Four Star DJ Jeffries has ended his recruitment and committed to Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers. Jeffries is a 6’7″ power forward who is ranked as the 47th best player in the 2019 class per 247 Sports. The former Kentucky commitment from Olive Branch, Mississippi choose the Tigers over finalists Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Alabama. Current Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway was Jeffries’ AAU coach on the Nike EYBL circuit, where he averaged 15.3 points and 7 rebounds per game.
DJ Jeffries is a POWERHOUSE (via @Local24Jessica) pic.twitter.com/p31sklbsbM
— The Traveling Hooper (@travelinghooper) September 10, 2018
Analysts speculated that Jeffries may de-commit from Kentucky after Hardaway was hired as the head coach at Memphis just 8 days after he originally committed to Kentucky. The de-commitment from Kentucky was messy and aired out publicly via Jeffries’s father. Corey Jeffries accused Kentucky of being unprofessional when they broke the news to assistant coach/lead recruiter Tony Barbee and head coach John Calipari.
Corey Jeffries, via Jeff Borzello of ESPN
“It’s just that they had been professional through the whole process. We weren’t cussed out or anything like that, there were just some discouraging remarks made about his future that was out of line. But that wasn’t directly from Coach Cal.”
Since becoming head coach at Memphis Penny Hardaway has been able to land the 30th ranked recruiting class in 2018 with a late start and the former NBA star and Memphis legend has positioned the Tigers to land number 1 overall recruit James Wiseman as well. Hardaway coached Wiseman at East High School in Memphis for a season and solidified a strong bond. Memphis is a tradition-rich program that has fallen on hard times since Josh Pastner left for Georgia Tech.
Undeniably, Hardaway has landed a key piece in DJ Jeffries who is a skilled player with a solid frame. Jeffries has an attacking style of play and can play above the rim. Despite being pegged as a traditional small forward, the Memphis pitch to Jeffries is to have him master the 1,2 and 3 positions.
AAC opponents will have a tough time dealing with him and the Tigers for years to come.
