Memphis basketball's Bahamas trip confirms the world is watching Penny Hardaway's Tigers

Jimmy Davenport found Penny Hardaway in a hallway last Monday night at the Baha Mar resort and officially pitched the idea that brought so much joy to so many Memphis Tiger basketball fans the past week or so. 

“I’ve got a tripod and an ipad,” Davenport said to Hardaway. “Do you want me to go live?”

When Hardaway said yes, Davenport alerted the 14,882 members of the Memphis Tiger Basketball Fan Page on Facebook. He then streamed all four of the Tiger basketball team’s exhibition games in their entirety on Facebook Live and something amazing began to show up on everyone's screen. 

It wasn’t the unlimited friend requests Davenport got because of his gesture, or the countless offers of money from grateful viewers, or even a specific moment from the games. 

It happened when Davenport asked those watching to write in the comments section where they were watching, and you were reminded again about what’s looming this season.

Because the places where the folks on just this Facebook page – for exhibition games in the middle of August – had gathered from was perhaps more illuminating than what took place on a basketball court in a converted ballroom in the Bahamas.

Downtown Memphis, South Memphis, East Memphis, West Memphis, Cordova, Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett, Lakeland, Olive Branch and Southaven. Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Florida, New York, Washington, D.C., Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas and even someone in Yellowstone National Park.

“We had Canada, Brazil, India, Kazakhstan,” Davenport told The Commercial Appeal’s Jason Munz before the Tigers wrapped up their Bahamas trip with a win Sunday morning. “It was just everywhere.”

Which is crazy to consider given where this basketball program was not-so-long ago and the anticipation of what’s to come for this program not-so-long from now. Imagine what it could be like by March if this team, armed with its full complement of players, is back in the NCAA tournament like we all expect it to be. 

Take, for instance, Saturday night’s exhibition game against the Bahamas National Team, which turned out to be the Tigers’ toughest test of the week. Davenport’s video stream had more than 9,000 views as of Sunday night, and that was just one stream in one Facebook group.

Never mind that two seasons ago, Tubby Smith’s last at Memphis, the Tigers had more than 9,000 people attend a home regular season game just once, according to FedExForum’s turnstile count. 

Even last year, when the entire city was abuzz with excitement over Hardaway’s debut as a college head coach and the program’s announced attendance increased more than anyone else in the country, the Tigers’ still only had more than 9,000 fans at four of their nine conference home games, according to the turnstile count.

This, of course, just shows the excitement brewing as we approach a college basketball season of great hope and expectation here in Memphis. It’s a little taste – or “a lick” as Lance Thomas put it last week in the Caribbean – of the joy reverberating around town, even three months before the wins and losses count.  

It’s why Thursday morning, as I watched the replay of Davenport’s stream of the Tigers’ first exhibition game on a laptop in my kitchen, the pest control guy was watching over my shoulder to get a glimpse for himself.

It’s why conversation at a Saturday night engagement party I attended inevitably veered toward Tiger basketball. Everybody there, it seemed, had found a way to watch all or parts of these exhibition games. Whether via Davenport’s feed, or someone else down in the Bahamas.

This begs the question of why the university decided not to stream these games themselves, or hire professionals to do so, given the demand and Hardaway’s apparent approval.

But it almost turned out better this way because it offered more confirmation and another glimpse inside the transformation that’s been going on around Memphis basketball since the moment Hardaway’s hiring became official.

That is ultimately what this trip should be remembered for, in addition to the valuable extra practice time that preceded it.

It confirmed the behind-the-scenes chatter that freshmen Damion Baugh and D.J. Jeffries have emerged from the Tigers’ No. 1-ranked recruiting class as difference makers was absolutely warranted. They were arguably the two best players over four games. 

It confirmed that the additions of freshmen Lester Quinones and Boogie Ellis, along with the maturation of sophomore Tyler Harris, gives this Memphis basketball team more dynamic 3-point shooters than any Memphis basketball team in recent memory. 

It confirmed that the additions of potential one-and-done stars James Wiseman (who didn't play due to a minor shoulder injury) and Precious Achiuwa (who didn't make the trip due to visa issues), along with the improvements made by sophomores Lance Thomas and Alex Lomax, gives this roster depth few teams in the country can match.

But more than anything, it confirmed how far-reaching Memphis basketball can be when Memphis basketball fans are invested again. It confirmed that none of them, whether they're here in town or across the globe, can wait for when the real games to actually start.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto

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