Inside how Penny Hardaway has unlocked new success at Memphis - ESPN

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — There are certain things you have to prepare for when your coach is one of the most gifted talents to ever play the sport. Take it from Memphis Tigers guard Tyrese Hunter.

During a pregame shootaround the morning of the Tigers' January game against Wichita State, Penny Hardaway — a four-time NBA All-Star who is in his seventh season as the head coach of his alma mater — was showing Hunter how to make a certain pass against a zone.

«That's what I've been trying to get you to do,» Hardaway said while demonstrating what he wanted Hunter to do. «You say, 'No I can't.' Yes you can.»

It's the type of sentiment the Tigers have heard often.

«His brain is through the roof,» Hunter told ESPN about his legendary coach. «He sees plays and you don't even know what happened. He sees stuff develop before it develops and it's crazy.»

It's not only with the players in the same positions as the three-time All-NBA guard.

«You're dealing with someone whose mind is on the upper echelon,» forward Nicholas Jourdain said. «Perfection is what it's all about. When someone's able to see the game the way he sees it, it's like, how did you not know to make that play?»

As valuable as his NBA experience looks on paper, Hardaway now views that basketball IQ as having held him back early in his college coaching career. When he returned to Memphis in 2018, Hardaway thought being a basketball savant was enough.

«I just thought it was going to be easier because I knew the game,» Hardaway told ESPN in January. «I knew the game at a high level… but what I didn't know is how hard it was going to be to win any game on this level. I was always a preparation guy. I was always an X's and O's guy. I was always a teacher, a developer. But