Coach JJ gets real on Why Penny Fired him and building a national program from scratch.

Coach JJ joins the show for a candid conversation about his path from Memphis community centers to the Division I sidelines. He covers building Melrose into a state contender, recruiting stories, his time on Penny Hardaway's Memphis staff, getting let go, and how he turned "bitter" into "better." He also shares his views on how to rebuild Memphis basketball development. Timestamps 0:00 – Welcome and intro 1:33 – Recruiting in Memphis and the PowerPoint story 5:01 – Growing up in Memphis and getting his first coaching shot 8:16 – Resigning from Melrose and the road back 10:43 – How he built Melrose into a winner 14:18 – Recruiting Chris and the "outer house" story 19:08 – Breakfast Club and the unrequired work 21:53 – Landing the Under Armour deal 23:55 – The White Station battles and the hottest ticket in town 30:19 – How he'd match up against today's programs 33:26 – Why the city's talent has declined 35:54 – His coaching tree 37:44 – What happened at Memphis 44:45 – From bitter to better 49:22 – Coaching in the NIL era 52:59 – Telling the truth and learning to say no 57:02 – The biggest recruiting misconception for high school coaches 1:03:04 – The staff firings and the culture at Memphis 1:06:08 – Why no contract extension? 1:14:57 – How to bring Memphis talent back to Division I 1:19:21 – Middle school coaching and rebuilding the ecosystem 1:27:00 – Building his dream roster 1:29:21 – What's next for Coach JJ