Memphis Tiger head men’s basketball coach Penny Hardaway has added longtime college basketball coach Frank Haith to his staff as an assistant coach.
Haith won 343 games as a head coach in seven seasons at Miami (Fla.) (2004-11), three seasons at Missouri (2011-14) and eight seasons at Tulsa (2014-22). Haith’s teams reached the postseason 10 times in those 18 seasons, and his career also includes assistant coaching stops at Texas, Texas A&M, Wake Forest, Penn State, UNC Wilmington and Elon.
Haith was the 2012 Associated Press and United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) National Coach of the Year, and he also was a National Coach of the Year finalist in 2005.
“I wanted to add a veteran to the staff, but I got more by adding Frank Haith to the program,” Hardaway said. “Coach Haith is one of the most respected coaches in the game, having won Coach of the Year honors in three different conferences on top of a National Coach of the Year honor. His teams were always great defensively and played with tremendous toughness. I cannot wait to pick his defensive mind and creativity and combine it with mine.
“In addition, before becoming a successful head coach, Coach Haith was known as one of the best assistant coaches in the country. I believe we have added the total package to our Tiger men’s basketball program. He will make a tremendous impact on our student-athletes and everyone within our program.”
Most recently, Haith led Tulsa to three 20-win seasons, an American Athletic Conference regular season championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The conference crown in 2019-20 came after being picked 10th in the preseason poll, marking the sixth-consecutive year Tulsa outpaced its preseason projections.
In his three seasons at Missouri, Haith’s teams posted a 76-28 record and advanced to the postseason in all three campaigns with a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. Haith became the fastest Missouri head coach to 50 wins, and his first team at Missouri was picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 preseason poll but went on to a school-record 30 victories and the Big 12 Tournament crown before it earned a No. 2 seed in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
Following the historic season, Haith received recognition in the form of numerous coaching accolades, highlighted by the prestigious Henry Iba National Coach of the Year and Associated Press National Coach of the Year honors. He also was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year and was the USBWA District VI Coach of the Year.
Haith won 129 games in his seven seasons at Miami (Fla.), including three 20-win campaigns. Miami returned to postseason play in 2006 as the Hurricanes won 18 games and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT, recording the program’s first postseason victories since 2000. Over his final four seasons, Haith’s Miami squads averaged 21 wins per season, with four consecutive postseason trips, while three of the school’s six all-time 20-win ledgers at the time came under Haith.
On the international stage, Haith coached USA Basketball in 2009 World University Games.
Born in Queens, N.Y., Haith spent most of his childhood growing up in Burlington, N.C. He is one of 11 siblings. Haith and his wife, Pam, have two children, Corey and Brianna.
The Tigers finished the 2021-22 season with a 22-11 record and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014. In four seasons at the helm, Hardaway has amassed an 85-43 record, four-straight 20-win seasons and the 2021 National Invitation Tournament championship in addition to the 2022 NCAA Tournament appearance.
Hardaway’s 85 wins are second-most among 14 first-time NCAA Division I head coaches hired prior to the 2018-19 season and tied for third-most among Tiger head coaches in their first four seasons. In his tenure, Hardaway has mentored three first-round NBA Draft picks and four overall, three AAC Freshmen of the Year, five all-conference selections and five all-freshman honorees.
OFFICIAL: Haith joins Memphis Basketball Staff
