Penny Hardaway makes plea to 'get the Forum packed' for Memphis basketball home games

Penny Hardaway makes plea to ‘get the Forum packed’ for Memphis basketball home games

Posted by author December 17, 2024 Basketball

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Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway has noticed a drop in home attendance this season.

The Tigers (8-2, ranked No. 22 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and 21st in the AP Top 25) are averaging an announced attendance of 11,126 across four home games so far. Hardaway doesn’t know why that is.

Maybe it’s the relatively lower-profile opponents − the only power conference program Memphis has hosted so far is Missouri on Nov. 4. Hardaway, during his weekly radio show on Monday, even floated the possibility that perhaps it’s because more fans have become disenchanted with him.

Whatever the reasoning may be, Hardaway hopes it turns the other way soon, because the Tigers some critical home games just around the corner.

“… the building, to me, it’s empty. It’s not as packed as it has been in the past,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s because of me or what’s going on. (But) I’m hoping that Memphis shows up for the last two non-conference home games.”

Memphis has put together a strong campaign so far, racking up five Quad 1 wins (more than every team in the country except Auburn, which also has five). The team goes to Virginia (6-4) for a game on Wednesday (6 p.m., ESPN2), then returns home to face Mississippi State on Saturday (11:30 a.m., CBS), then Ole Miss on Dec. 28 (1 p.m, ESPN2). The Bulldogs are 25th in this week’s coaches’ poll, while the Rebels are 16th.

Hardaway referenced comments Clemson coach Brad Brownell made after last season’s game at FedExForum. Memphis won 79-77 in front of an announced crowd of 15,052, and Brownell indicated the atmosphere had something to do with it.

“Yeah, it’s really good,” Brownell said of the game on Dec. 16, 2023. “We have some of those same atmospheres in the ACC. It’s outstanding. It’s a fun place to play. And the crowd gets behind their guys and, you know, the band’s up there playing and singing and dancing afterwards. These are the kind of games players want to play in (and) coaches want to coach in. It’s what you would expect from Memphis basketball.”

On Monday, Hardaway hammered home the point that home-court advantage is very real.

“That energy helps us. It also intimidates the other team,” he said. “When we go to buildings and they’re jam-packed in there, it’s a different level, man. The other team, they build off that energy.

“Please, let’s get the Forum packed.”

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com, follow him @munzly on X, and sign up for the Memphis Basketball Insider text group.