and affords coaches and players the opportunity to work on things in a controlled setting.
Several AAC programs already have opted for closed scrimmages this year. Florida Atlantic has seen both North Carolina and UCF. Tulsa faced off against LSU. Wichita State met Iowa. UAB squared off against Georgia Tech.
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Memphis opens the regular season against Jackson State on Nov. 6. After a game at Missouri (Nov. 10), the Tigers will face Michigan at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. They could face Arkansas and North Carolina or Villanova there, too.
When the Tigers return, they will see Ole Miss, VCU and Texas A&M in three straight road games before hosting Clemson, Virginia and Vanderbilt.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at [email protected] or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.