Tubby Smith Fired as Memphis HC, Penny Hardaway Rumored as Replacement

Tubby Smith said Wednesday that he is no longer the head men's basketball coach at Memphis, according to Mark Giannotto of the Commercial Appeal.

The Tigers formally announced the move Wednesday, per Peter Edmiston of Sports 56 WHBQ:

Last week, Geoff Calkins of the Commercial Appeal wrote that it was rumored Memphis would fire Smith and hire Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway as the next head coach. Memphis and Hardaway are in contract negotiations and are expected to work out a deal, per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

Smith spent only two seasons at Memphis.

Smith went 40-26 in his two seasons with the Tigers, including a 21-13 mark in 2017-18. Memphis reached the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament before falling to Cincinnati.

Memphis has now failed to reach the NCAA tournament in four straight seasons after making it 10 out of 12 years from 2002-03 through 2013-14.

The 66-year-old Smith has an extensive head-coaching history with stints at Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota and Texas Tech before joining Memphis.

He has a career record of 597-302 with most of his success coming at Kentucky.

During his career, Smith has reached the NCAA tournament 18 times, including nine Sweet 16 appearances, four trips to the Elite Eight, one Final Four and an NCAA national title in 1997-98 at Kentucky.

Per Giannotto, it will cost Memphis $9.75 million to fire Smith.

While it hasn't been confirmed who will replace Smith, Hardaway starred collegiately at Memphis, and he is currently the head coach East High in Memphis, Tennessee.