Hardaway's arrival already has Memphis looking to find further ways to tap into demandTIGER BOOKSTORE
The Univ. of Memphis has been "swept up in the mania" surrounding new men's basketball coach Penny Hardaway, and there has been a "recent boom at Tiger Bookstore," according to Geoff Calkins of the Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL. Tiger Bookstore Manager Jeremy Stinson got permission from Hardaway to "print up some t-shirts with a penny on the front -- with Hardaway's face in place of Lincoln's." Stinson said, "They sold out in a couple hours. We ordered 288 of them. They were gone almost instantly." Calkins notes there is not a lot of "specific Hardaway merchandise at the bookstore just yet," as everything has to be approved "either by Nike, or by Hardaway." Stinson and his staff "have to find other ways to tap into the demand." At Hardaway's opening press conference, the new coach "called Memphis basketball 'a family reunion' and said he 'had that Memphis blood.'" One T-shirt now available at the bookstore says "Tiger Family Reunion," and another reads, "I have that Memphis blood." The hope is that the bookstore will soon "get all the necessary approvals to have a whole range of Penny items" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 4/25).
