Success followed Tom Penders throughout his four decades of coaching. He won 649 games as the head coach at seven programs, ranking him in the top 40 of the NCAA record book. Penders took four different schools – Houston, George Washington, Texas and Rhode Island – to the NCAA Tournament, and won three regular-season conference titles and four league tournaments. The Atlantic 10 selected Penders as its 1987 Coach of the Year after he led Rhode Island to 20 wins in his first season on campus.