AUM hoops hires Robert Penny from ECU
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (aumathletics.com) —- Auburn Montgomery’s head men’s basketball coach Michael Cheaney announced the addition of Robert Penny as an assistant coach for the program on Tuesday.
Penny joined the Warhawks following two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at East Carolina University.
During his tenure with the Pirates, Penny assisted in the team’s progress not only on the court, but off the court as well. Off the court, Penny oversaw student-athlete academic progress by monitoring class attendance and tutoring. Penny’s responsibilities also included monitoring and participating in scout team activities, helping the coaching staff with scouting of opponents, developing and implementing individual and team drills, assisting in coaching clinics, team camps, and individual camps for high school coaches and players, evaluating game and practice film, assisting in evaluating potential recruits and implementing team chemistry activities.
“Coming from East Carolina under head coach Jeff Lebo and having the opportunity to coach at the Division 1 level made Coach Penny stand out in a strong pool of candidates.” Cheaney said. “Having played professional baseball, he understands the discipline, work ethic and maturity it takes to succeed at a high level. Academics are very important here at AUM and he has experience helping student-athletes in the classroom. He has the passion to grow and eagerness to learn in order to achieve his goal of being a head coach at the highest level.”
“I am extremely excited about being at AUM,” said Penny. “Montgomery is a great area and AUM has a reputation athletically, as well as academically, of being a great university where student-athletes and coaches can be successful. Working with Coach Cheaney is an opportunity that I am extremely grateful to have. He is synonymous with winning and producing quality student-athletes on and off the court. Coming from East Carolina, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a coaching staff that took pride in the development of young coaches and I cannot thank them enough for mentoring me and allowing me to learn from their coaching experience and develop my own identity as a coach.”
Penny graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May of 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in American history and from East Carolina University in May of 2016 with a master’s in sports management.
Prior to joining the coaching staff at East Carolina, Penny was drafted in the 36th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft by the Kansas City Royals and spent three seasons as a pitcher in the organization reaching as high as Double A. Following his professional baseball career, Penny was an assistant men’s basketball coach at Elizabethtown Middle School in Elizabethtown, N.C., where he led the team to back-to-back conference and tournament titles.
