Penny Hardaway took issue this week with an ESPN analyst’s joke about Tigers forward DeAndre Williams’ age.
The Memphis Tigers head coach did not like Mark Adams laughing at Williams during the Tigers’ 72-64 loss to second-ranked Houston on Sunday, saying he was “only 39 years away from Medicare” thanks to his age.
The 26-year-old is averaging a team-best 17.3 points per game this season for Hardaway’s team
“He got tricked by some guys to leave his high school to go to a virtual school,” Hardaway said Monday during his weekly radio show, as transcribed by The New York Post. “Stayed there to play basketball, was promised he was gonna get these different scholarships. He did not get the scholarships and the guys just left him hanging. Found out that none of the accreditation would carry over for him to get into college. He has to go to night school and work until he got his credits back up to go to college. Didn’t get into college until 21 years old.”
Williams transferred to Memphis ahead of the 2020-21 season. Hardaway explained that the “negativity” could bother Williams.
“Every time we have a telecast, these commentators are talking about his age in a negative fashion, I think that’s so bad,” Hardaway said. “I think it is unfair how they always talk about his age during the games. I hate that for DeAndre. It was brought to my attention about Stetson Bennett, the quarterback at Georgia, is 25 years old. I didn’t know he was that old, because they would never say it. So, what’s the difference? To me, it just has to be fair across the board.”
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NCAA stories via Google! Follow Us
One of the more notable athletes in the country was also talked about because of his age and that was former Georgia QB Stetson Bennett, who is 25-years-old. He led the Bulldogs to a National title the past two years.
Williams is one of the American Athletic Conference’s best players this year as he’s sixth in scoring, fourth in rebounding, and second in field-goal percentage in the league.
