Chris Penrose

Chris Penrose

Christopher Michael Penrose (born March 26, 1985 in San Diego, California), commonly referred to as Chris Penrose, was an American Collegiate basketball player with the USC Trojans.

High school

In High school, Chris played at Francis Parker School in San Diego, California from 1999–2003. Chris was a 4 year starter on the varsity. He was a 1st team Coastal League selection. Penrose also played three years on the varsity football team at Francis Parker High.

College

2003–2004

Chris joined the team before its first Pac 10 game. He was not eligible for the 1st semester due to being a late admit to the school. Previously, Chris was briefly enrolled at the University of Colorado at Boulder. A last minute decision to switch schools before his freshman year caused him to sit out the first semester. Was a freshman walk-on, and attended practices.

2004–2005

Appeared in 11 games for the Trojans and scored 5 points in 12 minutes played, and made a free throw. Scored his first points as a Trojan when he hit both free throw attempts on January 8 vs. Washington State. Missed his first 3 three-point shot on February 10 vs Arizona. He also missed a three-pointer at Pauley Pavilion against UCLA on February 24. Received the Ernie Holbrook Memorial Award given to the team's most inspirational player. Named team captain, the only non-senior to be selected as a captain. Received the Trojan Spirit award after being nominated by the coaching staff.

2005–2006

Shot the commercial for the new USC Student Section called “Trojan Fever.” Was named captain along with Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt. Appeared in three games for the Trojans and scored two points in seven minutes played. Saw action vs. Eastern Washington on November 25 at the Great Alaska Shootout and at home vs. UC Riverside on November 30 and vs. North Carolina A&T on December 23. Was 1-for-3 with a steal and a career-high two rebounds in the win vs. UC Riverside. Won the USC Spirit Award after being nominated by Coach Tim Floyd. In the summer of 2006, Chris' best friend, Ryan Francis, was shot and killed on May 13. Chris spoke at the funeral alongside Nick Young. That fall Chris' mother and sister made wristbands saying, "In Loving Memory of Ryan 'Franchise' Francis #12."

2006–2007

Chris was named captain by Coach Tim Floyd for the third consecutive year. He is the only player in USC Basketball history to be named captain for three years. Chirs hit a 3-pointer on November 28 against Mississippi Valley State, and his most famous 3-pointer on February 24 against Cal. The chants started with USC leading California by 18 points. “We want Penrose!” Coach Tim Floyd wouldn’t budge for another 1½ minutes, and his reluctance was understandable given the unfortunate series of events that befell senior walk-on guard Chris Penrose upon his insertion with 2:23 remaining Saturday at the Sports Arena. He was beaten for a layup by Golden Bears forward Patrick Christopher and then could only watch as Christopher took an alley-oop pass and dunked effortlessly. On the offensive end, with the shot clock winding down, Penrose hoisted a 3-point air ball that didn’t even touch the rim. “As soon as it left my hand I had a feeling it was going, and I turned around and looked at the student section and I couldn’t really hear anything because the place was so loud,” Penrose said. “My heart was going a mile a minute I was so excited.” Penrose had played only 10 minutes and scored 3 points this season before his big finish. “I told him that he can leave this university and tell all of his friends that he’d been given the short end of the stick by the coach,” Floyd said. “He got 2 minutes tonight and scored 0 points.” Penrose received bearhugs from teammates Abdoulaye N’diaye and Daniel Hackett after the game before racing over to the student section and celebrating with the fans. “It was pretty incredible,” said Penrose, who hoped to remain with the Trojans as a graduate assistant coach, until Floyd resigned. “It was an ending to a little walk-on’s career.”

The shot was on ESPN’s Top 10 plays, The Hummer Play on KCAL 9.

Chris watched East Region five-seed USC in the round of Sweet Sixteen in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, where they fell to No. 1 North Carolina, 74-64.

Personal life

Because of his last name, "Penrose" and his love of basketball, he was nicknamed "Penny". On his senior night, Chris invited Paulette Francis, the mother of Ryan Francis to attend the game. Chris walked out on the court with his mother on one side, Paulette on the other, and his father and twin brothers following. Chris now lives in Los Angeles where he works in brokerage at CB Richard Ellis. On March 16, 2011 at 9:43AM Chris was selected as the Downtown Los Angeles rookie of the year.

Player statistics

Season	G	FG%	3P%	FT%	Reb.	RPG	Asst	Bl	St	Pts	PPG
2006–2007	12	50.0	66.7	00.0	3	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.0	6	0.5
2005–2006	3	25.0	0.0	0.0	2	0.7	0.0	0.3	0.0	2	0.7
2004–2005	11	22.2	22.2	100.0	2	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.2	8	0.7
2003–2004	0	00.0	00.0	00.3	00	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0	0.0
Career	80	43.4	39.3	77.8	247	3.1	3.5	0.2	2.0	1102	13.8

Source: http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/

As a player with the USC Men's basketball program under Tim Floyd, Penrose served as the recruiting coordinator for OJ Mayo, a heralded high school player from West Virginia. It was later determined that OJ Mayo's recruitment and 1 year as a USC player had multiple NCAA violations. Floyd resigned under much scrutiny, and the Mayo case led to multiple sanctions against the program, including forfeit of all games from the 2007–2008 season and loss of scholarships.

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_14115931

Notes

latimes.com rivals.com usctrojans.com

External links

• Chris Penrose
• USC Player Bio*WeAreSC Bio
• Chris Penrose Interview
• Penrose Writes Himself Storybook Ending

Persondata
Name	Penrose, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 26, 1985
Place of birth	San Diego, California
Date of death
Place of death