The state of South Carolina announced Memphis assistant Tony Madlock as its basketball coach on Thursday.
Madlock, 51, has spent three seasons with the Tigers. He was the last remaining member of Coach Penny Hardaway’s original team. Madlock, whose son, TJ, is a guard at Houston High in Memphis, was Hardaway’s teammate in Memphis State.
“During this process, we were able to observe several potential candidates,” South Carolina state sports director Stacy L. Danley said in a school statement. “Tony Madlock, who I had the opportunity to meet and evaluate as a person and coach for over 10 years, is everything we were looking for: winning with integrity, incredible pedigree, incredible understanding of what it takes to win and experience as an architect. several nationally ranked recruiting classes. He’s a first-class teacher, assessor, recruiter and coach. He’s the type of coach I would like my son to play in. “
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Madlock will end the Memphis season on the National Invitation Tournament.
“Whenever you enter the profession, being a college basketball coach, from day one you have dreams and goals of being a head coach and being able to run your own program,” Madlock told Jeff Brightwell during a radio interview before Thursday’s game. “And, in these times that we’re going now, being able to go to an HBCU and help young black basketball players across the country, is a call to me.”
Before being hired by Hardaway in Memphis, Madlock worked as a team coach in Auburn, UTEP, Arkansas State and Ole Miss – where he also served as an interim coach during the 2017-18 season.
“I am very proud of him,” Hardaway told reporters after Thursday’s victory over Boise State in the NIT quarterfinals. “This is something that he wanted. It’s something we talked about when he became my assistant. All of my assistants always talk about being head coaches. And to be able to train your child in the process, I couldn’t have thought of a better guy to be in a position to do that. I am very happy for him. “
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