Righting the Pirates’ Ship
Desmond Penigar loved the sales pitch.
If he came to play basketball at Ventura College, Coach Greg Winslow told him, Penigar would be the team’s cornerstone.
“He said he would build the team around me,” Penigar said. “You can’t beat that.”
With his interest piqued and his ego stroked, Penigar plowed through an All-Baseline League senior season at Upland High in 1998-99 and headed for Ventura, becoming Winslow’s first recruit.
It was a twist of fate for both.
Winslow was coaching at San Bernardino Valley when Ventura hired him to resurrect its once-dominant men’s program, which was disbanded for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons because of rules violations.
He first pursued Penigar to play for the Indians and later talked him into going to Ventura.
“I knew about Ventura’s history. I knew Ventura had a certain thing that no other junior college had,” Penigar said. “That was the best part for me. I could make my mark here and [Winslow] could make his mark here.”
Penigar, 6 feet 7 and 247 pounds, is certainly doing that.
An agile center with an accurate shot, Penigar last season led the Western State Conference in scoring with an average of 22.9 points and was second at 11.7 rebounds. This season he is averaging 28 points and 11 rebounds, both second in the WSC.
He scored 30 points despite tendinitis in his left knee to carry Ventura past Hancock, 89-82, on Wednesday in a WSC Northern Division game at Santa Maria between first-place teams. The Pirates are 17-5, 2-0 in WSC play, a vast improvement over last season’s 14-14 record.
“The two things that set Desmond apart are his work ethic and how well he can shoot the ball for a big guy,” Winslow said. “He can play with his back to the basket and he can play facing the basket. There are not many kids who can do that.”
It’s also rare to find a freshman team captain, but that was another role Penigar filled with the Pirates. He was only 18, but he was mature and confident beyond his age, and keenly aware of what the task entailed.
“At first, it was a lot of pressure,” Penigar said. “We had guys on the team [last season] who were 28, 25, 23. It was hard for me to tell them to play hard. I had to show them. I practiced and played hard and they followed my lead.”
Although that may sound cocky, Penigar is no self-centered jock. He speaks without arrogance, his remarks voiced with effervescence and void of self-promotion. He doesn’t shy from the attention, but doesn’t seek it, either.
Nobody could blame Penigar for chasing headlines, if that was the case. One of four children raised by a single mother, he never encountered the trappings of more privileged youngsters. His family has never owned a car, with buses providing their transportation.
“My daughter and I rented a car to go watch him play [against Cuesta last season] at San Luis Obispo,” Julia Penigar said. “We didn’t realize it was that far.”
Despite financial struggles, Penigar was cautioned early by his mother about the importance of an education. He hasn’t strayed from that goal. He signed with Utah State before the season and plans to major in child development.
His ambition, Penigar said, is to own a preschool with his mother, who is working and attending college to earn a degree in child development. If that’s not feasible, then he would like to teach elementary school.
“I used to tell him he could go and study to become a coach or learn another profession, but he always said he wanted to help me run a preschool,” Julia said.
In the meantime, Penigar is helping the Pirates run toward a division title and the playoffs. He is their go-to guy, averaging 18 shots, more than twice the number of any other Pirate player. His ability to post low or go outside presents problems for opponents.
“He’s very difficult to defend,” Moorpark Coach Remy McCarthy said. “He’s really good inside and he’s really good on the perimeter. He’s relentless. He keeps playing and keeps playing.”
Some of that attitude was instilled in Penigar by Winslow, who gave him the green light to shoot. It gave Penigar a freedom he had seldom enjoyed.
“In high school, I wasn’t allowed to take a jumper,” Penigar said. “[Before] I came here, I worked on my jumper every day. In high school, if I took a three-pointer, they would have benched me. Now, if I have an open three and I don’t take it, they’ll bench me.”
It’s just another selling point that suits Penigar.