tOM pENDERS 1988-1998

TOM PENDERS “MR. MARCH” INSTITUTES A SUCCESSFUL Longhorn bASKETBALL “bOMBS AWAY rUNNING hORNS PRO STYLE OFFENSE” THAT REWRITES THE lONGHORN RECORD BOOK.

• Coach Jody Conradt Was The Media Favorite For The Men’s Basketball Coaching Job After Weltlich Was Released

• When Asked By A Sport’s Writer If She Was Interested In The Men’s Basketball Job She Said With A Sense Of Humor “I Don’t Need A Demotion.” 

• Texas Record Under Coach Penders Is 208-110.

• He brought a Pro-Style Running Game To The Longhorns And A Pressure Defense. The Era Of The “Runnin’ Horns” Begins. This Offense Runs After Miss Shots, Turnovers, Time-Outs, And All Other Times. 

• Penders Salary Exceeds $300,000 Which Is 10 Times What Lemmons Made In 1976, Three Times What Weltlich Made And 6 Times What Penders Earned At Rhode Island. 

• Penders says, “If I Can’t Sell This Program, I Should Get Out Of The Business.”

• Under Penders 8 Of The 10 Years Texas Qualifies For The NCAA Tournament

• One Elite 8 Appearance with “BMW” -Lance Blank, Travis Mays, and Joey Wright. These Three Are Considered the Best Scoring Machines In The History Of Texas Longhorn Basketball. 

• Two Sweet 16 Appearances

• Three SWC Championships And Two SWC Tournament Championships

• 7 Seasons Of Winning 20 Or More Games

• Two Time SWC Coach Of The Year (1994, 1995)

• Penders was the first Longhorn basketball coach in Texas History to deliver 4 consecutive 20 win seasons.

• Texas was 10th in the nation with the most wins over the last 4 years, and his teams were one of only 6 Division I schools to have 23 or more wins in each of the last four seasons.

• Pender’s was a leader in supplying draft picks to the pros. His teams from 1989-1995 reached the NCAA tournament 6 times.

• He was the fastest Texas Coach to reach 100 victories, also setting records in steals, assists, and forced turnovers.

• Coach Penders Players Own 3 Of The 4 Top Career Scoring Records At Texas

1988-1989— Tom Penders – 25-9 record

The Horns finished second in the SWC with a 12–4 conference record. Men’s basketball attendance was poor but improved when Penders turned the team around. The “Runnin Horns” surprised college basketball. The Horns got an NCAA bid for the first time since 1979, defeating Georgia Tech but losing to Missouri.

1989-1990 – 24-9  COACH Tom PENDERS- Horns were Second in the conference and made their First NCAA appearance in 10 years.

Even though this team did not break the top 25 nationally during the regular season, they did receive an NCAA tournament bid. The Running Horns broke records in fan support, media coverage, and offense and defense.  Five regular season games were televised on CBS, ABC, and ESPN.    Texas finished second in the conference., but made it to the elite 8 in the NCAA tournament losing to Arkansas.

Texas advanced to the NCAA tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history, recording its fourth overall Elite Eight appearance and its first in 43 years. Texas finished the season ranked No. 12 in the postseason college basketball

The second-best tandem scoring points through 2008 were 1989-Travis Mays/Lance Blanks, and the same tandem ranked #3 in 1988.

This team hold the Longhorn record for most points scored- 3205, and Most Personal Fouls – 783.

MOMENT NO. 72
Dec. 30, 1989: In a homecoming game for Travis Mays (native of Ocala, Fla.), junior guard Joey Wright steals the show by recording 46 points to lead Texas to a 102-82 win at Stetson. The 46 points mark the third-highest single-game total in school history and the second-highest mark in a road contest.

Attendance At Games Reached A 10 Year High rising from 4,028 in 1987 to 10,011 Per Game in 1988.

Mike Lacy, a graduate assistant coach, is hired to monitor the study hall for the players. The GPA increases from 1.9 to 2.4. 

MOMENT NO. 82
Jan. 14, 1989: Joey Wright follows his own miss with a tip-in at the buzzer to give Texas an 88-86 win at Houston before an ESPN national television audience. The Horns go on to earn their first NCAA Tournament bid in 10 seasons later that year.

1990-1991- 24-9 PENDERS  The Running Horns

All-American Joey Wright was the heart and soul of the team. His mental and physical toughness won many games for the Horns. Albert Burditt, Dexter Cambridge, and Teyon McCoy did a good job of replacing some of the players on the 1989-1990 Horns. Texas ended the season with a loss to St. John’s in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Texas handed Arkansas their only loss of the season. Team finished 23rd in the country.

Teyon McCoy and Joey Wright were both transferees from other college basketball programs to Texas to helped the Horns excel.

MOMENT NO. 14
March 18, 1990: Guillermo “Panama” Myers blocks a field goal attempt by Tony Jones to preserve a 73-72 upset over No. 10 Purdue in an NCAA Second Round game at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Travis Mays converted two free throws with seven seconds left to give the Horns a one-point advantage heading into the final sequence. With the win, UT advanced to the NCAA “Sweet 16” for the first time since the tourney expanded to 64 teams.

The Horn basketball team set attendance records and got great media coverage, but those responsible for ranking teams are not convinced the team is that good and will not place the Horns in the top 25. The biggest fear is that another university would hire Penders – Virginia, Florida, or North Carolina State. UT administration steps up and gives Penders a new 7-year contract worth $750,000 a year. The Horns have 11 – 100 point games.

Unfortunately, Texas and Arkansas were in the same bracket and had to play each other to determine which team would make the Final 4. Arkansas won.

Blanks Is 3rd Leading Scorer In The SWC But Does Not Make The First Or Second Team All-SWC.

Nolan Richards-The Coach Of Arkansas- Does Not Like A Referee’s Decision In The Longhorn Game And Exits The Arena While The Game Is In Process. This Action is  Tagged As The “Strollin’ Nolan”. Coach Penders Ask The Referee’s To Call A Technical On Nolan But To No Avail. Arkansas Wins The Game in overtime. 

Sweet 16 Appearance

Nolan Strollin’ Is At “6:38” In The Video Below.

 But the Penders-Richardson spat is really a semi-feud. They know that powerful offenses attract a TV audience. Penders Texas teams are on On National T.V. 5 Times. 

MOMENT NO. 54
Feb. 11, 1990: Travis Mays becomes the first player in UT history to reach the 2,000-point plateau on a lay-up with 16:30 left in the first half of an 85-77 win over TCU. Mays finishes his four-year career with 2,279 points in 124 games.

MOMENT NO. 19
March 16, 1990: Travis Mays posts 44 points to lead the 10th-seeded Longhorns to a 100-88 victory against No. 7 seed Georgia in an NCAA First Round game at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Mays’ 44 points remain a school record for most points in an NCAA Tournament contest. He converted 23-of-27 free throws during the game. His marks for free throws made and free throws attempted are still tied for the most ever in an NCAA Tournament game.

 THE HOGS WERE IN HEAVEN

MOMENT NO. 9
March 22, 1990: Texas rallies from a 16-point deficit with 18:55 left (57-41) to top No. 25 Xavier 102-89 in a NCAA Regional semifinal at Reunion Arena in Dallas. Lance Blanks scores 26 of his 28 points in the second half to lead the comeback. Travis Mays posts a game-high 32 points, while Joey Wright adds 26 in the winning effort. The victory advanced the Horns to the “Elite Eight” for the first time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams. 

Texas is within 3 points of making the Final 4 but loses to Arkansas in the Midwest Regional final 88-85. Penders does not like playing in Fayetteville any more than Abe Lemons did. Penders refers to the town as “Fayettenam.”

First time in Longhorn history the Horns make back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances.

1990-1991 23-9  COACH PENDERS- TEAM finished the season ranked 23rd

MOMENT NO. 18
March 3, 1991: In No. 3 Arkansas’ final regular-season game as a Southwest Conference member, Texas posts a 99-86 upset before a sellout crowd at the Erwin Center. UT defeats the highest AP ranked opponent at home in school history. Texas trailed 61-47 with 17:39 left before storming back to end Arkansas’ hopes of an undefeated SWC regular season. The victory also marked the first time in school history that UT had recorded at least 20 wins in three consecutive seasons.

Coach gets a one-game suspension for critical statements about the SWC refs. 

 Horns finish 2nd in conference play and barely get an NCAA bid. Travis Mays was SWC player of the year.

MOMENT NO. 30
1990 NBA Draft: The UT backcourt combo of Travis Mays (No. 14 by Sacramento Kings) and Lance Blanks (No. 26 by Detroit Pistons) are both selected in the first round of the 1990 NBA Draft. It marks just the fourth time in NBA Draft history (to that point in time) that two guards from the same team were taken in the first round.

1991 – 1992 – 23-12  COACH PENDERS  (TROUBLE IN THE RANKS) Penders says, “This is the year to get Texas.”

1991 against North Texas 3 Longhorns reached 20 points or more ( Terrence Rencher, Benford Williams, and B.J. Tyler)

Dexter Cambridge states that while in junior college, he received $7,000 from a booster and was temporarily suspended from the team. He says that $2400 was paid for work, and the difference was a bonus for a job well at Lon Morris College that was returned to Lon Morris after the impact on his NCAA eligibility was determined. NCAA accepts his explanation. While Cambridge was out, Coach Penders said:

Horns shared the title with Houston but lost in the SWC postseason tournament.

Rumors surface that Penders will leave Texas for the professional ranks.

Penders said the without Cambridge we are a 500 team so his reinstatement helped save the 1991 basketball season

Assistant Coach Jamie Ciampaglio is accused by the Travis County District Attorney’s office of holding player’s meal money on road games and other financial indiscretions. Ciampaglio resigns on May 8th 1992 and was convicted of a 3rd degree felony of tampering with governmental records. .

MOMENT NO. 85
Feb. 26, 1992: Terrence Rencher (34 points), B.J. Tyler (33) and Dexter Cambridge (31) combine to score 98 of Texas’ 128 points in a 128-108 victory against Oral Roberts in Austin. This marks the only time in school history that three Longhorns record 30 or more points in a single game.

Texas plays LSU and Shaq O’Neal before 42,200 fans in the Superdome.  Texas loses 84-83 in a very exciting game. Texas loses to Iowa in the NCAA tournament.

 1992-  11-17 RECORD   COACH PENDERS

IT WAS A TOUGH YEAR- injuries, ,academics, and NCAA rule changes took their toll on the season.

B.J. Tyler and Al Segova are injured and struggle to return. Terrence Rencher receives a 2 game suspension, and Albert Burditt was dismissed from the team due to academics.

NCAA reduces the number of scholarships from 14 to 13. Coach Pender eliminates his son’s scholarship to comply with the rules.

Tyler fails a drug test.

The shot clock is reduced from 45 to 35 seconds.

Team Finishes 7th in the SWC.

In the Rice game Penders gets two technicals and is ejected from the game.

1993-  26-8   COACH PENDERS IS BACK ON TOP

MOMENT NO. 36
Dec. 29, 1993: Tremaine Wingfield hits a 15-footer with 0.2 seconds left in the second overtime to give Texas a 93-91 victory against Utah at the Erwin Center. Wingfield also converted an 18-footer as time expired in regulation to send the game into overtime. Both shots came off length-of-the-court passes from Tommy Penders. The play at the end of regulation began with 0.2 on the clock, while the second overtime play began with 1.4 on the clock. The following spring, the NCAA ruled that the only way a team could score on a play that begins with 0.3 or less on the clock is by a tip-in off the inbounds pass.

Texas, Texas A & M, Baylor, and Texas Tech accept a deal to join the Big 12. The SWC dissolves two years later. 

After 19 years without winning the SWC tournament, Texas finally wins. 

B.J. Tyler was the player of the year in the SWC.

1994-  23-7  COACH PENDERS

In the mid-1990’s it was Texas basketball Coach Tom Penders who realized that Chris Beard was more a student basketball assistant than the basketball team’s student manager. So it was Penders who put Beard on the coaching Lifer’s path. It was a long, arduous road including Incarnate Word, Abilene Christian, Fort Scott Community College, Seminole State, McMurry, Angelo State, Arkansas Little Rock, UNLV, and Texas Tech.

At Texas Tech, he was an assistant coach under Bobby Knight and Pat Knight before getting the Texas Tech head coaching job and taking the Raiders to the Elite 8 one year and the NCAA finals another year.

MOMENT NO. 45
Mar. 11, 1995: In a contest considered by many to be the greatest game in Southwest Conference history, the Longhorns post a 107-104 overtime win against Texas Tech to win the SWC Tournament title. Freshman Brandy Perryman hit a clutch three-pointer to tie the game at 92-92 with 14 seconds left in regulation, and Terrence Rencher blocked a last-second field goal attempt by Mark Davis to force overtime. The Horns did not miss a shot during the extra session en route to their second straight SWC Tournament crown.

Rencher made the game look easy with his medium-range jumpers and smart passes. Rencher recruited Texas instead of Texas recruiting him. He wanted to be a Longhorn since 1991. Rencher was the best scorer ever in the SWC, averaging 20.8 points a game in 1994.

The other cornerstone for the 1994 team got to Texas circuitously. He started with Angelina Junior College in Lufkin and impressed his coach, and soon receives scholarship offers from Arkansas, Cincinnati, and Texas. He chose Texas and led the nation in steals.

B.J. Tyler leads the SWC n scoring . Tyler made Coach Penders a believer. He said “Tyler was the best defensive and offensive player and raised everyone’s level of play. ” “He is one of the top players in the game and one of the best players I have ever coached. “

Tyler was selected by the Toronto Raptors in the 1995 expansion draft. According to journalist Chris Young’s book Drive, Tyler accidentally fell asleep with a pack of ice on his ankle, causing severe nerve damage. Robbed of the speed that his game was based on, he was subsequently forced to retire.

Texas losing streak against top 25 opponents increases to 13 in a row.

Coach Penders son plays an important role for the longhorns during this season. 

Terrence Rencher beats Travis Mays scoring record and finishes his career with 2,306 points making him both the school’s and the SWC’s All-time career scorer as of 1994. 

  MOMENT NO. 34
March 16, 1995: Terrence Rencher tallies 19 points in a 90-73 win against Oregon in the First Round of the NCAA tournament to become the all-time leading scorer in UT history. Rencher concludes his four-year career with 2,306 points in 124 games.

1995-1996  21-10 COACH PENDERS



MOMENT NO. 62
Dec. 30, 1995: Sonny Alvarado posts 20 points and 14 rebounds to lead Texas to a 74-72 upset of No. 11 North Carolina before a CBS national television audience in Austin. UNC features a pair of future NBA stars in then-sophomores Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison.

Last year of the SWC

 Reggie Freeman 4th in career points. He is  known as “Franchise.”

 Texas beats UNC and Penders says it is his greatest win at Texas.

Texas reaches #23 in the polls

Texas plays in front of 342,000 people this year. 

1996-1997- 18-12  COACH PENDERS Sweet 16



MOMENT NO. 48
Feb. 19, 1997: Dennis Jordan tips in an Al Coleman missed jumper with 3.3 seconds left to give Texas a dramatic 57-56 upset over No. 7 Iowa State at the Erwin Center.

Preseason rank is #17. 

Coach Penders name is bantered about for other coaching jobs.

Rutgers offers Coach Penders the head coaching job, but he declines the offer and accepts the Texas pay raise.



1997-1998  11-17  COACH PENDERS LAST SEASON

Kris Clack is the first McDonald’s All American to play for the Longhorns.



A bad trend for college basketball begins. Players start leaving for the NBA after their first or second year at College.

Gambling is a concern for the NCAA

Penders has health problems and loses 20 pounds

Penders gets two technicals and is ejected from the Illinois game.

Injuries hit the team- Clack, Axtell, Vazquez, Mihms

Randy Riggs from the Austin American Statesman expressed concern that the Texas team has no leadership and the players shot selection is undisciplined. 

Four players (Axtell, Mihm, Muoneke, and Smith) tell AD Dodds they are not happy with Coach Penders and might transfer.  

Penders suspends Axtell for grades. Assistant Coach Oran gives the information on Axtell to the media which is a clear violation of the privacy laws. Rumors spread of late-night phone calls to players, violations of federal privacy laws, and non-compliance with some NCAA rules. Lawsuits are filed, but none of these allegations are ever proven, and Penders settles with Texas. 

REFLECTION Point – Hall of Honor Inductee TOM PENDERS

Tom Penders restored a lost luster to Texas Basketball when he brought his “Runnin’ ‘Horns” style to Austin for the 1988-89 season. Penders’ up-tempo style not only won games, it captured the excitement of the UT fan base. The success was immediate as in his first season, the Horns went 25-9 and Erwin Center crowds swelled to over 12,000 per game. He left Texas following the 1998 season with a mark of 208-110, good for a winning percentage of .654, which at the time was the most victories and the second-best winning percentage (minimum five seasons) in UT basketball history.

In 1997 Coach Penders is given a raise for his coaching skills, and in 1998 he is fired. How could this happen so quickly?  There were rumors of late-night phone calls to players, violations of federal privacy laws, and non-compliance with some NCAA rules. Lawsuits were filed, but none of the allegations are proven, and Penders leaves Texas. My guess is that Coach Pender’s health situation in 1998 is one of the main reasons for his quick demise. 

As of 1998, Tom Penders was either the first or second-best Texas basketball coach in Longhorn history.  He was an offensive genius with three of his players -Rencher, Mays, and Freeman-  the top scorers in the history of Texas basketball as of 1998. 

However, many of Penders’ detractors were ready for the “next level” of coaching that Penders never reached at Texas. As great as he was, during his years at Texas, his record against ranked teams was an anemic 10-44, and Arkansas dominated the Longhorns in the SWC. Rick Barnes is hired at $700,000 a year to help Longhorn basketball reach the next level.

 A portion of the article and Scandal about Penders

The best little scandal in TexasSPORTS By David Holter Aug 23, 1999, 12:00 AM Sixteen months ago, Tom Penders and Austin, Texas parted ways. Yet, the battle between the University of Texas and its former basketball coach has hardly waned. Two days after their disappointing season ended in a loss to the University of Oklahoma, four University of Texas men’s basketball players came to Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds’ house on March 8, 1998, and expressed their frustration with the program. At this meeting, which Penders did not hear about until days later, guard Luke Axtell said he was inclined to transfer. Axtell was suspended from the team on March 17 for not meeting academic standards, an unusual off-season move. A day later, Axtell’s mid-semester grade report was faxed to KVET, an Austin radio station that also broadcasts UT athletic events. His grades were read on the air while Coach Tom Penders was on vacation in the Caribbean. Penders’ contract was bought out April 2, and his coaching career appeared all but over……….

At the time of Penders’ buyout (for $900,000, says Penders; Dodds disputed that sum to The Washington Post),…… .One player, Brandy Perryman, whose deposition focuses greatly on Penders’ character, said in his deposition that Penders had a sports psychologist speak to the team incessantly and that Penders verbally abused him, calling him late at night and telling him how poorly he played…… “I call players after games. After I watch the tape. What I told Perryman was to get his head out of his ass and be a leader because he was shooting 27 percent.”……

Unless Penders is ever named himself, the issue at hand is merely his good name since his part in the grades release is fairly irrelevant to the defamation of character lawsuit against KVET. ………….

Penders and UT agreed not to sue each other in April 1998. .But most importantly to followers of the Colonials program, Athletic Director Jack Kvancz is a firm believer in his friend Tom Penders.“I researched it the best I could before we hired Tom, and I found nothing,” Kvancz told The Washington Post. “When Texas bought him out, it was a pretty good sign to me that everything was kosher.” This article appeared in the August 23, 1999 issue of the Hatchet.

11.29.2020 | Men’s Basketball

Tom Penders selected to National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2021

KANSAS CITY — Former University of Texas Men’s Basketball head coach Tom Penders has been selected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2021. Penders will be enshrined this weekend in Kansas City at the 2021 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Celebration presented by Nike.

Penders, who was selected to the next class of the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor in August, served as Men’s Basketball head coach at UT for 10 seasons (1988-98). He restored a lost luster to Texas Basketball when he brought his “Runnin’ ‘Horns” style to Austin for the 1988-89 season. Following three losing seasons in the previous six years at Texas, Penders’ up-tempo style not only won games, it captured the excitement of the UT fan base.

In his 10 seasons, the Longhorns won 208 games, made eight NCAA tournament appearances, advanced to the Elite Eight in 1990, and claimed three Southwest Conference regular-season titles and two SWC tourney crowns. The success was immediate as in his first season, the Longhorns went 25-9 and Erwin Center crowds swelled to over 12,000 per game. That team averaged a SWC single-season record 94.3 points per game, eclipsing a mark set by Houston in 1977.

His early postseason success earned him the nickname of “Mr. March.” His first team shocked Georgia Tech in the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament. The 1990 squad, led by the “Texas BMW” guard trio of Travis Mays, Lance Blanks and Joey Wright, finished 24-9 and advanced all the way to the Elite Eight before losing by a basket in a game that would have earned UT an appearance in the Final Four for the first time in over 40 years.

Over the next eight seasons, Texas captured three SWC regular-season championships, a pair of SWC Tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA tournament six times. His 1996 team narrowly missed advancing to the Sweet Sixteen, falling 65-62 to Tim Duncan and Wake Forest. The 1997 team made it to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to No. 25 Louisville. 

Penders’ teams scored at least 100 points in 60 games during his 10 years in Austin, and seven of his players went on to the NBA. He left Texas following the 1998 season with a mark of 208-110, good for a winning percentage of .654, which at the time was the most victories and the second-best winning percentage (minimum five seasons) in UT basketball history.

Success followed Penders throughout his four decades of coaching. He won 649 career games as the head coach at seven programs, ranking him in the top 40 of the NCAA record book. Penders took four different schools – Rhode Island, Texas, George Washington and Houston – to the NCAA Tournament and won three regular-season conference titles and four league tournament crowns. He was named the 1987 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year after leading Rhode Island to 20 wins in his first season at the school.

The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame is located inside The College Basketball Experience (CBE), a world-class experiential entertainment facility adjacent to Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center. The Class of 2021 will be the 16th induction class in the Hall of Fame’s history.