CBB Rank 2025: No. 60, Memphis Basketball

15 new players make up the Memphis basketball roster for 2025-26, but the talent level looks to have dropped from a year ago.

The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Memphis basketball.

Welp, talk about a total revamp of a roster. After winning 29 games a year ago, Memphis doesn’t return one single player. Not even a walk-on, bench player, or honestly, maybe even a student manager? Nope, it is a complete overhaul with 15 new players set to suit up for Memphis basketball this year.

Of course, the biggest losses are PJ Haggerty, Dain Dainja, and Tyrese Hunter. Haggerty was one of the best players in the country last season, while Dainja and Hunter fit in perfectly to give the Tigers their best year under Penny Hardaway.

Heading into 2025-26, I’m very concerned about any sort of replication this year. Hardaway didn’t bring in anyone close to Haggerty, and quite honestly, didn’t bring in anyone as close to Dainja’s skillset either. There are a few players who are comparable to Hunter, but lack his three-point range. In other words, it’s an underwhelming roster set to play for Memphis as Hardaway enters year eight.

The starting lineup seems pretty set, but there are some holes. Dug McDaniel and Sincere Parker should compliment each other well. McDaniel looks to return to his form at Michigan after a down year at Kansas State, while Parker won a lot of games with McNeese and looks to be a locker room leader here.

On the wing, South Carolina transfer Zachary Davis seems like the best option alongside Division II transfer Mason Matthews. And that’s where my biggest concern is. Matthews is a three-point specialist, but he only averaged about 11 PPG at Lane College last year. I could see the move to D-I being especially difficult for him, and Davis isn’t necessarily a player to write home about either.

Down low, Aaron Bradshaw will be on his third team in three years, hoping the third time is the charm.

The bench is deep, which I will give Hardaway, but with a lackluster starting five, it doesn’t necessarily move the needle. Quante Berry is a solid backcourt option, while Hasan Abdul-Hakim can play practically every position and should lead to a lot of different lineups for Memphis.

Further down the lineup are WKU transfer Julius Thedford, former LSU guard Curtis Givens, and big men Tariq Ingraham and Ashton Hardaway, who seem to round out the most likely top 11 in the rotation. After that, it’s anyone’s guess whether or not the next men up may actually be hidden gems.

Overall, underwhelming as it may be, there is still depth for Hardaway to use, but if he couldn’t go anywhere in March Madness with last year’s team, I don’t see this team going anywhere either.

Head coach: Penny Hardaway (8th season overall, all at Memphis)

2024-25 record: 29-6 (16-2)

2025 postseason finish: Lost to Colorado State, 78-70, in first round of NCAA Tournament

Notable departures: 

• PJ Haggerty (21.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.7 APG, 1.8 SPG, 36.4 3P%)
• Dain Dainja (14.6 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.3 BPG, 61.5 FG%)
• Tyrese Hunter (13.7 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.5 SPG, 40.1 3P%)
• Colby Rogers (10.7 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 1.4 APG, 37.3 3P%)
• Nick Jourdain (6.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.1 BPG, 50.0 FG%)
• Moussa Cisse (5.7 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 0.5 APG, 54.8 FG%)
• PJ Carter (5.4 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 0.3 APG, 39.3 3P%)
• Dante Harris (2.4 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 1.1 APG, 1.1 SPG)

Notable non-conference games: 

• vs. San Francisco (Nov. 8)
• at Ole Mis (Nov. 11)
• vs. UNLV (Nov. 16)
• vs. Purdue (Nov. 20) – Baha Mar Championship
• vs. Texas Tech OR Wake Forest (Nov. 21) – Baha Mar Championship
• vs. Baylor (Dec. 6)
• at Louisville (Dec. 13)
• vs. Vanderbilt (Dec. 17)
• at Mississippi State (Dec. 20)
• at Utah State (Feb. 14)

Projected Rotation

PG: Dug McDaniel (5-11, 175, Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 11.4 PPG, 4.9 APG, 2.8 RPG, 1.7 SPG, 37.8 FG% (Kansas State)

SG: Sincere Parker (6-3, 195, Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 12.2 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 0.5 APG (McNeese)

SF: Zachary Davis (6-7, 200, Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 8.2 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.1 SPG, 38.2 FG% (South Carolina)

PF: Mason Matthews (6-8, 190, Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 11.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.7 APG, 50.6 FG%, 43.6 3P% (Lane College – DII)

C: Aaron Bradshaw (7-1, 215, Jr.)

2024-25 stats: 6.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 0.2 APG (Ohio State)

6: Quante Berry (6-4, 185, Rs.-Jr.)

2024-25 stats: 10.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.3 SPG (Temple)

7: Hasan Abdul-Hakim (6-8, 206, Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 13.3 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.4 SPG (UTRGV)

8: Julius Thedford (6-4, 190, So.)

2024-25 stats: 12.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 0.9 APG, 36.6 3P% (Western Kentucky)

9: Curtis Givens III (6-3, 185, So.)

2024-25 stats: 4.8 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1.6 APG, 26.9 FG% (LSU)

10: Tariq Ingraham (6-9, 255, Gr.-Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 10.9 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 1.5 APG, 54.2 FG% (Rider)

11: Ashton Hardaway (6-8, 210, Jr.)

2024-25 stats: 2.1 PPG, 1.2 RPG, 0.4 APG, 35.4 FG% (Saint Mary’s)

12: William Whorton (6-8, 220, Rs.-So.)

2024-25 stats: 3.0 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 0.5 APG, 63.6 FG% (South Dakota State)

13: Thierno Sylla (6-11, 225, Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 3.1 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 0.4 APG, 36.8 FG% (Stephen F. Austin)

14: Simon Majok (7-1, 210, Fr.)

International prospect from South Sudan

15: Arop Arop (6-11, 180, Jr.)

2024-25 stats: 2.0 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 0.3 APG, 6.5 MPG, 6 GP (Columbia)

Memphis basketball team MVP: Dug McDaniel

McDaniel joins Memphis after a down year at K State where he only shot 37.8% from the field and a rough 25.8% from downtown – both career lows. But his sophomore year at Michigan was one to note. McDaniel averaged 16.3 PPG, shot 36.8% from deep, and grabbed 3.7 rebounds at his height of barely 6-0.

Given Memphis’s roster, you have to think McDaniel will be able to be free on offense and could return to his best form. He’s had an up-and-down career, which included a brief suspension while at Michigan due to academic issues. But as a college basketball player, he’s got a lot of talent, and you just feel as if Kansas State wasn’t the answer.

Memphis and Penny Hardaway could be the perfect fit for McDaniel, so we’ll see if they can maximize his potential.

Memphis basketball make-or-break player: Aaron Bradshaw

There are a lot of players who will need to step up if Memphis wants to replicate last season in any way, shape, or form, but Aaron Bradshaw could be the big man to replace Dain Dainja if he wants to live up to his hype coming out of high school.

The former five star recruit never got going at Kentucky and unfortunately didn’t show much of anything at Ohio State. But Penny Hardaway has a player-friendly type of atmosphere and one that has been quite kind to big men in the past, with Dainja and Nae’Qwan Tomlin both succeeding there in recent years.

There isn’t anyone really rivaling Bradshaw for playing time or the starting center job, so he’s got it all out there in front of him to have a major season.

Key analytic: FG%

I don’t have to look at last year’s numbers on a team that doesn’t return any of last year’s players. But I can look at how the current guys shot from the field last year and tell you I worry if Memphis may have the worst offensive efficiency in the nation.

McDaniel and David both shot under 40% from the field last year. Givens was absolutey terrible at LSU, hitting just 26.9% of his shots. Further down the lineup, Hardaway and Sylla were also very bad from the field, which is even worse considering both are forwards/big men.

Sure, there are other players who can be efficient and Matthews and Thedford can both be reliable from distance. But the overall theme of this team’s offense may be characterized by bad shots and open misses – not a recipe for winning games, no matter how good their offensive rebounding might be.

Memphis basketball 2025-26 projections

Projected conference finish: 1st in the American

Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Round of 64 Exit