Penny Hardaway on the G League's recruiting efforts: "It's almost like tampering"

Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

After seeing 2020 five-star guard Jalen Green – Memphis’ top recruiting target – turn down the college ranks and sign with the G League in April, Penny Hardaway isn’t a happy camper.

With Green signing with the G League’s new professional pathway program, along with Michigan commit Isaiah Todd and UCLA signee Daishen Nix backing out of their respective commitments to do the same, the Memphis head coach compared the league’s recruitment of players to tampering.

“Taking guys out of their commitments (or if) they’ve already signed and continuing to talk to their parents, it’s almost like tampering,” Hardaway said in a pre-recorded video sent to media members covering the Memphis basketball program.

Former G League president Malcolm Turner told ESPN back in 2018 that the professional pathway program would avoid prospects who were already committed to colleges. Now, Hardaway feels the league is backtracking on their original word by talking to committed prospects and their parents, and he doesn’t agree with it.

“I didn’t think the G League was built — and I could be wrong — to go and recruit kids that want to go to college out of going to college,” Hardaway said. “I thought they were going to be the organization that if you wanted to go overseas or you absolutely did not want to play college 100%, that this would be the best situation for you before you go into the NBA. But taking guys out of their commitments, and they’ve already signed but are continuing to talk to their parents … I really don’t agree with that.”

Regardless, if the NCAA doesn’t make an effort to allow student-athletes to make money for themselves, Hardaway feels college basketball will continue to lose star athletes to the G League.

“It will affect how we recruit if the NCAA doesn’t do something about it, if they don’t keep taking steps forward to help these kids make money,” Hardaway said. “They’re going to take $300,000, $400,000, $500,000 (in the G League) for five months to play on a select team and just do basketball instead of having to go to class. … (The NCAA) just (has) to take some desperate measures to make these kids understand that we want you to come to college.”