At American Conference Media Day on Monday in Tampa, Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said that he contributed $2.6 million of his own money toward his team's revenue sharing for the 2026-27 season. Hardaway told the Commercial Appeal that Memphis' total revenue-sharing amount this season is $9 million. The Tigers finished 13-19 (8-10 in the American) and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2024.
Before that, Hardaway had guided Memphis to three appearances in the big dance in four years before finishing with the least amount of wins in a single season since the 1999-00 campaign. Memphis had a busy offseason retooling its roster and landed nine transfers, including Pitt guard Brandin Cummings and Washington State forward Rihard Vavers. The Tigers also landed four-star guard Fred Smith Jr., who was the No. 97-ranked player in the 2026 recruiting cycle by 247Sports.
Hardaway admitting he contributed his own money to his team's basketball roster is a sign of the times, but he isn't the only coach to redirect his personal funds toward revenue sharing. DePaul coach Chris Holtmann told CBS Sports' Matt Norlander at Big East Media Day that he took a lower salary in his contract extension in order to redirect funds toward revenue sharing. "Let's change the last couple of years, really for Years 5, 6 and 7, let's change the structure of the contract where I'm making less money," Holtmann said.
"I think for me the most important thing is being competitive and in order to be competitive, we need to raise NIL. ... It was pretty significant that I did that. I told my agent I did it and the AD had agreed to it, and he goes, 'What are you doing?'" Last season, Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun donated $150,000 to his school's NIL fund.
Utah State reached the NCAA Tournament back-to-back seasons under Calhoun's watch before he departed this offseason to become the coach at Cincinnati.
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