Hardaway admits he ‘misspoke’ about Memphis basketball’s vaccination rate

Memphis’ men’s basketball game against Tennessee on Saturday was canceled about 90 minutes before tip-off due to two Tigers players testing positive for COVID-19.

The Tigers, who have 17 players on their roster, were down to only four players after contact tracing wiped out most of the roster. Memphis’ contract-tracing protocols eliminated any remaining unvaccinated players. Landers Nolley II and Tyler Harris were the players who tested positive.

What confused some, though, was the events Saturday don’t match up with the way Memphis coach Penny Hardaway described his team’s vaccination rate before the season. Hardaway had told reporters that “probably 90%” of his roster had been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Hardaway said Sunday that he “probably misspoke” when talking about the team’s vaccination rate before the season.

“Initially, when I talked to the guys earlier, they were all talking about getting vaccinated,” Hardaway said. “So, I never even thought about it again after that. I was probably quoted as saying [90%] because I talked to a lot of the guys about it going into this season.”

Memphis also dealt with COVID-19 cancellations last season, when the Tigers didn’t play for three weeks due to an outbreak within the program. He hopes Saturday’s cancellation is a lesson for his players to get vaccinated. 

“You can’t force anybody to do it. You can only give them the pluses and minuses of having it versus not having it,” Hardaway said. “Having it doesn’t ensure you won’t get [COVID-19], but having it does ensure you can still play if you don’t test positive. But we can’t force anything. That’s up to the parents and the players.”