In a high school gym at the parched edge of the Las Vegas Valley, a row of polo-shirt-clad coaches sits faithfully in the folding chairs along the baseline as if in church pews. Bill Self of Kansas. Sean Miller of Arizona. Duke's Mike Krzyzewski was there a little earlier.
Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway is running late, as is his habit. He is one of the last coaches through the gym's side entrance and into his seat, plopping down between retired NBA veteran Mike Miller and former NBA player and head coach Sam Mitchell, now his assistants at Memphis. They cut a striking image, Miller at 6-foot-8, Hardaway at 6-7 and Mitchell at 6-6, looking more like an aging NBA frontline than a college coaching staff.