Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning. “Don’t let what happens on one end (of the court) affect this end,” Hunter said. That moment was among the examples of what a difference a year makes for Memphis.

It isn't often a team's coach ( Penny Hardaway, in this case) hands out a handful of pink slips exactly two months before the regular season tips off, then sees that same coach accused of major NCAA violations in a widely circulated anonymous letter.