Kentucky kid, Penick, seriously considering BG

UK Peregrine · Post by **UK Peregrine** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:14 pm

I read this article and thought I'd pass this on. Penick sounds like a rebounding monster. He has been consistently rated in the top 25 hoops recruits that will come out of Kentucky this year.

http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... 014/NEWS02

Controlling the boards
Ludlow center Penick has averaged 16.5 rebounds

By Terry Boehmker
Post staff reporter

Dan Penick was the leading rebounder in Northern Kentucky boys' high school basketball last season. The 6-foot-9 Ludlow center felt pretty good about his ability on the boards until he joined a statewide all-star team during the summer. "The first day of practice our coach said I was big, but I didn't know how to use my body as good as I could," recalled Penick. "He said if I put a couple moves together and hustled, I'll get even more off the boards." Penick followed the coach's advice and pulled down 66 rebounds in Ludlow's first four games this season for a 16.5 average. He snagged 27 rebounds in a win against Bellevue last Friday, but Ludlow coach Cory Highfield wasn't able to confirm if it was a team record. "I can't say for sure, but no one here (at Ludlow) seems to remember anyone pulling down more than that in a game," Highfield said.

Penick said he was shocked when he heard his rebounding total after the game. "I didn't realize I had that many at all," he said. "Some of our players said I was being stingy and taking the ball out of their hands. I don't really see the people around me. I just go after the ball."

Penick will be the tallest player on the court in most of Ludlow's games so there's a good chance he'll surpass the 11.5 rebounding average he had last season. "I don't really think about that," he said of his height advantage. "I just hustle getting to the boards. That's my thing this year. I told myself I was going to get more rebounds. It's something I take a lot of pride in."

Penick did more than dominate the boards in the Panthers' first four games. He's also averaging 14.8 points, 3.0 assists and 2.7 blocks. "For a kid his size, he's got a lot of athletic ability," Highfield said. "He dribbles the ball well and passes it well. There's a lot of times when he's double-teamed and he's been able to find an open guy who was able to score."

Penick's size and athletic ability make him one of the top college prospects in Northern Kentucky boys' basketball this season. He said coaches at Boston College and Northeastern University in Boston have contacted him, but Bowling Green State University in Ohio is the team showing the most interest. A recruiter from Bowling Green came to Ludlow's home game on Tuesday and watched Penick get 16 points, 18 rebounds and five assists in a win against Calvary Christian. "He talked to me after the game," Penick said. "His actual words were, 'I think you'll fit in perfectly with coach (Dan) Dakich's system.' He said he didn't realize I had the passing ability that I have."

Most of Penick's assists have come off passes to 6-foot-6 senior forward Justin Hardin, a first-year starter in the Panthers' lineup. Hardin has been a double-figure scorer in Ludlow's last three games. He had a career-high 24 points in Tuesday's win against Calvary Christian. Penick said he worked out with Hardin during the summer and it's paying off in games. "He used to be real tentative, but now he's not afraid at all," Penick said. "I love it when teams double-down on me now because I can knock (the ball) out to him and he'll put it in."

Ludlow has a 2-2 record overall, but the Panthers are tied for first place in the Division III conference standings with Beechwood. The co-leaders will square off at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Ludlow. "Beechwood's got everybody back from last year and they're probably the leading contender in our conference," Highfield said. "It'll be a big game for us."

OptionQB · Post by **OptionQB** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:21 pm

Who is going to transfer? With two coming in already and the scholarships coming assumably from Mawi and Phillips, this one is a mystery as to where this kid will get a scholarship from?

UK Peregrine · Post by **UK Peregrine** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:26 pm

OptionQB wrote:Who is going to transfer? With two coming in already and the scholarships coming assumably from Mawi and Phillips, this one is a mystery as to where this kid will get a scholarship from?

What about Wright's?

OptionQB · Post by **OptionQB** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:38 pm

Actually almost as soon as I posted it, I realized that Wright, too, is technically a senior. Depending on how you look at it, it's either Wright's option to come back, considering he does graduate by May, which I've heard he is on pace to do, or it's Dan's invitation to make the scholarship and opportunity available to Steven.

I'm not sure another year at Bowling Green gets Steve any closer to the NBA and if lets say European money is available now, why come back?

Just thoughts and speculation.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:43 pm

UK Peregrine wrote:
OptionQB wrote:Who is going to transfer? With two coming in already and the scholarships coming assumably from Mawi and Phillips, this one is a mystery as to where this kid will get a scholarship from?
What about Wright's?

I've always heard that Steven was sure to get the additional year.

My initial thought, and it is pessimistic, is Lionel Sullivan...*ducking to avoid rocks*

I doubt we're lucky enough for Floyd to decide to test the pro waters???

orangeandbrown · Post by **orangeandbrown** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:46 pm

Maybe he's just playing the odds and figuring we will lose somebody.

Germainfitch1 · Post by **Germainfitch1** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:56 pm

Did we ever give Hollands Scholarship away?

This is the best news I have heard in a logn time here.

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 3:14 pm

orangeandbrown wrote:Maybe he's just playing the odds and figuring we will lose somebody.

If you wouldn't have said it, I would. Kinda like the airlines overbooking flights. We can 'over-scholarship' since someone seems to leave every Spring.

OptionQB · Post by **OptionQB** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 3:19 pm

Pat Phillips has the "Jeremy Holland Memorial" Scholarship . . . or at least he was the last to get one

Hammb- Watch out for those nasty PMs on Floyd

Flipper · Post by **Flipper** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 3:21 pm

It's interesting that we're all assuming Dan will be here next year...maybe he's going to transfer too

BGDrew · Post by **BGDrew** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 5:35 pm

Flipper wrote:It's interesting that we're all assuming Dan will be here next year...maybe he's going to transfer too

With all the "support" he's been getting lately, wouldn't blame him.

BleedOrange · Post by **BleedOrange** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 6:17 pm

All 13 scholarships are commited for next year, counting Wright. WRIGHT WILL MOST LIKELY EARN A 4TH YEAR OF ELIGIBILITY. However, there's always the possiblity of a transfer or two, so it's worth it for DD to continue looking at kids to sign in the spring.

Tswam · Post by **Tswam** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 10:03 pm

Even with Larson signed, we need an additional player at the 4 or the 5. If you look at who should be returning next year, it appears we have an overabundance of 2's/undersized 3's. Given the minutes that he's played so far, I'll be surprised if Nick Wilson comes back.

BleedOrange · Post by **BleedOrange** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 11:02 pm

Tswam wrote:Even with Larson signed, we need an additional player at the 4 or the 5. If you look at who should be returning next year, it appears we have an overabundance of 2's/undersized 3's. Given the minutes that he's played so far, I'll be surprised if Nick Wilson comes back.

He's still eligible for a redshirt. Maybe that's been the plan. He's stayed on the bench when walk-ons have played, so I suspect that there's a redshirt in his near future.

Tswam · Post by **Tswam** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 9:16 am

Unless Wilson is injured, he is not eligible for a redshirt. He's already played in three games.