Memphis Tigers Basketball

Memphis Tigers freshman guard Mikey Williams will remain away from the team amid the ongoing legal process regarding his April arrest, the university announced Wednesday.

Per ESPN's Jeff Borzello, Williams is enrolled in online classes at the school and is listed on the team's roster. He will not have access to team activities or facilities "until his pending legal process is complete," the school said, adding, "The process to assess and determine his status with the team will be initiated at that time."

A 4-star recruit and the No. 10 combo guard in the nation, according to 247Sports' composite rankings, Williams was arrested on multiple felony charges stemming from a shooting at his home in San Diego. Borzello noted that he "faces five charges of assault with a weapon and one count of firing into an occupied vehicle."

Police said Williams allegedly fired a gun at a carful of people who left his home. He pleaded not guilty to the charges at a hearing in April, and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 10 after being postponed three times.

Williams was forced to miss the Tigers' summer trip to the Dominican Republic, and he wasn't in attendance at the team's first official practice this week. Borzello noted that he's a popular player who "garnered national attention for his dunking exploits and YouTube mixtapes" and had millions of followers on social media before deleting his accounts.

Memphis will open the 2023-24 season on Nov. 6 against Jackson State.

Derrick Rose is fully embracing nostalgia.

The three-time All-Star signed with the Memphis Grizzlies during free agency, which means that he will call the city of Memphis home for the first time since his college days. In addition to simply playing in his college town, Rose is also reverting back to his collegiate number, 23, for the first time in his professional career.

Rose played one collegiate season at Memphis, but it was a memorable one. He averaged 14.9 points, 4.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 40 games and led the Tigers to a 38-2 overall record. They made the National Championship, losing out to Kansas 75-68 in overtime for the title.

He earned Third-Team All-American honors and would be a finalist for the Bob Cousy and John Wooden Awards. He would go on to be the No. 1 pick of his hometown Chicago Bulls in the 2008 NBA Draft.

Rose wore No. 25 in high school, but switched to No. 23 with the Tigers because the school had retired No. 25 for Penny Hardaway. He would revert to No. 1 with the Bulls before finally getting No. 25 when he joined the New York Knicks in 2017. He would also add No. 4 to his jersey collection, but now finally wears his college number.

The NCAA announced Wednesday that University of Memphis head men's basketball coach Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway has been suspended for the first three games of the 2023-24 season because of recruiting violations.

Per Jason Munz of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the violations occurred during the 2021-22 academic year and were related to "in-home visits with a prospect before the appropriate recruiting period based on that prospect's year in high school."

Hardaway will miss the Tigers' Nov. 6 opener against Jackson State, the Nov. 10 road game at Missouri and the Nov. 17 matchup with Alabama State.

According to Munz, the NCAA decision states that an assistant coach who is no longer with Memphis visited the recruit at his home, and Hardaway followed suit two weeks later. NCAA rules stated that those visits needed to occur at the recruit's school.

Memphis previously received other punishments in December, including "one year of probation, a two-week ban on all communications related to recruiting, a reduction of in-person recruiting days by four, the loss of two official visits, and a $5,000 fine."

After starring collegiately at Memphis, Hardaway was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft, and he went on to become a four-time All-Star in 14 NBA seasons with the Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks and Miami Heat.

Hardaway became an assistant basketball coach at East High School in Memphis in 2015 and was promoted to head coach in 2017 before taking the head coaching job at his alma mater in 2018.

In five seasons at Memphis, Hardaway has posted a 111-52 record. After reaching the second round of the NIT in 2019 and winning the NIT in 2021, Hardaway led the Tigers to the NCAA tournament in each of the past two seasons.

Memphis went 22-11 and reached the second round of the NCAA tourney in 2022, and last season it went 26-9 and won the American Athletic Conference tournament, but fell in the first round of the NCAA tournament as an 8-seed to a ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic team that went all the way to the Final Four.

If Memphis returns to the NCAA tournament next season, it will mark the first time the Tigers have gone to the tourney in three or more straight seasons since making four in a row from 2010 through 2014.

High school basketball star and Memphis commit Mikey Williams lost an endorsement with Lace Clips in the wake of his arrest for a March shooting in Southern California.

"He is not someone that will be associated with our brand going forward," Lace Clips president Jonathan Nussbaum said to TMZ Sports.

TMZ Sports added that the company's relationship with Williams was "deteriorating even before his arrest" because he reportedly hadn't been fulfilling the terms of his contract.

Williams was arrested in April in connection to a shooting. The San Diego County Sheriff's Department allege there was an argument at a home Williams owns. Shots were fired after a group of five people left the house.

The 6'2" combo guard pleaded not guilty to charges of assault with a deadly weapon and firing into an occupied vehicle.

Williams is the No. 49 overall player in 247Sports' composite rankings for the 2023 recruiting class. He committed to the Tigers in November and is one of five prep stars joining the program for the 2023-24 season.

Head coach Penny Hardaway told reporters in April that Williams "is still with us."

"I can't even speak on the case, out of respect for the ongoing process of what's happening," he said. "I don't know enough to speak on it. That's all I have to say about that. I don't really have anything else to say about it.

Memphis basketball commit Mikey Williams pleaded not guilty Thursday to five charges of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of firing a deadly weapon at an occupied vehicle, according to CBS 8 in San Diego.

The 18-year-old, who was arrested April 13, was involved in a shooting at his home in the San Diego area on March 27 just after midnight following an argument with guests in the house being asked to leave.

Williams allegedly shot at a vehicle as it drove away from his home. Five people, including three minors, were inside the vehicle at the time of the shooting, though no one inside was injured.

"This situation is stressful for him," said defense attorney Troy Owens. "He's trying as an 18-year-old to process this. And he's doing ok under the current situation."

The shooting was reported on March 28 and a warrant was issued for Williams' arrest on April 13. He was released on $50,000 bail and faces a maximum of 28 years in prison if convicted.

"We are aware of the situation and are gathering more information," the University of Memphis said in a statement to CBS 8.

Williams committed to Memphis in Nov. 2022 after also receiving offers from Kansas, USC, LSU, Tennessee, Arizona State and San Diego State, among others. The combo guard is ranked as the 31st-best prospect in the 2023 class and seventh-best prospect out of California, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway told reporters this week that Williams is still going to be with the team, adding that he can't speak on the case "out of respect for the ongoing process of what's happening."

Memphis basketball commit Mikey Williams was arrested Thursday and is facing five charges of assault with a deadly weapon, per Jackson Brown of ABC 24 Memphis.

Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune initially reported an 18-year-old matching Williams' description was being held at San Diego Central Jail and is scheduled to appear in court on April 20.

According to Brown, the San Diego Sheriff's Department confirmed to the ABC station in San Diego that Williams had been arrested.

Bill Feather and Rafael Avitabile of NBC San Diego reported he was released on $50,000 bail.

Zeigler noted "Williams is among the nation's most recognizable prep basketball players" with a large social media presence that helped him land a sneaker deal with Puma as part of his "multimillion-dollar endorsement empire."

He is a 5-star prospect and the No. 26 overall player in the 2023 class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

Williams is part of a strong recruiting class for head coach Penny Hardaway that ranks No. 7 in the country for the current cycle.

That group will attempt to lead the Tigers past the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in Hardaway's tenure.

Memphis women's basketball player Jamirah Shutes has pled not guilty to an assault charge stemming from an altercation following a game against Bowling Green on Thursday, per TMZ Sports.

The Bowling Green State University police charged Shutes with assault on Friday after she punched Bowling Green women's basketball star Elissa Brett in the handshake line following a Super 16 matchup in the Women's National Invitation Tournament on Thursday, a 73-60 victory for Bowling Green.

Bowling Green athletics said in a statement following the incident:

"Following Thursday's unwarranted physical incident after the WNIT home game, the Bowling Green State University Police Department has charged a member of the Memphis Women's Basketball team with assault. Additionally, BGSU Athletics is conducting its own review.

"Violence is never acceptable and our priority remains the health, safety and support of our student-athlete, who is recovering and doing well. This is an active investigation in conjunction with the City of Bowling Green Prosecutor, and no further comment is available at this time."

It's unclear why Shutes punched Brett. According to TMZ Sports, Brett had swelling in her right eye following the strike.

Brett still suited up for Bowling Green's next matchup against Florida on Monday and is set to play in the team's Fab 4 matchup against Columbia on Wednesday.

In 37 games this season, Brett is averaging 14.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting 38.3 percent from the floor and 33.9 percent from deep. She posted 15 points, six rebounds and two steals against Memphis.

Shutes appeared in 33 games for Memphis this season, averaging 15.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 36 percent from the floor and 25.6 percent from beyond the arc.

No. 9 Florida Atlantic defeated No. 8 Memphis 66-65 in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament Friday after one of the most frenetic finishes of March Madness thus far.

To set the scene, Memphis inbounded the ball with 19 seconds left and a 65-64 lead. Tigers guard Kendric Davis, who scored a game-high 16 points and gutted out a late right ankle injury, then threw the ball away to FAU's Brandon Weatherspoon as he tried to evade numerous Owls defenders and cross half court.

However, Memphis' Jayden Hardaway then gathered a loose ball off an apparent Johnell Davis turnover as he drove to the basket.

The Tigers attempted to call timeout, but referees called a tie-up after Owls players dove for the ball as well.

The possession arrow went to FAU, who then won the game after Nick Boyd drove in for a layup.

Memphis couldn't get a shot off in the final seconds, and the game was over.

If the referees granted the timeout, the Tigers would have taken the ball out with 5.5 seconds remaining. They would have gone to the free-throw line for one-and-one if they successfully inbounded the ball and got fouled.

The game wouldn't have been over at that moment, even if Memphis had made both hypothetical free throws to go up three.

Still, it's a bitter pill to swallow for a team that was in the driver's seat for much of the night but couldn't put FAU away.

The Owls deserve credit for coming back down the stretch and executing on their final possession.

The no-call on the timeout, though, got Twitter's attention.

FAU will now play No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson, which upset No. 1 Purdue 63-58 earlier Friday. The FAU-FDU matchup is Sunday.

Watch March Madness Live to stream every tournament game through the Final Four.

Four-star forward JJ Taylor announced his commitment to Memphis on Saturday.

Ranked 63rd in 247Sports' composite rankings, he chose the Tigers over schools including Kentucky, Arkansas, Duke and Kansas.

Taylor transferred to Kanye West's Donda Academy before his junior season along with other stars such as Zion Cruz, Robert Dillingham, Jahki Howard and Jalen Hooks.

"It’s very important for me to be that player, to live up to it,” Taylor told reporters of his national status. “It means something. There is some pressure that comes with that, and I know and expect people to come at me. But I am ready for it and want that. I have to keep working to maintain it, live up to it, to represent Chicago. I know I’m being watched.”

Taylor transferred to San Ysidro (California) High School for his senior year after Donda Academy shut down in the wake of Ye's antisemitic statements.

He has joined Mikey Williams, a 5-star prospect who also committed to Memphis on Saturday.