Memphis men’s basketball coach Penny Hardaway fired three assistants and a staff member two months before the Tigers’ season opener, and the university also confirmed officials shared an anonymous letter alleging multiple violations in his program with the NCAA.

Hardaway announced Wednesday morning that assistants Rick Stansbury, Faragi Phillips and Jamie Rosser, and special advisor Demetrius Dyson were gone.

“The timing is not ideal, but I want to give this team the best opportunity to reach our goals of winning the American Conference and advancing in the NCAA Tournament,” Hardaway said in a statement. “With the season rapidly approaching, we are going to move quickly to complete the staff.”

Then it got worse Wednesday night when SI.com reported the university knew of an anonymous letter alleging Hardaway’s personal involvement in recruiting players and academic violations.

Hardaway has been in trouble with the NCAA more than once since being hired as head coach at his alma mater in March 2018.

He’s 133-62 in six seasons with two NCAA Tournament berths.

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said in a statement that the conference is pausing conversations about possibly inviting UConn to the league after “detailed discussions.” The Big 12 just welcomed four new schools this season. It rekindled conversations with UConn with Yormark interested in adding a basketball juggernaut with a strong presence in the Northeast. The plan called for adding UConn in most sports as soon as possible while giving the Huskies’ football program about six years to improve.

Hockey: Olympic champ Brianna Decker, former NHL players Kevin Stevens and Matt Cullen, late Blackhawks founder Frederic McLaughlin and the 2002 gold medal-winning paralympic sled hockey team are being inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. USA Hockey revealed the class for enshrinement at a ceremony Dec. 4 in Pittsburgh. Decker, 33, helped the U.S. win Olympic gold in South Korea in 2018 and was part of silver medal teams in 2014 and 2022 before a broken leg and torn ligaments in her ankle knocked her out of the tournament in Beijing.

NFL: Steelers QBk Russell Wilson is dealing with calf tightness again, putting his status for Sunday’s opener against the Falcons in question. The 35-year-old Wilson was limited in practice on Thursday. Former Bears starting QB Justin Fields is the Steelers’ No. 2 QB. ... The Commanders fired VP of content Rael Enteen after he was shown making derogatory comments about players and fans in undercover video posted on social media.

Soccer: Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 900th career goal in Portugal’s 2-1 Nations League group-stage win against Serbia. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner found the net in the 34th minute in Lisbon. Ronaldo, 39, is the first man to reach the 900-goal milestone in official matches for club and country.