Tom Penders

Thomas Vincent Penders (born May 23, 1945) is an American retired college basketball coach, who last coached from 2004 through 2010 at the University of Houston. He is from Stratford, Connecticut and has a 649–437 career record. As a college athlete, Penders played both basketball and baseball for the University of Connecticut, and is one of the few players to have competed in both the NCAA tournament as well as the College World Series. Prior to his last job as Houston's head coach, Penders was a sports analyst for ESPN and Westwood One Radio. He also has been the head coach for Tufts, Columbia, Fordham, Rhode Island, Texas, and George Washington. Coach Penders developed a reputation as both “Turnaround Tom” and “Tournament Tom” because he proved that he could turn basketball programs into consistent winners and get the most out of his players in March. He is one of three coaches to reach three “Sweet 16s” as a double-digit seed in the NCAA basketball tournament, becoming the first NCAA head basketball coach to accomplish that feat with his 1996–97 Texas Longhorns team. Coaching career High school Penders posted a 59–10 record as a high school coach at Bullard-Havens Tech and Bridgeport Central High School in Connecticut. He led Bullard-Havens to a 14–6 record in his first season as a head coach. The next year, he guided Bridgeport Central to a 23–2 record and a number two ranking in the state. The following year, he was named the New York Daily News Coach of the Year after leading Bridgeport to a 20–1 mark and a number one ranking.