{"id":68380,"date":"2025-05-31T16:18:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T16:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/68380\/"},"modified":"2025-05-31T16:18:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T16:18:11","slug":"pj-haggerty-bailing-on-tigers-alters-outlook-for-reviving-arkansas-vs-memphis-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/68380\/","title":{"rendered":"PJ Haggerty Bailing on Tigers Alters Outlook for Reviving Arkansas vs Memphis Rivalry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"John<\/a>Photo Credit: Craven Whitlow \/ Memphis Athletics<\/p>\n

In the 24 hours after the NBA Draft withdrawal deadline, the final dominoes have begun to fall into place in the college basketball offseason.<\/p>\n

Arkansas got decisions back from the two players it was waiting on, as Karter Knox is returning for his sophomore season while Adou Thiero decided to stay in the draft. Nationwide, the dust appears to have mostly settled with the transfer portal heavyweights \u2013 just two of the top 150 transfers in 247Sports\u2019 ranking remain uncommitted.<\/p>\n

Through much of the spring, one of those final big fish was Memphis transfer point guard PJ Haggerty, who instantly became the top guard in the portal when he entered back in April. The redshirt sophomore averaged 21.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists and was named the AAC Player of the Year and a consensus All-American.<\/p>\n

Haggerty\u2019s initial asking price was reported to have been around $4 million, as well as a guarantee of a big role on the ball<\/a>, which scared off a number of top teams who either didn\u2019t have that money left to spend or couldn\u2019t promise the role he wanted \u2013 Arkansas likely fell into the latter category.<\/p>\n

The PJ Haggerty Saga, Explained<\/p>\n

The Memphis basketball star was previously thought to be headed to North Carolina State<\/a> to play for Will Wade, though the Wolfpack backed off after spending a large sum to land Texas Tech forward Darrion Williams, another top-10 transfer. That left Haggerty a little short on options, and he eventually landed at Kansas State, a move that garnered some criticism from the likes of Jeff Goodman from Field of 68.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not saying to always go with an agent\u2026but PJ Haggerty\u2019s dad probably should have hired a good one in this case,\u201d Goodman tweeted on Monday<\/a>. \u201cOverplayed his hand and wound up with in the neighborhood of $2.5 million for a team that didn\u2019t make the tourney last season and isn\u2019t considered a tourney team for this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

CBS\u2019 Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander offered more insight on Haggerty\u2019s apparent miscalculation on a recent Eye on College Basketball podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarlier in the offseason, he was reportedly offered by Memphis, to stay in Penny Hardaway\u2019s program, roughly $3 million,\u201d said Parrish, a University of Memphis grad based in the metro area. \u201cSo if you believe all the reporting\u2026PJ Haggerty rejected a roughly $3 million deal from Memphis to take a roughly $2.5 million deal from Kansas State.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parrish added that by the time schools like NC State and Ole Miss pulled out of the running for Haggerty, it was too late for him to return to Memphis as it had \u201cpulled the offer\u201d or \u201cmassively decreased it.\u201d That left the star point guard with very few options, and he eventually landed at K-State.<\/p>\n

Haggerty seemingly settling for Kansas State is a damning indictment on how far Memphis\u2019 status has fallen in college hoops. Head coach Jerome Tang made some noise with the Wildcats with an Elite Eight run in 2023, but has failed to follow up on that. Even with high-dollar transfers like Coleman Hawkins, K-State has failed to make the Big Dance the last two seasons. Historically, they\u2019re a far cry from Memphis in terms of prestige.<\/p>\n

From the early 1970s to the late 2000s, Memphis was a premier regional basketball power. In that time frame the Tigers won 12 conference titles and made 11 Sweet 16s, six Elite Eights, three Final Fours and finished as the national runner-up on two occasions. Memphis\u2019 basketball head coach ranked as one of the program\u2019s two brightest stars, along Derrick Rose, in that stretch. <\/p>\n

But they haven\u2019t made the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2009 and, similar to Arkansas before the Muss Bus came to town, are a bit of a sleeping giant in the mid-south. Up to this point, Hardaway has been unable to awaken that beast.<\/p>\n

\u201cMemphis basketball is not what it once was in terms of its place in the sport and even its place in the city,\u201d Parrish said. \u201cThey don\u2019t draw like they used to. They had a top 25 team all last season led by an All-American guard coached by the most beloved graduate in the history of the school and people didn\u2019t come to the games. People are bored with this league.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AAC was one of the best mid-major leagues in the country just a few years ago, but has seen a major dropoff \u2013 especially after heavyweight Houston went to the Big 12. Memphis was the lone AAC team to make the NCAA Tournament this year, and that lack of conference prestige likely left Haggerty feeling like he could do better.<\/p>\n

Haggerty\u2019s situation is very similar to that of Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The Hawaiian gunslinger was making around $2.4 million with the Volunteers, but demanded a $4 million package and entered the transfer portal when he didn\u2019t get it. He ended up signing with UCLA, reportedly for less money<\/a> than he was originally making in Knoxville.<\/p>\n

Star player enters the transfer portal on the advice of their father and ends up making less money than their original school was offering to play for a worse team. Ouch.<\/p>\n

The Iamaleava debacle, of course, ended in his younger brother Madden hitting an Irish goodbye from Arkansas and joining Nico at UCLA \u2013 a move that prompted legal action<\/a> from the Razorback athletic department.<\/p>\n

How the PJ Haggerty Debacle Affects Memphis vs Arkansas Rivalry<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been a lot of talk in recent years about reigniting the matchup between Arkansas and Memphis. The two teams have met 22 times, splitting 11 wins apiece. The most recent contest came in the 2023 Battle 4 Atlantis, when the No. 20 Tigers defeated the Hogs in Eric Musselman\u2019s final season in charge. Before that, you\u2019d have to go back 20 years for the last matchup.<\/p>\n

The two programs squared off annually in the regular season from 1991-2003 and also met in the NCAA Tournament in 1992 and 1995. Ironically, it was none other than Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari \u2013 then in charge of Memphis \u2013 who killed the hotly-contested rivalry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to play national games,\u201d Calipari told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 2002<\/a>. \u201cYou can\u2019t play regional games if you\u2019re a national program. We don\u2019t need Arkansas to sell out our building.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, how the tables turn. With Coach Cal now in charge of the Razorbacks, the 66-year-old has expressed a desire to face off against his former school \u2013 albeit in an exhibition capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked about an exhibition game, and I think that would be something with St. Jude\u2019s [Children\u2019s Hospital] involved,\u201d Calipari said on May 13<\/a>. \u201cIf they could bring back my players and do something that celebrated that group, I\u2019d have great interest in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Calipari was back in Memphis tonight, taking part in the Razorbacks Road Trip. So no better time to ask Cal about renewing the Hogs\/Tigers rivalry on the hardwood \u2014 one that Penny has hinted to once or twice. Cal also with high praise for Hardaway pic.twitter.com\/BJeYVFEI7f<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mike Ceide (@MCeide_WREG3) May 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Calipari was likely referring to his 2007-08 Memphis team, which went 38-2 and finished as the national runner-up.<\/p>\n

Hardaway, who is entering his eighth season in charge of his alma mater, has expressed a similar desire to face Arkansas. The former NBA superstar has won just one NCAA Tournament game during his tenure, but Calipari was complimentary of the job he\u2019s doing with the Tigers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving all free agents at the end of every year, and the leagues that are above you are coming down to grab your guys,\u201d Coach Cal said. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean your program is below them, but [poachers] are in a bigger league that has more resources. It just makes it hard, and that\u2019s why I say he\u2019s done a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

The slumping of the American Athletic Conference is part of the reason why it\u2019s unlikely Arkansas vs Memphis will ever make it beyond an exhibition game. Over 20 years later, Calipari\u2019s logic remains true \u2013 the Hogs don\u2019t need to play regional games as a national program, and they don\u2019t need Memphis to sell out their building. The Tigers, on the other hand, certainly do need a program of Arkansas\u2019 caliber to help put more butts in seats.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a good thing Coach Cal has a special place in his heart for charity. This exhibition would benefit not only St. Jude\u2019s, but also a struggling Memphis program in dire need of some rejuvenation.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander discuss PJ Haggerty around the 26:30 mark:<\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

More coverage of Arkansas basketball from BoAS:<\/p>\n