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PG Scoonie Penn (B1G POY, All-American, Asst. Coach Memphis Grizzlies)

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Scoonie Penn is one former student-athlete who took advantage of the education assistance the program offers. Penn played on the OSU men's basketball team from 1998-2000, but forwent his senior season to enter the NBA Draft. He's been playing professional basketball overseas for 11 years.

"I came to Italy and what worked out to be a blessing was, I ended up breaking my ankle in my first year out of school, halfway through the season," Penn said. "So I went back to Columbus and that's when I finished my two remaining quarters and graduated."

The student-athletes that have participated in the program represent many sports and ages. For an athlete like Penn, who has made money playing basketball in a number of different countries, the financial assistance might not make or break his decision to return.

In 2006, Penn's agent Marc Cornstein told draftexpress.com that Penn would be leaving at least $1 million dollars on the table if he left Europe to again pursue his NBA dream.
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The athletes have their reasons for wanting to finish their studies and earn a degree. For Penn, it was all about family.

"Being probably the first one in my family to graduate, it was something that I always thought about doing because it would be something for my nephews and nieces, and my cousins and the people in my family to say, ‘Wow, Scoonie, he went to college. And he graduated,'" Penn said.

It wasn't just current family that Penn said he was worried about, but the family that he hopes to have one day as well.

"I always felt like one day when I have a family, I want to be able to say to my kids that you have to go to college," Penn said. "And what kind of example am I if I didn't finish?"
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http://www.thelantern.com/campus/athletes-perks-continue-upon-return-to-osu-1.2020204
 
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Penn can?t be erased from books
By Mike Young
[email protected]
Published: Wednesday, April 13, 2011

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Courtesy of MCT
Scoonie Penn takes a shot during the Buckeyes' practice on March 26, 1999. The Buckeyes lost to UConn, 64-58, in the Final Four on March 27, 1999.

The banners in the Schottenstein Center, tell you that the Ohio State men's basketball team has reached the Final Four nine times, its last appearance coming in 2007.

Former point guard James "Scoonie" Penn and other members of the 1998?99 Final Four squad don't have the luxury of being celebrated in the same ways.

After two boosters made improper payments to former OSU guard Slobodan "Boban" Savovic, the NCAA forced the program to vacate 113 wins from 1998?2002, when Savovic played.

Despite having the accomplishments, including the 1999 Final Four appearance, wiped from the record books, Penn remains a fixture in OSU basketball lore.

"I hope one day it gets reversed and we do get recognized, with our banner at the arena where it belongs," Penn told The Lantern. "Why should we have gotten punished for something that we worked so hard to accomplish?"

Penn, who graduated from Salem High School in Salem, Mass., played his junior and senior seasons at OSU from 1998?00, after transferring from Boston College.

His coach at Boston College, Jim O'Brien, left the school for OSU after Penn's sophomore year. Penn followed O'Brien to Columbus.

"I was comfortable at BC. I was a local kid, but the problem was, other kids decided not to come, and guys were leaving," Penn said. "I wanted to win. It wasn't going to be possible in that situation."

Because of NCAA transfer rules, Penn had to sit out the 1997?98 season, but that didn't stop him from fine-tuning his game.

"It made me hungry for the game," he said. "I would practice with the team, and when practice was over, I'd go over to the Jesse Owens (Recreational Center) and play some more with guys that were in the gym."

The next season, Penn's practice paid off, and he won the Big Ten Player of the Year award. He averaged 16.9 points and 4.3 assists per game, and led the Buckeyes to a 27-9 record.

"Mike Bordner, longtime basketball trainer, told me (Scoonie) was one of the best leaders ever at OSU, any sport," Buckeye basketball historian Lee Caryer said. "Point guards are like quarterbacks ? they have to produce in terms of team success, and look good on the stat sheet as well. The intangible is they have to make their teammates better. Scoonie was 3-for-3."

Cont...
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http://www.thelantern.com/sports/penn-can-t-be-erased-from-books-1.2163543
 
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Finally, I saw a couple of old acquaintances at practice: Brian Brown and Scoonie Penn.

I can't tell you the last time I'd seen Brown; maybe not since 2002, when he got done playing for the Buckeyes. He is retired from playing basketball overseas and working in Columbus.

Penn thought he was going to retire but said he played well enough this summer against the youngsters in the Schottenstein Center "open gyms" that now he's planning to go one more year. His problem, for the moment, is that locked-out NBA players have taken many of the good contracts overseas. So Penn said he'll wait for the lockout to end, save his body for another couple of months and then see what the market has to offer.
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http://www.buckeyextra.com/content/blogs/hoops-and-scoops/2011/11/agonis-club-practice.html
 
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Scoonie knows the rush
Former OSU captain enjoyed Final Four run
Mar. 27, 2012
Written by
Rob McCurdy
News Journal

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Former Ohio State point guard Scoonie Penn celebrates a win over St. John's in 2000 at Madison Square Garden. The leader of Ohio State's 1999 Final Four team, Penn understands how this season's Buckeyes feel. / AP

BOSTON -- As Ohio State's players put on their championship ballcaps and took turns snipping pieces of net, one man among the 19,000 in the TD Garden knew exactly what they were feeling.

Thirteen years ago Scoonie Penn was doing the same thing.

"They're just excited," Penn said through a smile as broad as the baseline while he watched the Buckeyes celebrate. "You're just so overwhelmed. When I was out here cheering, I was very happy. When you get in the locker room and really realize what is going on, emotion kicks in."

Penn was the point guard on the 1999 team that went to the Final Four, beating St. John's 77-74 in Tennessee in the South Regional championship, although the results later had to be vacated after NCAA violations were found with the program.

But that doesn't take away from what Penn experienced on the court more than a decade ago.

"I know how it feels like because it's different on the outside watching," he said.

cont...
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http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20120327/SPORTS/203270321

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clzDCYc6_Ns&list=UU3V2KYv4w1yqmv1CJZZ2rhA&index=1&feature=plcp"]97.1 The Fan Common Man and The Torg Interview Scoonie Penn 3-26-12 - YouTube[/ame]
 
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