Penny Hardaway says Rick Barnes was ‘mocking’ his coaching staff, other coaches are ‘threatened’ by him

By ADAM ZAGORIA

In an appearance Wednesday on ESPN’s “Get Up,” Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes was “mocking” his coaching staff after their recent game, and that other coaches are “threatened” by him because he became the Memphis head coach without any prior college coaching experience.

“I’ve always had a lot of respect for Coach Rick Barnes,” Hardaway told Jalen Rose and Mike Greenberg. “We had a situation here in Memphis with a rivalry game. You know it’s going to be heated…You know that what you get into that game it’s going to be hot tempers and a lot of competitiveness.

“And after the game I didn’t feel like he gave my team a clear understanding of what we were trying to do. He was kind of mocking the NBA and our coaching staff and I really didn’t like that. I have the utmost respect for him but I couldn’t let him do by team like that.”

Memphis is 11-6, 3-1 in the American Conference.

Penny Hardaway on Rick Barnes: ‘He was kind of mocking the NBA and our coaching staff and I really didn’t like that ‘ pic.twitter.com/xG72mM8wAa

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) January 16, 2019

During Tennessee’s win at Memphis last month, there was a scuffle during the game and Hardaway accused Tennessee players of balling up their fists as they approached the Memphis bench.

After the game, he said, “Rick Barnes, get the (expletive) out of here.”

Asked later if he regretted what he said about he scuffle, he told the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

“No, come on man, honestly, if you just watch the film I’m not making anything up. We even had it on the phone. I don’t know who Rick Barnes thinks I am but I’m not a dude that likes to mess around about anything. I just call it like I see it. No matter how he’s trying to make things seem, and I think it’s kind of low class how he’s trying to downgrade my guys for flopping and all that. Man, come on, give me a break.”

For his part, Barnes told reporters he didn’t like Hardaway calling out out Tennessee player Jordan Bone.

“I don’t think you do that,” Barnes said.

On “Get Up,” Hardaway also said other coaches were “threatened” by him when he was hired because he came straight from coaching high school and AAU ball to a high-major D-1 job.

Memphis now has the No. 13-ranked recruiting class per 247Sports.com. Their three-man class featues 7-footer James Wiseman, the No. 1 prospect in 2019. They remain in the mix for several uncommitted prospects, including Trendon Watford and Matthew Hurt.

“Well I understood coming into this thing, Jalen, as a former NBA player coming in, most college coaches are saying that I didn’t pay my dues to have this job,” he said. “But I’m a student of the game so that’s threatening to a lot of guys. So we understand that that’s going to happen, especially with the recruiting class that I have coming in. So me coming in knowing that, I’m just going to keep my foot to the fire. I’m going to keep pushing and stay strong and just keep giving these guys everything that I have.

“That’s on them how they feel, I’m just pushing to try to get this team a national championship.”

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