Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway stood in front of a handful of local media members late Monday morning and was asked about the prospect of the school joining the Pac-12.

He didn't know it at the time, but a decision was less than an hour from being made public. Memphis announced early Monday afternoon that it was remaining a member of the American Athletic Conference instead of joining the expanded Pac-12.

Hardaway, playing in the Bluff City Collective Golf Classic, made the turn at TPC Southwind about an hour after the news broke and offered his thoughts in an interview with The Commercial Appeal.

"Yeah, you've got to trust your administration and know they're doing the right thing for you," he said. "Whatever happened with that, I trust (athletic director Ed Scott) and (university president Bill Hardgrave) on their decision-making, and (we're) going to keep plugging away."

In conjunction with Memphis' announcement, the AAC also released a statement solidifying the statuses of Tulane, South Florida and UTSA as members. Those three schools were also reportedly being courted by the Pac-12 in recent days.

MEMPHIS ATHLETICS: Memphis announces it is staying in the AAC, despite Pac-12 courtship

Hardaway has long publicly voiced his contention that the AAC does not get enough credit as a strong basketball league. The AAC has been a two-bid NCAA Tournament league each of the past four years. The last time it got more than two teams in the Big Dance was 2019, when four teams got in. Those four were Cincinnati, UCF, Temple and Houston. Temple is the only team of that group still in the AAC.

"Again, I'm loyal to the conference," Hardaway said. "I'm hoping that we get more respect, because we deserve more respect. We (the Tigers) have to play better in conference, obviously. But I think the conference is better than everyone's giving it credit for. Again, I'm loyal to the AAC and happy to still be here right now."

The Tigers open the regular season against Missouri (Nov. 4) at FedExForum. They are set to host North Carolina in a preseason charity exhibition game (6 p.m. CT, Oct. 15, ESPNU). It is part of a doubleheader with the Memphis women's basketball team, which will play defending national champion South Carolina (8:30 p.m. CT, ESPN+).

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: Memphis basketball's Penny Hardaway has to trust leadership on AAC