Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway was there.

Former Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland was, too. So were dozens of others — fans, donors, coaches, high-profile civic leaders — Friday for Ed Scott’s formal introduction as the University of Memphis’ new athletic director.

But it was Tia, Scott’s bubbly, precocious 5-year-old daughter, who stole the show. As the 44-year-old native New Yorker delivered his first public remarks in the lobby of the Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center since being named AD, he laid out his vision for the Tigers athletic department. He addressed each elephant in the room: conference realignment; the looming ramifications of the landmark House v. NCAA settlement; the Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium renovation project; the name, image and likeness (NIL) landscape; ticket sales; fundraising, and so on.

And Scott, as charming and charismatic as he is confident, assures he has a plan for everything. He leaned on Tia — in call-and-response style — to illustrate just how he intends to realize them. With Tia, in her Tigers-striped headband and red-rim eyeglasses, seated next to her mother, Tara, in the front row, Scott said he asks her five questions every day as he drops her off at school.

“Tia, what do we do every day?” he said.

“We get 1% better,” she replied eagerly.

Scott and his daughter endearingly continued through the rest of their personal daily pop quiz, but it was that sentiment that seems to cut to the heart of Scott’s approach. And if university president Bill Hardgrave’s comments Friday are any indication, it is perhaps how Scott won the job.

“What we needed to find (in) our next AD was somebody who wanted to be at the University of Memphis, not for who we are or who we’ve been, but for who we can be,” Hardgrave said.

Memphis has made significant strides in key areas. Last year, the city allocated $120 million in state funding for the football stadium renovation, and the school is making progress toward raising the remaining funds necessary to see it through. Earlier this year, FedEx committed $5 million a year for the next five years to go toward NIL payments to Tigers athletes.

But work remains. Bucking convention, Memphis has been transparent and outspoken in its desire to level-up when the next round of conference realignment arrives. The time might come soon when the school has to make some difficult decisions on the revenue-sharing front. Ticket sales could be better. Sponsorships and multimedia rights must increase.

It seems daunting. Scott admits it. He knows he will need help, too.

ED SCOTT: What new Memphis AD Ed Scott said about conference realignment options, paying athletes

“Memphis, we’re going to need you to stand up,” he said. “I’m going to call on you early. I’m going to call on you often. But when we call, we need you to come running. We cannot do this alone.”

But just as Scott reminds Tia each day, he also reminds himself that the best way to get where you’re going is simple.

“We’re going to have a growth mindset as an institution and an athletic department,” he said. “We have to be better than we were yesterday, and we damn sure have to be better tomorrow than we were today.”

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Athletic director Ed Scott eager to bring 'growth mindset' to Memphis