Talented Memphis eager to end NCAA Tournament drought

Updated Oct. 30, 2021 2:35 a.m. ET

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Memphis has landed plenty of elite recruits yet still hasn’t earned an NCAA Tournament bid during Penny Hardaway’s coaching tenure.

Perhaps this is the year that changes.

Memphis returns three of its top five scorers from a team that

“No matter what anyone says, you’re only going to win big when you have really good players,” said Hardaway, who enters his fourth season at Memphis with a 63-32 record. “And to have the roster that we have now, we have really good players.”

this season after failing to get there in 2021.

The Tigers’ six-man freshman class includes two top-five recruits in 6-foot-9 forward

This isn’t the first time Hardaway has brought in the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class.

that featured James Wiseman,

This year’s team seems more balanced.

The Tigers return Landers Nolley II, who earned first-team all-American Athletic Conference honors and was the most outstanding player in the NIT. Hardaway believes that postseason run helped, even if it didn’t come in the NCAA Tournament.

“The kids that come back, that came back from that experience, they know that they’re champions, first of all, and they know what they want now,” Hardaway said. “They want more.”

Hardaway also has added some star power to his coaching staff by

There’s still a

On the court, Memphis has more than enough talent to end its NCAA drought.

Plenty of usual NCAA Tournament regulars didn't go dancing during the unusual pandemic-impacted 2020-21 season. Here’s a look at some other schools that figure to earn NCAA bids this season, even though they didn’t in 2021.

ARIZONA

This traditional power hasn’t played in an NCAA Tournament since

NO. 22 AUBURN

After replacing the nucleus of the team that earned the school’s

NO. 9

after a positive COVID-19 test. The Blue Devils were just 13-11 at the time and probably would have needed to win the ACC Tournament to extend their streak of 24 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. The Blue Devils figure to start a new streak in

INDIANA

Indiana is coming off a 12-15 season and hasn’t reached an NCAA Tournament since making a regional semifinal in 2016. But there’s a new energy surrounding this squad with the arrival of first-year coach

NO. 10 KENTUCKY

Kentucky went 9-16 last year to finish below .500 for the first time since 1988-89. An NCAA Tournament was held without Kentucky for the first time since 2013. But there’s reason to believe that was an aberration rather than the start of a trend. Kentucky brought in two top-15 recruits in TyTy Washington and Daimion Collins, but

XAVIER

Xavier made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances in a 13-year stretch from 2006-18, but hasn’t been back since. Xavier went 13-8 last season and returns its top seven scorers from that team. The Musketeers’ list of returners includes Paul Scruggs and Zach Freemantle, who were second-team all-Big East selections last season.

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Follow Steve Megargee at https://twitter.com/stevemegargee

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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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