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‘I Love Basketball and I Love This University So It Falls Right in Line’

Shortly after he gave his introductory press conference as Ohio State’s new head basketball coach, Chris Holtmann was approached by a former player. A pretty well-known one at that.

Scoonie Penn reached out to Holtmann and expressed interest in becoming part of the program. And, just a few weeks later, Penn was named the new director of player development at his alma mater.

“It really wasn’t a sales pitch, it was just truth that this was something I wanted to be a part of,” Penn said Tuesday. “I dabbed with wanting to be a coach for a long time because of my kids and I wanted to be around them a lot more and I understand the commitment that this takes, but I just told [Holtmann] like, ‘Listen, I’d love to be part of this and I will help any way I can.