NCAA suspends Memphis coach Penny Hardaway for three games over recruiting violations

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

An NCAA infractions panel handed a three-game suspension to Memphis coach Penny Hardaway on Wednesday for recruiting violations tied to two in-home visits with a prospect two years ago.

The penalty follows a negotiated resolution in December that allowed the school to resolve the case and begin probation while one individual challenged the level of charges from the allegations. That turned out to be Hardaway, the former Memphis and NBA star who was charged under rules governing head-coach responsibility for conduct within their programs.

An assistant coach first visited the prospect from Dallas in September 2021 at his home, followed by Hardaway roughly two weeks later. NCAA rules prohibited in-home visits for juniors except for April of that year, with those visits supposed to take place at the prospect's current school.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Hardaway will miss the first three games of the 2023-24 season that starts in November. He had told the NCAA he was unaware of the rule.

Head coach Penny Hardaway of the Memphis Tigers talks with a referee during the second half of a game against the Florida Atlantic Owls in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 17, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

"Ignorance of the rules is not an excuse," the panel said. "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."

The school had been dealing with a separate NCAA probe from 2019 tied to the recruitment and short college stay of