Why, after 100 wins with Memphis basketball, Penny Hardaway feels like he 'underachieved'

© Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports Memphis Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway talks to Memphis Tigers guard Damaria Franklin (55) during the first half at Coleman Coliseum.

Welcome back to the Tigers Basketball newsletter. Today, Commercial Appeal sports columnist Mark Giannotto weighs in: 

Was the Cincinnati game Penny Hardaway's 100th win, or will his next win be his 100th win? Does it even matter?

Count me among those who won't pretend that Memphis win over South Carolina State to begin the 2019-20 season, with James Wiseman in the lineup, didn't occur. If that's the case, win No. 100 already happened last Sunday at Cincinnati.

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But in the eyes of the NCAA and the official record book, Hardaway's next win will technically be No. 100 because that victory over South Carolina State had to be vacated as part of the IARP ruling related to Wiseman's eligibility situation.

There's a good chance it happens Thursday night at FedExForum when Memphis faces SMU, losers of five of their past six games and competing with Tulsa for the title of worst team in the AAC this season.

But regardless of how you judge when the milestone took place, it did lead to some reflection from Hardaway about what he has (and hasn't) accomplished yet now that he's in year five as the coach at Memphis. To his credit, his assessment seemed grounded in the reality that not everything has gone according to plan.

“I would say, looking at the first five years, winning is what we’ve done," Hardaway said. "We’ve won 20-plus games, but we haven’t gotten the reward of the NCAA tournament. Obviously the first year with Jeremiah and those guys, I inherited that team. The following year was COVID. And then after that was NIT championship and NCAA (tournament), so I can’t beat myself up for that. But we’ve had two Final Four-type talent teams here and I underachieved with getting those guys to play together and play the right way to be where we needed to be. But I can’t complain about that. I just try to keep getting better.”

Hardaway went on to say the most meaningful win of his tenure came when Memphis appeared in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014 and beat Boise State last season. The narrow loss to Gonzaga in the round of 32 "gave me more inspiration to know we’re not far away,” he added.

The job, whether Hardaway is going for win No. 100 or 101, isn't close to being done, even though the program is in a better spot today than when he took it over.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Why, after 100 wins with Memphis basketball, Penny Hardaway feels like he 'underachieved'