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With No. 1 recruiting class, Rasheed Wallace official, Penny Hardaway still wants 'All the smoke'

The Memphis Tigers introduced Wallace Tuesday as an assistant coach

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Former NBA all-star Rasheed Wallace was officially introduced as a Memphis assistant coach Tuesday, the final piece in Penny Hardaway's all-star staff, in what is expected to be an all-time Tigers season.

"We've always kept in contact and always admired each other's game," Wallace said in Tuesday's news conference. "But for him to ask me to join his staff was, one, a surprise. But second, it was a pleasure."

Wallace joins his former Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown and former Phoenix Suns assistant Cody Toppert on Penny's marquee bench. Hardaway said his staff's NBA experience was the biggest selling point in landing the nation's No. 1 recruiting class for the second time in three years.

"It's the same thing with Emoni [Bates] that it was with Jalen [Duren]," Hardaway said of his five-star recruits. "These kids are so locked in and focused on making it to the NBA, and they feel like our staff could really help them get to that level. Not just the coaching staff but the trainer, the therapist, the strength and conditioning coach. Everybody that's on board right now, they felt very comfortable with everybody."

Never afraid of confrontation throughout his 16-year playing career, Wallace wants the Tigers big men to have that same imposing presence in the low post.

"Off the court, I'm sure they're nice young men," he said. "On the court, I don't want them to be nice. I want them to be down and dirty."

With a stacked roster and coaching staff behind him, Hardaway said yes, he still wants "all the smoke."

"I'll never back down on that. Because I feel like our guys want that. Our staff wants that," he said to end Tuesday's availability. "And we're going to stay confident that we're one of the top teams in the country." 

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