The University of Houston will announce today that it hiring 58 year old, former University of Texas basketball coach Tom Penders as its new men’s basketball coach.
This is one of the most puzzling coaching hires that I have seen in years, particularly for UH, which is famous for giving such coaching icons as Bill Yeoman, Guy V. Lewis and current baseball coach Rayner Noble their first head coaching jobs at a relatively young age and then sticking with them through thick and thin.
Penders was fired by the University of Texas in 1998, and UT couldn’t have been happier getting rid of him despite the fact that Penders restored a winning tradition to UT’s men’s basketball program. UT released Penders when a scandal broke out over his coaching staffs’ public release of a player’s grades after the player decided to transfer to another school. Penders allegedly authorized the release of former UT player Luke Axtell’s grades and then blamed it on others. After the ensuing scandal soured Penders’ prospects at UT, Penders received a $900,000 going-away present and soon took the head coaching job at George Washington University, where he lasted two seasons before resigning amid revelations of players using his son’s telephone account to make over $1,000 in telephone calls. Penders has recently been a color man on college basketball telecasts.
To give you an idea what type of fellow UH is hiring in Penders, one only needs to recall how Penders left his longtime assistant, Eddie Oran, who now sells cars in Bastrop, Texas, twisting in the wind when Penders left UT:

“If I had done anything illegal or wrong, you think they’d give me $900,000?” said Penders. “It’s trumped up and bogus. I’m not going to say anything other than Eddie Oran has to live in Austin and sell cars.”

The Astros’ archrival in the NL Central — the Chicago Cubs — announced today that their star pitcher Mark Prior may need to start the season on the disabled list due to an Achilles tendon injury and could miss 1 or 2 starts. After starting his career with a 3.32 ERA/9 RSAA (i.e., “Runs Saved Against Average”) in 19 starts in 2002, Prior had an excellent 2.43 ERA/42 RSAA in 30 starts. He has 2.74 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.23, and 51 RSAA in 49 games. In short, he is a stud and is the Cubs’ best pitcher.

The National Football League and the NFL Players Association have recently been involved in negotiations to insert language into their current Collective Bargaining Agreement that would require all draft-eligible players to be three years removed from their high school graduation. The proposed rule will not be agreed to in time to affect the draft status of former Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett, USC receiver Mike Williams, or the six high school players who have entered next month’s NFL draft. Rather, the proposed rule is designed to prevent future players who are not three years out of high school from entering the draft.
In my view, unless the NFL gives high school players the right to opt for professional football before being subject to the proposed three year rule in a manner similar to the current Major League Baseball three year rule, then it is likely to be struck down again. Earlier posts on the Clarett case may be viewed here and here.