Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers are hosting a trio of talented prospects this week. James Wiseman, the top player in the Class of 2019, took his unofficial visit to Memphis beginning Thursday after his in-home visit on Monday (Sept. 10).
Wiseman is down to eight schools consisting of Arizona, Florida State, Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, Texas, and Vanderbilt. He took his first official visit to Kentucky last weekend (Sept. 7) and has scheduled official visits to Kansas (Sept. 29), Vanderbilt (Oct. 14), and Florida State (Oct. 25).
Through 19 predictions on the 247Sports Crystal Ball, 68 percent of experts predict Wiseman to choose Memphis, while the other 32 percent picked Kentucky.
Memphis also hosted 2020 stars RJ Hampton and Jalen Green for their first official visit, ending Saturday. Hampton also has official visits planned to Kansas (Sept. 28) and Kentucky (Oct. 12), while Green is yet to plan any other visits.
Hampton’s father, Ron, spoke Friday about the Memphis message.
“Come in and bring Memphis basketball back to where it should be,” he told ZAGSBLOG Friday. “Let Memphis prepare you for basketball life on and off the court.”
According to 247Sports, Green is ranked as the No. 2 player in the Class of 2020 with Hampton ranked as No. 5. The schools in the mix for Green are Memphis, Kansas, Arizona, UCLA, Oregon, and hometown Fresno State. Hampton has Texas, Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, and Memphis on his trail.
Last season, Memphis finished 21-13 under ex-coach, Tubby Smith. The Tigers fired Smith in March, before hiring Hardaway shortly after.
Hardaway hired former NBA forward Mike Miller to join his staff in April.
Since Hardaway’s hiring, Memphis has been hot on the recruiting trail. The Tiger’s 2018 class had seven signees headlined by four-stars Antwann Jones and Tyler Harris. They also have three-star big man Malcolm Dandridge committed for the 2019 class.
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