For Men’s Basketball, recruiting violations were sent out by the NCAA last Wednesday. Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway will be out for the first three games of the 2023 season. This suspension was followed up with another one. The current McNeese State head coach Will Wade, who was the former head coach for LSU, was given a two-year show-cause order and a 10-game suspension for three Level I violations, the Independent Accountability Resolution Process announced Thursday.

Wade’s suspension was doubled from five to 10 games, along with recruiting restrictions.

According to the IARP, Wade was found to have made impermissible payments to the former fiancée of a player, while also failing to cooperate in an investigation and failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance.

Both the football and basketball program were impacted, as LSU fired Wade prior to the 2022 NCAA tournament, as the NCAA sent a notice of allegations, detailing five Level I violations and a Level II violation involving Wade. This isn’t his first punishment, as Wade was also suspended in 2019 before the tournament that year for recruitment violations.

The former LSU head coach led the Tigers to an SEC title that year he was suspended in 2019 and had three NCAA tournament showings in five seasons during his tenure before he was terminated.

In March 2023, Wade was then hired to be the head coach for McNeese State to a deal that included a five-game suspension to open the season and recruiting restrictions. But now, that suspension is doubled, as the penalties and restrictions will go on until 2025.

Hardaway is being accused of recruiting violations during the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The Division I Committee on Infractions panel released a statement explaining their reasoning for the three-game suspension.

“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. Head coaches must remain diligent in monitoring their staff and promoting compliance at all times and cannot delegate those responsibilities to compliance staff members and administrators.”

According to the panel, on two separate occasions (one by Hardaway and one by an assistant), the Memphis coaches made two in-home visits with a recruit in his junior year. This goes against the rule, as visits during the fall of a player’s junior year must take place at the player’s high school.

This is the second time Memphis has been sanctioned under Hardaway, as this upcoming season will be his sixth for the Tigers. They are coming off a 26-9 season and a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, as Memphis should be a contender regardless of the Hardaway suspension.

The Memphis Tigers‘ top recruit, James Wiseman, officially withdrew from the university Thursday, after playing only three games. The confirmation was posted on Wiseman’s Instagram page along with his intention of entering the NBA Draft.

Wiseman has been in headlines for other reasons besides his talent this season. On November 5, the NCAA informed Memphis that the freshman sensation had been ruled ineligible “based on alleged recruiting violations.” That same night he made his college debut scoring 28 points and grabbing 11 boards.

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His ineligible status came from controversy over an $11,500 payment to Wiseman’s mother, Donzaleigh Artis, from Memphis Head Coach Penny Hardaway, for moving expenses during the summer of 2017. Since Hardaway donated $1 million to the team’s athletic department in 2008, he is considered a “booster” and is not permitted to provide financial assistance to prospective student-athletes and/or their families, according to NCAA bylaws.

The university attempted to appeal the NCAA’s ruling and Wiseman’s lawyers filed for a temporary injunction that allowed him to play while the situation was examined. Much to both parties chagrin, Wiseman was suspended in November for 12 games.

Hardaway released a statement that said, “We wish nothing but the best for James in his future endeavors as he follows his dreams. He will truly be missed.” The coaching staff was reportedly surprised at his decision, but the Nashville native is currently meeting with sports agencies, according to sources.

Golden State Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr was asked about the Memphis freshman leaving school. Despite the fact that he can’t directly talk about a prospect, according to NBA tampering rules, Kerr told ESPN, “Two of the top prospects are playing professionally in Australia. I think the trend is — guys are at least starting to think of other options. I know there’s been players who have just taken a year off or played at the IMG Academy until they were draft-eligible. So the NBA is getting a lot better with player development through the G League. I know there’s been talk of changing the rule in terms of draft eligibility. So there’s all kinds of things stirring out there and it looks like the players are considering their options.”

The 7’1”, 240 pound center was the top ranked freshman in 2019’s “ESPN 100.” Although his play was limited, his stats and his NBA-ready physique were indicative of what he could become. Wiseman averaged 19.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and three blocks per game this season and according to experts, Wiseman is projected to be drafted number one overall in the 2020 NBA draft.

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Texas Tech Red Raiders’ men’s basketball head coach Tubby Smith has reportedly reached an agreement to become the new coach for the University of Memphis Tigers.

Tubby Smith Leaving Texas Tech To Become Coach For Memphis Tigers

Smith agreed to a five-year, $15.45 million deal, according to reports. The Tigers announced Smith’s hiring on Thursday. He will be introduced at a 1 p.m. ET news conference at FedExForum.

“Tubby Smith is one of the finest collegiate basketball coaches and is a man of tremendous character,” Memphis athletic director Tom Bowen said in a statement. “Nationally, he is highly respected as a leader of young men and as a teacher of the game. I am honored that Coach Smith has agreed to become the next head men’s basketball coach at the University of Memphis.”

Smith coached at Texas Tech for the last three seasons. When he first started, he was leading a program that had finished no better than ninth place in the Big 12 in the five previous seasons and turned it into a team that made this past year’s NCAA Tournament.

Smith, 64, will reportedly be paid $2.8 million in 2016-17, $2.9 million in 2017-18 and $3.25 million for the final three years of the contract. He had three years remaining on his contract at Texas Tech, and he is obligated to pay a $900,000 buyout to the school.

Former Tigers coach Josh Pastner left to become head coach at Georgia Tech just last week.

Smith received the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching award Friday in Los Angeles. He is one of two coaches, along with Lon Kruger, to lead five schools to the NCAA tournament.

He coached at Kentucky from 1997 to 2007, leading the Wildcats to the national title in 1998 and 10 straight NCAA appearances. He coached Minnesota to the NCAA tournament in 2013 before abruptly being fired.

Smith has a career record of 557-276.

According to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, two potential replacements for Texas Tech are North Florida’s Matt Driscoll and Fresno’s Rodney Terry. Both have ties to the state of Texas. Driscoll used to be an assistant at Baylor while Terry is a former assistant for the Texas Longhorns.

However, the frontrunner may be newly minted UNLV coach Chris Beard, who took over as head coach for the Runnin’ Rebels just a few weeks ago.

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 17: Head coach Tubby Smith of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts in the second half while taking on the Butler Bulldogs in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at PNC Arena on March 17, 2016 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

The Miami Beach Bowl, a harmless Monday game in the midst of bowl season, between the BYU Cougars (8-5) and Memphis Tigers (10-3) came down to the wire, with the Tigers overcoming two overtimes to win off a Christian Stewart thrown pick. But immediately following the interception absolute anarchy erupted on the field, where pushing and shoving resulted in an all-out brawl between the two sides.

The above video clearly displays the tension and even a fair amount of punches thrown: with coaches finally being able to separate the two sides after the damage was already done. At the moment, the best view of the whole incident is over at Deadspin, where they do not show the origin of the fight, but simply have the best video of the event.

At the same time, Reddit CFB’s Vine page has posted what allegedly sparked the incident: BYU’s Tejan Koroma shoved Memphis’ Martin Ifedi post-game.

And this allegedly ignited the ugly ending, where cheap shots were thrown from both sides. In the following vines, BYU defensive back Kai Nacua, after being bloodied in the fight, sucker punched a Memphis player in the back of the head. And worst of all, Memphis’ Chase Johnson removed his helmet and appears to use it as a weapon.

It is terrible to see something like this after what appeared to be a heart-pounding finish: there is no doubt that there are going to be some suspensions handed down, but some of these offenses are pretty dire. If the LaGarrette Blount punch resulted in an indefinite suspension, then some of these players are going to be in for a rude awakening.

Current Memphis Athletic Director Tom Bowen promises to review tape with Coach Fuentes and hand out “appropriate disciplinary measures.” And BYU AD Tom Holmoe took to twitter to basically state the same thing, while also apologizing to fans.