Memphis men’s basketball head coach Penny Hardaway announced Thursday that long-time NBA assistant Roy Rogers has been named an assistant to fill out the roster this season. Hardaway also hired Josh Townsend as the Tigers’ new director of scouting.
Roy Rogers brings more than 20 years of coaching experience to Memphis
Rogers was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies from Alabama with the 22nd overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft. He spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach with the Portland Trail Blazers.
He also served as an assistant coach with the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls.
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Rodgers’ hiring marks his first college coaching job. He joins a team that includes Mike Davis and Jermaine Johnson. This summer, Hardaway also appointed Darrell Brown Jr. as director of player development and Kristan Kelly as director of basketball operations.
Townsend spent the past two seasons as the lead video coordinator for the South Bay Lakers, the Los Angeles Lakers G-League affiliate, and worked with the Lakers’ 2024 Summer League staff.
Josh Townsend is a graduate assistant at Penn State
According to the Associated Press, Townsend served as a graduate assistant at Penn State from 2021 to 2023.
A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Townsend played college basketball at Kutztown University, where he was named team captain and currently ranks ninth among the Golden Bears in career rebounds (553).
The moves come less than two weeks before Memphis’ first exhibition game and nearly three months after Nolan Smith left the Tigers to become Tennessee State coach.
Smith is Hardaway’s third employee to exit the 2024-25 season since the end of the season. The others are Jordan Wilhurst (director of basketball operations) and Marcus Nunnally (director of scouting).
Memphis will play Arkansas on Oct. 27 at FedExForum and Auburn on Oct. 30 at State Farm Stadium in Atlanta. The Tigers will open the regular season at home against San Francisco on Nov. 8.
