PJ Haggerty was the third main scorer in males’s school basketball this previous season in a breakout sophomore 12 months for the Memphis Tigers. Haggerty averaged 21.7 factors per recreation by splashing pictures from all three ranges and constantly attending to the free throw line. Solely Villanova’s Eric Dixon and Northern Arizona’s Trenton McLaughlin averaged extra factors in the course of the 2024-2025 season, and each of them are out of eligibility for subsequent 12 months.
Haggerty is the newest stunning addition to the switch portal, coming into his title on Thursday afternoon simply forward of the April 22 deadline. He instantly turns into one of many prime out there gamers within the portal, and he is perhaps the very best title on the listing when it comes to gamers with a number of years of eligibility remaining.
This can be a devastating blow for Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway, who’s coming off his greatest season but at 29-6 total, but did not win a recreation within the 2025 NCAA match. There’s going to be an extended listing of suitors for a participant with such a manufacturing. He went into the switch portal with a “don’t contact” tag, which suggests he might have his subsequent vacation spot already picked out.
Haggerty averaged 21.7 factors, 5.8 boards and three.7 assists and went into the portal with a “don’t contact” tag. https://t.co/Y8gMF0Z1mw
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 17, 2025
We ranked Haggerty at No. 9 on our listing of the 50 greatest gamers coming into March Insanity. The eight gamers ranked above him are all both returning to their unique faculty or coming into the 2025 NBA Draft.
The NBA doesn’t have a lot curiosity in Haggerty as a result of he’s slightly small for a scoring guard (6’3, 191 kilos) and doesn’t have a lot athletic explosion — he completed the season with zero dunks. Nonetheless, that is precisely the kind of guard that nice school groups want in March as an instant-offense ingredient who can create off the dribble.
Haggerty was an absolute workhorse for Memphis this previous 12 months, ending No. 9 in whole minutes performed throughout DI whereas rating No. 2 in each free throws made and free throw makes an attempt. He’s not a excessive quantity three-point shooter, trying solely three pictures from deep per recreation, however he’s nonetheless an environment friendly scorer due to his capability to get to the foul line. His 58.3 % true capturing was above-average, and is much more spectacular when combined along with his 20 % help charge and 28 % utilization charge.
Haggerty seemingly stands to money in massive time within the portal. Title a university staff that wants a beginning guard: Haggerty needs to be their prime possibility. North Carolina figures to a be critical suitor for Haggerty. St. John’s nonetheless wants a guard because it targets former UNC freshman Ian Jackson. Will an SEC faculty like Alabama or Kentucky attempt to get into the combination? A faculty like Indiana might actually use him within the backcourt to compete within the Massive Ten.
Haggerty could possibly be a Preseason First-Crew All-American when he experiences to campus for the 2025-2026 season. Gamers with this degree of manufacturing, expertise, and two years of remaining eligibility don’t come round usually. Memphis’ loss will likely be a blueblood’s acquire most definitely.
