Memphis basketball will serve three years of probation, vacate two wins and pay a $5,000 fine following an investigation into alleged NCAA rules violations committed as the program recruited James Wiseman.
The Tigers will be on probation from now until Sept. 25, 2025.
The Independent Accountability Resolution Process set the punishment nearly three years after Wiseman played three games with the Tigers before being suspended by the NCAA in the fall of 2019.
At the root of the case was $11,500 that Memphis coach Penny Hardaway gave to Wiseman’s family to move from Nashville to Memphis in 2017. Hardaway was Wiseman’s AAU coach, and the NCAA contended Hardaway was a school booster because of more than $1 million in donations to his alma mater.
Memphis hired Hardaway as its coach in March 2018, but the IARF ruled Hardaway’s “long-standing philanthropic commitment, particularly to youth in the economically disadvantaged Memphis community, even prior to becoming an athletics booster” was behind Hardaway’s assistance to the Wiseman family.
Hardaway was not penalized, and the Tigers are eligible for NCAA Tournament play next spring.
Those were the only three games Wiseman played for Memphis. He withdrew from school and entered the 2020 NBA Draft. The Golden State Warriors selected him with the No. 2 overall pick.
–Field Level Media