Skip to main content
Memphis Men’s Basketball Practice2019
Cody Toppert joins the Tigers staff after spending last season with NBA's Phoenix Suns.
Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Men's basketball adds former Phoenix Suns assistant

Jun 10, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Cody Toppert joins Tigers to bring staff back to full strength

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Cody Toppert, who spent last season as an assistant and Director of Player Development for the Phoenix Suns, is joining University of Memphis coach Penny Hardaway's staff as an assistant coach.
 
Toppert takes the place of Sam Mitchell, the ex-NBA head coach who left earlier this spring to pursue a business opportunity.
 
The addition of Toppert allows the Memphis staff to remain NBA-oriented. Hardaway and assistant coach Mike Miller are former NBA players.
 
Before joining the NBA's Suns, Toppert spent three seasons coaching in the NBA's G League. He served as an assistant with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2015-16 and 2016-17) and as a head coach with the Northern Arizona Suns (2017-18). During his season with the Northern Arizona Suns, Toppert led the team to a record number of wins (23). In 2016-17 with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Houston Rockets' development league affiliate, he directed the Vipers to the G League finals.
 
Known for his ability to develop players, Toppert had a Northern Arizona Suns' record five players promoted to an NBA roster during the 2017-18 season. The five call-ups represented the most unique player call-ups of any NBA G League team that season.
 
Toppert also was instrumental in the G League team's offensive improvement. The Suns led the league in 3-pointers made per game (14.9) and finished second in scoring at 119.3 points per game.
 
A Cornell graduate, Toppert was a four-year starter (from 2001-05) for the Ivy League school. He finished his career ranked second in school history in 3-pointers made (237) and games played (108). He remains ranked in the Top 10 in Ivy League history in 3-pointers made.
 
He also played one season in the NBA's developmental league with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, helping the team to a league title in 2006. Toppert spent eight seasons playing professionally overseas for multiple organizations, including teams in New Zealand, Portugal, Germany, Spain and England before beginning his coaching career in 2015.
 
Toppert comes from a basketball family. His father (Bob) and his mother (Linda) played for the University of New Mexico in the 1970s. His brother (Chad) played for the Lobos from 2005 to 2009. His wife, Brittany, was one of most highly regarded high school soccer players in the state of New Mexico before continuing her career at Arizona State and playing pro soccer internationally following her graduation.