Jan. 15, 2008
By NICK CARBONI
The Hartford Courant
They called him "Turnaround Tom" because of his reputation for building college basketball programs. Ten NCAA Tournament appearances with three schools will do that.
So it's no surprise, despite controversial endings at Texas and George Washington, that some school would reach out to Connecticut native Tom Penders.
Houston did in 2004, and now the Cougars are 11-3, showing signs they can get back into the national picture. Houston hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1992 and hasn't made it past the first round since its Final Four appearance in 1984. Penders has turned things by running his usual push-the-floor offense with a pressing defense to go 68-42 since taking over.
He has reached out to get players wherever he can. This season, seven transfers from junior college or other Division I programs are part of the puzzle. One of those is senior and leading scorer Robert McKiver, a New Haven native and former Hillhouse standout who comes to Houston by way of Providence College and San Jacinto Junior College in Texas.
Before Houston, Penders had been out of the game for three years, getting himself back into shape and working in TV after a second consecutive departure from a Division I school in April 2001.
He resigned three seasons into a six-year deal at George Washington when several players admitted to using assistant coach Tom Penders Jr.'s phone card to rack up $1,400 in calls.
Another incident involved transfer forward Attila Cosby, who was charged with nine misdemeanors in January 2001. Cosby showed Penders the court papers that February, but Penders failed to inform athletic director Jack Kvancz about the situation.
GW paid Penders for the full six seasons because of a contract clause. Penders had led the
Colonials to the NCAA Tournament in his first season (1998-99) but to 15-15 and 14-18 records the following two seasons.
He maintains he left primarily for health reasons. Still, it was the second time he left a high-profile school amid controversy. After 10 years in which he turned around the once-tepid Texas program, taking it to eight NCAA Tournaments, he resigned in April 1998. Penders left as Texas' all-time winningest coach, with 208 victories. The Longhorns won only 14 games and failed to reach the NCAA Tournament in Penders' last season.
In March 1998, Penders placed freshman Luke Axtell on academic probation after the season. While Penders was on vacation in the Caribbean, Axtell's grades were faxed by assistant coach Eddie Oran to KVET, a radio station that covered Longhorns athletics. Oran later said he was prompted to do so by Penders. Also lingering was a report that four players complained to Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds about Penders' coaching style.
"All that was a smoke screen," Penders said. "At the time my AD and I weren't getting along. The whole thing about the grades was contrived. Since I've come out, that stuff about the player rebellion, three of the four players that complained said they were put up to it."
Texas bought out the final four years on his contract. A defamation suit filed by Oran against
Penders was later settled, and the university paid Penders $7,500 in legal bills and admitted he was part of no wrongdoing.
"They have to pay you unless you did something wrong," Penders said. "Texas tried to get out of
it but, sorry, there was nothing."
Back home the Penders family watched with concern.
"It was very stressful," said his brother, Jim Penders Jr., who has won four state titles as East Catholic's baseball coach since 1969. "No matter what you would say to try and refute things...There's a lot of jealousy when people have success."
The controversy and attention was a long way from where Penders began, in Stratford, where his father, Jim, was baseball coach at the high school in 1931-68, winning four state titles.
"In my hometown he was the most respected and revered figure," Tom Penders said. Tom was the middle son, between Jim and Bill. A sister, Kathy, completed Jim Sr. and Lillian Penders' family.
"Between Tom and I there is a big difference," Jim Jr. said laughing. "I'm quieter."
"When you have a dad that's so high profile, it keeps you out of trouble," Tom said. "And I was probably the most likely to get into trouble."
The boys were also quick observers of their father's coaching style.
"He would never give up on a kid unless a kid gave up on himself," Tom said. "He was a fundamentalist and a teacher and a very good psychologist with his players."
Tom played baseball and basketball at UConn and got his first college basketball head coaching job at Tufts in Medford, Mass., where he won 54 games in 1971-74, when he went to Columbia.
Then it was on to Fordham in 1978-86 and Rhode Island (1987-88). With the Rams, Penders reached the Sweet 16 in 1988, and that got him to Texas.
"When they hired me it was, 'Please get this thing turned around,' " he said. "They were the laughing stock of the [Southwest Conference]."
Penders delivered, but frustration with the athletic department began to develop. Penders said his basketball budget wasn't big enough and his assistants weren't paid enough for the level at which the program competed.
There were health issues, too. Before the 1997-98 season, Penders underwent heart surgery to have a pacemaker and defibrillator inserted. After leaving George Washington, he took three years off from coaching, concentrating on his health while making appearances on ESPN and Westwood One radio as an analyst.
But it wouldn't be long before the big-time came calling again. Houston AD Dave Maggard knew about Penders' coaching style.
"I'd seen his teams play," Maggard said. "I think we needed to have some exciting basketball."
And Maggard was also aware of Penders' rocky past. He spoke with everyone from Texas alums to the Texas assistant attorney general about the controversial coach.
"I knew about all that and looked into it," Maggard said. "I didn't feel that there was any liability in our hiring him."
This season Houston is toeing the brackets as a tournament bubble team - the Cougars beat Kentucky in December - and Penders is back in the spotlight. They all know him in Stratford, too, but the light shines differently there.
"When I go home, I'm just Jim Penders' middle son," Penders said. "And I like that."
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