Penny Hardaway to stay at Memphis after interviewing with the Magic

Penny Hardaway will stay in his position as head coach of the University of Memphis, Hardaway announced in an Instagram post. He was under consideration for the head coach job with the Magic, and he expressed a future interest in that position, even if the time wasn’t right now.

“One day in the future I would love to coach in the NBA, and wouldn’t that be great if it were the Orlando Magic?” Hardaway said. “But today isn’t that day.”

Memphis has a 63-32 record under Hardaway’s leadership, in which time he coached 2020 No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman and No. 20 pick Precious Achiuwa and won the 2021 NIT championship.

“Today I’m here with my players, with the fans, with the city, working as hard as I can to try to bring us a national championship,” Hardaway said.

With Hardaway a Magic legend in his own right, it’s unclear if he withdrew from the search or was informed by Orlando he was no longer under consideration.