6 days ago: Tom Penders telling Andy Katz he's not leaving Houston

It seems that Andy Katz' comments that he was told by Pitino and Donovan that they aren't leaving their schools has struck a cord with everyone at St. John's.  Apparently I was the only one stuck on march madness this weekend...

This is a video of Andy Katz interviewing Tom Penders, who today announced that he is leaving as coach of the University of Houston.  Penders not only says that he is going to come back and coach, but he also goes on to say that coaches these days are quick to hop to different jobs and that its a dog eat dog world out there.

http://insider.espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5000187&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fvideo%2fclip%3fid%3d5000187

And for the record, he is not retiring, but looking for another job:


He insisted he has no retirement plans, saying it was simply time to find another challenge.

"I came to the University of Houston in 2004 with the goal of getting UH back to the NCAA tournament," he said. "We achieved this goal and now it is time for me to move on."

Lets take Katz' doubts on our coaching search with a grain of salt.  Below is the link to Penders resignation story on ESPN posted just 6 days later.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5018573

Penders was fired.

Both he and athletic director Mack Rhoades emphasized that the parting, which comes with two years left on his contract, was Penders' decision.

"He certainly initiated the opportunity to resign," Rhoades said. "We will work with Tom to negotiate a fair exit. That's what he deserves."

it looks like katz is going through his roladex, directly asking coaches if they'll stay or come to st john's.

the bottom line is they'll all give the same answer.  no one is going to give katz or anyone else an exclusive based on a cold call.