Hardaway’s $2.6 Million Memphis Roster Funding Is Disputed

Memphis coach Penny Hardaway says he is putting up to $2.6 million toward the Tigers’ roster costs, a contribution intended to raise the team’s revenue-sharing pool to $9 million after a 13-19 season. The payment’s status is disputed: Hardaway has described the money as his contribution, while athletic director Ed Scott says the department advanced it against Hardaway’s pledge to raise the funds. Hardaway told the Commercial Appeal he contributed the money, saying, “if you want more money you have to put your money in. So I did.” He also said the university had not asked him to contribute. Reports of his remarks said the $2.6 million would support Memphis’s roster funding for the 2026-27 season. Scott offered a different account in an interview reported by the Associated Press. He said Memphis’s planned revenue-sharing budget was $6.4 million, but Hardaway wanted $9 million for the roster. Scott said the athletic department agreed to front the $2.6 million difference after Hardaway said he could raise it by the end of the fiscal year. Under the arrangement Scott described, Hardaway would cover any shortfall if the money was not raised by June 2027.