Memphis basketball: Keonté Kennedy likely done after one season with Tigers
Keonté Kennedy is not expected to return for a second season with the Memphis basketball team.
The 6-foot-5 guard, who was the Tigers' third-leading scorer in 2022-23, entered the transfer portal, his father, Kez, confirmed to The Commercial Appeal Sunday.
Kennedy began his career at Xavier before spending three seasons at UTEP. In his lone season at Memphis, he was a valuable contributor on the offensive end of the floor, where he averaged 9.2 points per game and shot 38.1% from 3-point range. But Kennedy's season was interrupted multiple times by injury. He missed two games in December (Texas A&M and Alabama State) due to concussion protocol. Then, his season ended prematurely thanks to a broken right hand he suffered after punching a wall following the Tigers' loss at Houston on Feb. 19.
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Kennedy has one season of collegiate eligibility remaining.
Memphis is facing a large-scale roster rebuild after perhaps the program's best season in a decade. The Tigers, who were upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament by FAU, finished 26-9 (the most wins since 2012-13), won the AAC tournament title and beat No. 1 Houston in the process − Memphis' first win over a top-ranked team in program history.
But the Tigers are losing more than 80% of their scoring from this season and more than 65% of their rebounding thanks to the departures of Kennedy, Kendric Davis, DeAndre Williams, Elijah McCadden, Alex Lomax, Damaria Franklin, Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu and Ian Granja.
Hardaway has signed four incoming freshmen in 5-star combo guard Mikey Williams (6-2), 4-star forward JJ Taylor (6-7), 4-star guard Carl Cherenfant (6-5) and 4-star wing Ashton Hardaway (6-7). Two more high school seniors are committed: 4-star point guard Ty-Laur Johnson (6-0) and 3-star guard Ryan Forrest (6-2).
Chandler Lawson, Johnathan Lawson and Jayden Hardaway are expected to return to Memphis for another season, and the Tigers have picked up commitments from Temple transfer Nick Jourdain (6-9 forward) and Florida State transfer Caleb Mills (6-5 combo guard) leaving coach Penny Hardaway with at least four open scholarships.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: Keonté Kennedy likely done after season with Tigers
