Tom Penders Position: Head Coach Birthdate: 05/23/1945 Experience: Fourth Year at UH Alma Mater: Connecticut, 1967

Having already put his name in the University of Houston record books and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame, Tom Penders enters his fourth season as head basketball coach for the Cougars looking to join an elite list of NCAA Division I coaches. Penders needs just 16 more victories to join a list of 28 NCAA Division I coaches who have won 600 games, and enters his 34th year as a collegiate head coach ranked among the Top Eight active NCAA Division I head coaches with a career record of 584-400.

Penders has a 57-39 mark at Houston, giving him the best record for any basketball coach in their first three years at UH. The 57 wins came after the Cougars had won just 17 games in the previous two years combined. Following each of the last two seasons, Houston athletics director Dave Maggard awarded that success with a new five-year contract.

Last season, Penders guided the Cougars to their best Conference USA regular season finish and first appearance in the C-USA Tournament's championship game.

The Cougars finished the campaign with an 18-15 record, marking the first time Houston has posted three-straight winning sea-sons in 14 years. Houston posted an 18-14 record in his first season at the helm, and finished the 2005-06 season with a 21-10 mark.

During his first two seasons at Houston, Penders led the Cougars to back-to-back postseason tournaments for the first time since 1992-93, and Houston's 21-10 mark in 2005-06 also marked the first time the Cougars had won 20 games since 1992-93. In addition, he also guided Houston to back-to-back wins over nationally-ranked teams for the first time since the 1984 NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament and led the Cougars to their first postseason tournament victory since 1988 during the 2005-06 campaign.

Houston's two back-to-back Top 25 victories came at No. 25 LSU and against 13th-ranked Arizona in a nationally-televised game on ESPN2. Following those two wins, Houston was ranked Number 25 in the December 12, 2005 Associated Press Poll, marking the first time since 1992-93, that the Cougars had been nationally-ranked by the Associated Press. Houston's postseason tournament victory was against BYU in the first round of the 2006 NIT. The win over BYU also was Penders' first career victory in the NIT, and marked the first time his team played a home game in the NIT Tournament. Statistically in 2005-06, Houston led the nation in steals with a 12.4 average, and finished second nationally in turnover margin (+7.5 per game).

In his first season at Houston, Penders guided the Cougars to the nation's fourth-best turnaround with an 18-14 overall record in 2004-05. On January 5, 2005, the Cougars captivated a national television audience when ESPN aired the final minutes of their 70-66 upset over then 16th-ranked and eventual NCAA Final Four participant Louisville. The next month, ESPN televised the Cougars' 66-53 victory over Memphis to give Houston its 1,000th win in school history. That year, Houston also led the nation in turnover margin.

During each of his three seasons, the Cougars have ranked among the top three teams in turnover margin and broken both team school records for most three-point field goals made in a game and season each year. Two of his players also established new individual school records for most treys in a game, season and career.

In addition to the record-setting performances, Penders has also coached six All-Conference USA players during his first three seasons, after Houston had just seven all-conference performers between 1997-2004. Last season, Robert McKiver and Oliver Lafayette became the first Cougars named to the C-USA All-Tournament team. McKiver also earned All-C-USA First Team honors, while Lafayette was a Second-Team choice for the second straight year. In addition, Lanny Smith and Ramon Dyer were Second-Team selections in 2004-05 after Andre Owens was named All-C-USA Second-Team in 2004-05.

Besides leading the Cougars to their success on the court, Penders has embraced Houston's storied tradition.

"When I was playing in college, Elvin Hayes, Ken Spain and Don Chaney were playing here," Penders said. "Even before that, Jack Thompson, a former player from New York, had led the Cougars to the NIT in 1962."

Later, as a high school coach, he met Houston's legendary coach Guy V. Lewis when he took his high school team to watch the Cougars play Long Island University in New York's Madison Square Garden on February 4, 1971. Over the years, he watched Lewis turn the Cougars into a perennial national power and patterned his teams' style of play after the style the Cougars played under Lewis. Following Houston's 1,000th victory, Penders had the game ball presented to Lewis.

A NATIONAL TELEVISION AND RADIO ANALYST
Before taking over Houston's program on March 3, 2004, Penders spent three years as an analyst for ESPN and Westwood One Radio after spending the previous three seasons as head coach at George Washington (1998-2001). Throughout his coaching career, his teams not only won, they captured a national audience with their record-setting styles of play. His teams at Texas and George Washington set school records for most points in a season, and renewed fan interest at each school.

At George Washington, Penders compiled a 49-42 record and led the Colonials to the 1999 NCAA Tournament. He also guided the Colonials to an Atlantic 10 West Division championship his first year. In his second year, George Washington finished second in the A-10 standings, and the Colonials set a school record for points scored in a season. His third team at GW advanced to the semifinals of the A-10 Tournament before losing to eventual champion Temple.

REJUVENATING PROGRAMS IN RECORD-SETTING STYLE
Penders went to George Washington after reviving programs at Texas, Rhode Island, Fordham, Columbia and Tufts. He spent 10 seasons as the head coach at Texas and set a school record with 208 victories while leading the Longhorns to three Southwest Conference Championships and eight NCAA Tournament appearances. In the NCAA Tournament, Penders led the Longhorns to the Elite Eight in 1990 and to the Sweet 16 in 1997.

While averaging 20.8 wins per season at Texas, his Longhorn teams averaged 87.2 points per game and forced over 19 turnovers per contest. Penders ended his tenure at Texas with a 208-110 record. The feat is made more remarkable when considering he he took a program that had not won 20 games in nine seasons, and averaged just 4,028 fans in a 16,231-seat arena the year before he arrived.

Penders immediately put his brand on the program. He called his team the "Runnin' Horns" and spoke to every alumni and booster group in the state. His first team finished second in the Southwest Conference and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Longhorns also set 22 school and SWC records while more than doubling the attendance average to 10,011 per game, the largest increase in NCAA Division I.

In 1990, Texas surprised most college basketball fans across the nation by advancing to the Elite Eight as a number 10 seed in the NCAA Midwest Regional and was just three points shy of advancing to the Final Four, losing to the fourth-seeded and SWC rival, Arkansas, 88-85. The 1990-91 season saw Texas finish second in the SWC, advance to the second round of the NCAA and finish 23rd in the AP rankings. Penders led the Longhorns to SWC championships in 1992, 1994 and 1995. The Runnin' Horns also reached the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1997.

FIRST SWEET 16
Penders went to Texas after leading Rhode Island to the 1988 NCAA Sweet 16 by beating Missouri and Syracuse in the first two rounds. Rhode Island`s run in the NCAA Tournament ended with a 73-72 loss against Duke in the Sweet 16 game.

He took over Rhode Island's program on October 4, 1986. Despite having only two weeks before preseason practice began, he led the Rams to a 20-10 record and a berth into the NIT during his first season. That feat earned him Atlantic 10 Co-Coach of the Year with Temple's John Chaney.

EIGHT YEARS AT FORDHAM
Penders went to Rhode Island after heading the basketball program at Fordham for eight years and compiling a 125-114 record. There, he took over a program that was 8-18, and within three years, guided it to the first of a school-record five straight NIT appearances. In his eight seasons, he led the Rams to 19 wins four times and 18 victories once.

In the process, 51 of his 53 players earned degrees (the other two transferred and eventually graduated). In 1981, Penders was named the New York Metropolitan Area Coach of the Year after leading Fordham to a 19-9 record.

Before his stint at Fordham, Penders coached at Columbia for four seasons. The Lions were 5-20 the year before his arrival, and his first recruiting class couldn't play for a year because the Ivy League did not allow freshmen to play.

BACK-TO-BACK WINNING SEASONS
After his first two years at Columbia, Penders led the school to back-to-back winning seasons. Columbia finished the 1976-77 campaign with a 16-10 record. The following year, the Lions were 15-11 and finished second in the Ivy League standings. At the time, it was Columbia's best Ivy League finish in school history.

Penders began his collegiate coaching career at Tufts in 1971, taking over a 1-17 team and turning it around with 12-8, 22-4 and 20-6 records in the next three seasons. One of his players, Willie Young, also set a school record for most points in a season and ranked second among the school's all-time scoring leaders. In the Fall of 2004, Tufts awarded Penders the school's "Outstanding Achievement Award". Penders went to Tufts after a highly successful high school coaching career in Connecticut at Bullard Havens Tech and Bridgeport Central High School. He posted a 59-10 record in his three seasons as a high school coach.

In his first year as a head coach, Penders took a Bullard Havens Tech team that had only one player over six feet tall and a record of 4-14 the year before and guided the team to a 14-6 record. The next year, he inherited a 7-13 team at Bridgeport and led the team 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 Number-One ranking.

BASKETBALL & BASEBALL PLAYER AT CONNECTICUT
A native of Stratford, Conn., Penders established himself as one of his high school's greatest athletes. At Stratford High School, he led the state in scoring and the All-MBIAC All-Star team after averaging nearly 15 points per game as a junior and serving as a valuable sixth man as a sophomore. In baseball, Penders started for three years as a pitcher, shortstop and center fielder. He also was the Student Council President as a senior after serving as Vice President during his junior year and President of his sophomore class in 1960-61.

Penders went on to the University of Connecticut, where he starred as a center fielder for the baseball team and a point guard for the basketball team. He served as team captain for both teams as a senior and quarterbacked the Husky basketball team to a combined 59-16 record during his career. Penders is one of a select group of student-athletes who participated in both the NCAA Tournament (1965 and 1967) and the College World Series (1965). In 1965, Penders played on the baseball team with his older brother, Jim, who served as the team captain for the Huskies. Later, he was considered for the school's All-Century team in 2001 after leading the Husky basketball team to two Yankee Conference championships. In 2001, he received the highest honor given by the Connecticut Department of Athletics, when the school presented him the Red O'Neill Award for his Lifetime Achievement. The Hartford Courant also named Penders as one of the three greatest athletes in the 21st Century from the town of Stratford.

PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL CAREER
Upon graduation, the Cleveland Indians drafted Penders in the ninth round of the 1968 Major League Draft. In his one season as a professional baseball player, he played for the Indians' Class A team at Rock Hill and was selected a Western Carolina League All-Star third baseman after hitting .343. Following the All-Star game, he finished the year hitting .302 at Rock Hill before being promoted to Cleveland's Class AA affiliate at Waterbury.

After that one season, Penders retired from baseball and began his career as a basketball coach in 1969. He also played fast-pitch softball during his early years as a coach and was a member of five ASA National Championship teams in 1969, 1970, 1972, 1976 and 1983. He was also named First-Team All-American as a center fielder in in 1975 and 1976. He also played for the USA Team that finished in a three-way tie for first place at the 1983 World University Games before being inducted into the Connecticut Softball Hall of Fame in 1989. He was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in October 2006.

A COACHING FAMILY
Penders and his wife, Susie, have two children -- Karli and Tommy, Jr. who played for his father at Texas, and is the head basketball coach at Angleton High School in Angleton, Texas. He also has another daughter, Wendy.

Penders also comes from quite a coaching family. His father, Jim, coached at Stratford High School in Connecticut from 1931-68, won four state championships and ran the town's recreation programs. He also coached all three of his sons, Jim, Tom and Bill, who went on to play at Bates College. Penders also has one sister, Kathy.

After serving as the team captain for Connecticut's 1965 baseball team, his older brother, Jim, became the head coach at East Catholic High School in Manchester, Conn. in 1969. Just like his father, he went on to win four state championships. He also was named the national high school Coach of the Year in 1996. Jim also coached his two sons, Jim, III, and Rob, who are collegiate baseball coaches at Connecticut and St. Edwards University in Austin, respectively. This year, Penders looks to add to his family's rich coaching heritage by joining an elite list of collegiate basketball coaches with 600 career victories.