MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Tigers head men’s basketball coach Penny Hardaway officially signed standout transfer Keonte Kennedy, a 6'5" guard from UTEP, for the upcoming 2022-23 season.
Kennedy, a redshirt-senior, joins fellow college basketball veterans Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu (UT-Arlington), Emmanuel Akot (Boise State), Kendric Davis (SMU) and Elijah McCadden (Georgia Southern) as additions to the Memphis roster this offseason.
The quintet has combined for 441 games and 3,989 points at the Division I level entering the 2022-23 campaign.
“We are thrilled to add Keonte to our program,” Hardaway said. “He brings toughness, great defensive instincts and shot-making ability to our roster to go along with his experience. He is a perfect complement to the pieces we already have and will play an integral role for us this season.”
Kennedy played the past two seasons at UTEP, where he averaged 14.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in 2021-22 and 8.6 points and 5.9 rebounds in 2020-21. He scored in double figures 15 times in 19 games a season ago, despite being limited due to injury, and he shot at least 50 percent from the floor in eight games.
The Tigers finished the 2021-22 season with a 22-11 record and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014.
Hardaway enters the 2022-23 campaign with one of the most experienced groups in the country, with Kennedy, Akot, Kao Akobundu-Ehiogu, Malcolm Dandridge, Jayden Hardaway and Chandler Lawson all seniors. Kendric Davis, Alex Lomax, Elijah McCadden and DeAndre Williams are listed as fifth year players.
