Penny Hardaway adds longtime NBA assistant Roy Rogers to Memphis coaching staff

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis coach Penny Hardaway has added longtime NBA assistant Roy Rogers as an assistant to fill out his staff for this season.

Hardaway also brought in Josh Townsend as the Tigers' new director of scouting in additions announced Thursday.

Rogers was a first-round NBA draft pick in 1996 by the then-Vancouver Grizzlies out of Alabama. He spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers. He also has been an assistant with the Clippers, Chicago, Houston, Washington, Brooklyn, Detroit and Boston.

This will be Rogers' first time coaching in the college ranks. He joins a staff that includes Mike Davis and Jermaine Johnson. Hardaway also added Darrell Brown Jr. as director of player development and Kristan Kelly as director of basketball operations this summer.

Townsend spent the past two seasons as head video coordinator for the Los Angeles Lakers' G League affiliate and was with the Lakers' 2024 Summer League staff. He was a graduate assistant at Penn State between 2021 and 2023.

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