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Penders may be up to task of rebuilding

I'm always write

Keenan Singleton

To me, Tom Penders is Dennis Rodman, sans the wedding dress, tattoos and rebounding ability, although they do share an affinity for odd hairstyles (Rodman's hair is multi-colored, Penders' multi-mulleted).

When the Chicago Bulls signed Rodman in 1996, it was, at first, difficult for me as a Bulls fan to root for the one-time Detroit Pistons bad boy. 

It was fiend to friend. It was most wanted to most coveted. It was jeering to cheering.

Pending a huge pendulum shift, Penders, the former head basketball coach at the University of Texas-Austin, will be the next basketball coach at UH.

But is Penders little more than a UT-Austin retread? A leftover? I'm pretty sure Houstonians have had their fill of UT-Austin leftovers (see: Earl Campbell's Sausage). 

Therein lies my Penders dilemma: Should I be pleased or peeved that we are hiring the enemy of our enemy? 

The only good reasonto be peeved with the Penders' hire is his choice of color schemes. Specifically his decision to wear burnt orange from 1988 to '98. 

Reasons to be pleased as punch with Penders? How about 527 of them? Penders has 527 wins as a Division I head coach.

How about a 12-10 record in the NCAA Tournament, a place the Cougars haven't been since my prepubescent days (1992). How about leading the Longhorns to eight NCAA appearances in 10 years? How about a Sweet Sixteen appearance (1997) and an Elite Eight appearance (1990) with a Texas program that was moribund before his arrival (no NCAA appearances from '79 to '89 -- Penders first year at UT-Austin). 

Penders' up-tempo style improved numbers on and off the court. Attendance skyrocketed during Penders' tenure. In his first season at UT-Austin, Penders' nearly packed the Erwin Center (the Longhorn's home court, increasing to 10,011 from 4,028.

Better yet, Penders wants to rebuild a program. Per the Houston Chronicle, Penders said, "If I do go back to college, it'll be a program that's down. And I'm really tired of the cold."

UH can be Penders' personal heaven. The Cougars are down, out and have for the last three coaches, been left out in the cold. 

It's too early to call Athletics Director Dave Maggard a visionary, but the man can see pretty well. Thus far, he has made the right move in his hire for the head post at the other high-profile sport on campus, football, with Art Briles. 

Let's see if Maggard and Penders can get UH basketball out of its hairy situation.

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