The University of Memphis men's basketball program is facing several major allegations of breaking NCAA rules and its coach, Penny Hardaway, is charged with wrongdoing in documents obtained by multiple media outlets Saturday. The documents reportedly include Memphis' response to an amended notice of allegations the school received last summer from the Independent Accountability Resolution Process, an independent review panel created for complex NCAA cases.
The response shows Hardaway is facing accusations of at least one Level I and two Level II violations, both considered severe violations by the NCAA. In the notice of allegations, Hardaway is said to have failed to establish a culture of compliance as part of head coach responsibility and failed to monitor. The IARP in its investigation also accused Memphis of not properly preserving the hard drive from the computer of ex-assistant coach Mike Miller, the contents of which were later deleted.
Memphis is accused of lack of institutional control and facing a total of seven allegations, including failure to cooperate, obstruction of the investigation, failure to report acts of noncompliance in a timely fashion and a failure to disclose or provide access to information. The Daily Memphian reports four of those are Level I, two are Level II and the level of an additional allegation is redacted in the documents.
The school responded by either denying the allegations or by claiming the wrongdoing it is accused of does not rise to the nature of a Level I violation.
Allegations of violations levied against the program stem from the IARP's ongoing investigation into the recruitment and short stint at Memphis of former No. 1 recruit James Wiseman.
Hardaway is accused of paying moving expenses for Wiseman and his family before later being hired by Memphis and later landing him as a recruit, which goes against NCAA rules as a booster and could be construed as an inducement to earn his commitment. Before the NCAA was able to step in and enforce a 12-game suspension, however, Wiseman hired attorneys and obtained a restraining order allowing him to continue playing. Memphis, meanwhile, refused to sit him while the process played out, a decision that almost immediately backfired and may cost the Tigers any goodwill in the eyes of the IARP.
Wiseman played in only three games with Memphis before leaving the school in December 2019 and turning his focus to preparation for the 2020 NBA Draft.
