Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway played nine holes of golf with Collin Morikawa on Wednesday at TPC Southwind in Memphis.

It was well-earned breather for the seventh-year coach, whose team will tip off the season against Missouri (Nov. 4) at FedExForum.

But Hardaway addressed some of his biggest takeaways from the eight-week summer workout period that concluded earlier this month. He has mentioned multiple times in interviews this summer how critical it has been to have the majority of his roster together sooner than he has in years past. Ten scholarship players were either here for all eight weeks or at least the majority of them.

Hardaway said he already has seen it paying dividends.

“This is the closest group of young men I’ve had,” he said. “They go everywhere together. They come to practice together, they go out together, they go eat together, they go to the movies together.”

Hardaway added there are a few players he has to thank for that.

“To me, the leadership on this team, you have to credit Moussa (Cisse) for being one of the guys to bring everybody together,” he said of the 7-foot center who transferred back to Memphis, where he played his freshman season. “And Tyrese Hunter (and) Tyreek Smith. Those guys have bought in as well.

“It is surprising, because these guys don’t know each other. I think Colby (Rogers) and PJ (Haggerty) know each other. And Moussa and Tyreek played together at Oklahoma State. But to come together like they have has been pretty special to watch.”

The Tigers got off to a strong start last season but faltered down the stretch. Hardaway said he has noticed a number of key attributes about his current group that he didn't necessarily see much of last offseason.

“It’s gone really well, because we have a group of young men who get it,” he said. “They bring toughness. They buy in. There’s no bad body language. I haven’t had any of that. It’s just all about whatever we teach, they want to learn.”

Hardaway also said workouts this summer reinforced the Tigers’ approach to roster-building. He said last season — which got off to a strong start, only to come apart down the stretch — the strategy of accumulating the most offensive talent he could did not work. So he went into this cycle intentionally wanting to alter the plan.

“There’s no knock on any other team or last year’s team, because we had offensive talent,” he said. “(But) because of my culture, I have to be a guy that gets after people (defensively) and press. You have to recruit that. It’s not always the best offensive talent all the time.

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“These guys have shown me that I did the right thing by grabbing this group.”

Some of Memphis' group is expected to be on hand at the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Saturday (1:30-3:30 p.m.) for a meet-and-greet with fans. It is the latest example of the university's landmark name, image and likeness (NIL) agreement with FedEx. While Hardaway acknowledged that being part of the equation, it's not the only part of it.

“We’re gonna do more things in the community this year as a team, because it’s so important — not just for NIL appearances,” he said. “But being out and about and letting the city get to know these guys. I just think over the years, the city hasn’t really gotten an opportunity to meet and greet these guys. I think coming out this week, (the players are) going to see Memphis in a different light.”

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: Penny Hardaway: New Memphis basketball roster 'closest group' he's had