The 2023-24 season has been an eventful and seldom uninteresting one for coach Penny Hardaway and the Memphis men’s basketball program.

On Saturday, it took yet another turn.

Malcolm Dandridge, a Memphis native and the Tigers’ 6-foot-9 forward, is being withheld from competition for a Memphis team fighting for its NCAA Tournament life.

It’s significant news for the Tigers, who are 19-8 entering Sunday’s matchup against a Florida Atlantic team that’s near the top of the American Athletic Conference standings and is just 10 months removed from a run to the Final Four — one that began with a one-point win in the first round against Memphis. Dandridge is the team’s leading shot-blocker and third-leading rebounder, with starts in 19 of the Tigers’ 27 games.

Here’s everything you need to know about Dandridge, his playing status and why he is being sidelined:

Who is Malcolm Dandridge?

Dandridge is a graduate student in his fifth year of competition with the Memphis program.

Born and raised in Memphis, he played for Hardaway at East High before his coach went on to take over from Tubby Smith at his alma mater in March 2018. He started on the school’s state championship teams in 2017 and 2018, as well as its runner-up squad in 2019.

Dandridge became Hardaway’s first commitment after he was hired by the Tigers and was eventually joined by former East teammates James Wiseman, Alex Lomax, Ryan Boyce and Jayden Hardaway at Memphis.

As a freshman in 2019-20, he appeared in 24 games and has been a solid contributor for the Tigers off the bench since. Last season, with injuries limiting him to 20 games, he averaged a career-best 5.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

This season, however, he has stepped up his game, increasing his scoring average from 2022-23 by a basket per game. He has scored in double figures in 10 games this season, highlighted by a career-high 19 points in a 97-88 loss to UAB on Jan. 28.