Penders' future at UH up in the air

[smupony94]

Penders' future at UH up in the air
Sixth-year coach in danger of first losing season
By STEVE CAMPBELL Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle

Tom Penders sat at the courtside of Hofheinz Pavilion and surveyed a Houston Cougars practice, the soundtrack to his adult life wafting soothingly in the background.

The bounce of a basketball. The squeak of sneakers on a hardwood floor. The chatter of players helping out one other on defense. The grunts and groans of players jostling for rebounding position.

Penders, 64, is closing in on the end his 36th season as a college head coach. The Cougars play their regular-season home finale at 7 tonight against the Rice Owls.

"I’m one of the luckiest guys to have coached as many years and won as many games as I have," said Penders, who ranks 26th in NCAA Division I history in career victories (643-436). "It’s a one-in-10,000 shot. I’m happy about it, and I’m happy the University of Houston gave me this opportunity. I’ll continue to serve the University of Houston as long as they’ll have me."

That’s the $500,000 question: How long UH will have Penders? What Penders said before the season "can be a special team" is 14-14 and in jeopardy of finishing with a losing record for the first time on his six-year watch. The Cougars’ only hope of reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992 is to go on a magic carpet ride at next week’s C-USA Tournament in Tulsa.

Penders scoffs at the notion the end of his run at UH could be near, dismissing the subject as talk show and message board chatter. He is 116-75 (.607) at UH, and he has a $450,000-a-year contract that runs through 2012, and he notes that school president Dr. Renu Khator and athletic director Mack Rhoades have been "supportive and enthusiastic." How hard a year has it been, given the Cougars’ up-and-down play and the persistent chatter from some boosters to make a run at former Kentucky, Texas A&M and UTEP coach Billy Gillispie?

"Not hard at all," Penders said. "I really feel like a coach’s main job is to get the players to play hard and play together, and they have. As a coach, I’ve always prided myself on being the same guy every day. If you’re a leader and you’re not positive, if you’re not setting an example, your team will follow."

Rhoades said emphatically that he has not made a decision about Penders’ future. Adding to the intrigue is that Rhoades played a hand in Gillispie’s hiring at UTEP. Rhoades said he has had no conversations of any sort with Gillispie since arriving at UH in August to replace Dave Maggard as the AD.

The school would be liable for $500,000 (Penders’ base pay over the final two years of his contract) if it makes a change after this season. For a school in UH’s position, such an amount is not easily dismissed. According to a financial report filed with the NCAA for the fiscal year ending in June 2009, UH subsidized $15.3 million of the athletic department’s $31.3 million budget. What’s more, Rhoades is trying to raise money for improvements to Robertson Stadium and Hofheinz that could exceed $100 million.

"I’ve got a lot of respect for Tom," Rhoades said. "He’s had a very successful career. Like all of our programs, we’re in the process of evaluating. Like with all our head coaches, we’ll sit down at the end of the season and discuss the future of the program."

UH was reeling from the respective reigns of error of Alvin Brooks (54-84), Clyde Drexler (19-39) and Ray McCallum (44-73) when Penders arrived in 2004. While Penders is the first coach in school history to win 18 or more games in five consecutive seasons, he hasn’t gotten UH on the sort of national stage the program enjoyed under Guy V. Lewis. UH hasn’t won a game in the NCAAs since 1984 — three years before guard Aubrey Coleman, the nation’s leading scorer, was born.

"Expectations are great," Rhoades said. "But are they realistic, given all the circumstances? That’s why we evaluate the program. We look at all of the factors."

The terms of Penders’ contract would indicate that the benchmark for success is winning 15 games a season. Penders receives an $8,000 bonus for each victory from No. 15 to No. 20, $9,000 for each one above 20. Compare that to the bonuses in place for winning the regular-season C-USA title ($20,000) or the C-USA Tournament ($25,000). Penders would stand to make another $15,000 for each weekend UH lasts in the NCAAs.

Of course, Penders and Maggard came to those terms knowing full well UH has among the worst basketball facilities in C-USA. For the better part of the past six years, players haven’t been able to shower in the Hofheinz locker room because of plumbing issues.

"I’ve never used the shower since I’ve been here," junior guard Zamal Nixon said. "I’ve been here and gotten to see other schools’ locker rooms on the road, I was like, `Wow.’ You can’t worry about what other people have. Just be thankful for the things that you have."

Penders’ salary is barely half what first-year Memphis coach Josh Pastner commands annually ($880,000). The 2009 financial report that UH filed with the NCAA revealed a basketball marketing budget of $400, making the team the tree falling in the forest with nobody around to hear it. The average attendance of 3,178 this season is the lowest since 2003-04.

Then again, it rarely takes much to stop fans from coming to Hofheinz. In 1984-85, which was the first season after three consecutive Final Four appearances, average attendance plummeted from 9,677 to 5,698. UH has averaged above 5,100 once (in Drexler’s first season) since then.

"Coach Penders is a great coach," Nixon said. "You can see the development from the day guys walk in to the day they leave. Aubrey is a great example. When he first got here, he had one of the ugliest-looking jump shots I’ve ever seen. Now he has a nice-looking jump shot, he has a great mid-range game and has even stepped it out to the 3 a little bit this year."

Coleman characterizes Penders as "real caring, on and off the court,’" adding, "If you’ve got game, he’ll let you go." Leading scorers Coleman and Kelvin Lewis will be on their way after this season, which Penders is trying to extend as long as possible. Penders looks at a team with a 4-10 record in games decided by seven or fewer points and wonders what could happen if things start breaking the other way.

"I believe I’m a better coach and I’m more patient than I was 15 years ago," Penders said. "I’m one of the lucky ones. How many thousands of guys started out coaching, hoping to make a career out of it, and never got to 10 years, 15 years? These kids believe they’re going to win every game they play. I’d rather coach a bunch of kids like that than a bunch of prima donnas or guys who are getting arrested.

[CalallenStang]

They aren't getting 3,178 in attendance this year (must be tickets sold like most attendance numbers are these days). Their crowds have been worse than ours. According to Memphis fans, there were about 150 people at the Memphis/Houston game at Hofheinz. And you know how our fans say that they don't show because SMU basketball is "boring?" That can't apply to UH - they run the court every game. Houston fans want Penders gone - that's all there is to it.

[shadowman]

Wow,

Did not realize Houston had not been to the Dance since 1992, hell, we have been since them. I always thought of Houston as a pretty good basketball school but I guess they are living on their old rep, they certainly havent done much in the last 20 years.

[mustangxc]

They aren't getting 3,178 in attendance this year (must be tickets sold like most attendance numbers are these days). Their crowds have been worse than ours. According to Memphis fans, there were about 150 people at the Memphis/Houston game at Hofheinz. And you know how our fans say that they don't show because SMU basketball is "boring?" That can't apply to UH - they run the court every game. Houston fans want Penders gone - that's all there is to it.

That is untrue, I was at the Memphis game in Houston and the student section was full! That game was very well attended. I don't think Houston fans care about Houston! Therein lies the problem.

The fans that want Penders gone need a reality check. Those fans think that UH is a basketball powerhouse, which it isn't and really hasn't ever been. They've had some truly awesome years, ie their 5 final four pennants, but look at their sustained success over the long haul and their isn't any. Even under Coach Lewis they didn't qualify for the NCAA tournament every year. Beyond Pat Foster they had only had 1 winning season under Ray McCallum. TP has elevated that program to a regular NIT/CBI school. As the article states their facilities are a dump.

Success is not spontaneous, you have to work like crazy to achieve it and I would say that TP has lived up to his end of the bargain having 20+ win seasons, beating top 25 teams, having a winning record each season. For UH to move forward, the fans need to step up their donations in order to build competitive facilities and also need to support the team by attending games. Why do you think Memphis is not going to have a dropoff?

[CalallenStang]

They aren't getting 3,178 in attendance this year (must be tickets sold like most attendance numbers are these days). Their crowds have been worse than ours. According to Memphis fans, there were about 150 people at the Memphis/Houston game at Hofheinz. And you know how our fans say that they don't show because SMU basketball is "boring?" That can't apply to UH - they run the court every game. Houston fans want Penders gone - that's all there is to it.

That is untrue, I was at the Memphis game in Houston and the student section was full! That game was very well attended. I don't think Houston fans care about Houston! Therein lies the problem.

The fans that want Penders gone need a reality check. Those fans think that UH is a basketball powerhouse, which it isn't and really hasn't ever been. They've had some truly awesome years, ie their 5 final four pennants, but look at their sustained success over the long haul and their isn't any. Even under Coach Lewis they didn't qualify for the NCAA tournament every year. Beyond Pat Foster they had only had 1 winning season under Ray McCallum. TP has elevated that program to a regular NIT/CBI school. As the article states their facilities are a dump.

Success is not spontaneous, you have to work like crazy to achieve it and I would say that TP has lived up to his end of the bargain having 20+ win seasons, beating top 25 teams, having a winning record each season. For UH to move forward, the fans need to step up their donations in order to build competitive facilities and also need to support the team by attending games. Why do you think Memphis is not going to have a dropoff?

Thanks for your perspective as Memphis fans are known to over-exaggerate low attendance (especially when they lose).

I think the main problem Houston fans have with Penders is that his teams completely underachieve. Could you imagine what SMU would do with Aubrey Coleman on the team? Houston doesn't play defense and they are very undisciplined on offense, and that's on Penders. That being said, if Penders isn't there, where would the talent level be?

[Pony_Fan]

Penders is gone

[CA Mustang]

Of course, Penders and Maggard came to those terms knowing full well UH has among the worst basketball facilities in C-USA. For the better part of the past six years, players haven’t been able to shower in the Hofheinz locker room because of plumbing issues.

That's insane. What kind of plumbing problems can't be fixed in six years?

The 2009 financial report that UH filed with the NCAA revealed a basketball marketing budget of $400, making the team the tree falling in the forest with nobody around to hear it.

Wow..

[CalallenStang]

I'd doubt that SMU's marketing budget is much larger.

[ponyscott]

Penders is gone

Bump........me don't think so.........they love him longer time.

The cagey veteran coach lives to fight another day. Good for him. He now has brought FOUR D-1 teams to the NCAA Tournament, joining an elite fraternity of coaches that includes Rick Pitino, Eddie Sutton and Lon Kruger . Impressive list.
.... Now what for Billy Clyde??...thought he was a shoe in?.... riight.