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player ready...After five years in the late 1970s as an assistant football coach at Young High School in the Chicago Public League, Arthur Penny turned his attention to girls basketball.
It was where he found his calling.
Through dedication and an unflinching devotion to his players, Penny built a program to rival powerhouse Marshall, compiling a 503-110 record from 1980-2001, when his health forced his retirement.
He had battled diabetes for years, and on Tuesday, Penny, 57, died at Diamond Dialysis Center on the South Side, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. A cause of death has not been determined.
Kelly Bond, a 1994 Young graduate who played for Penny, was as close to him as anyone.
“He pretty much was the only father I ever had,” said Bond, who went on to play at Illinois and is now an assistant with Texas A&M. “I’d known him since 5th grade.”
During his career, Penny helped develop three consensus high school All-Americans–E.C. Hill, Dominique Canty and Natasha Pointer. He also enjoyed one Elite Eight appearance and no losing seasons. Young reached the city championship game nine times during his tenure.
Canty, now with the Houston Comets of the WNBA after being a two-time All-American at Alabama, was a senior on Penny’s most successful team. In 1995 the Dolphins became one of the few teams to break Marshall’s dominance of the Public League and reached the Class AA state quarterfinals, where they lost to Mother McAuley.
Bond was particularly taken with Penny’s dedication. She talked about how Penny would load up his blue Dodge minivan with players in the summer and head for the Maine West Shootout.
“That was his life, to make sure we had better opportunities,” Bond said. “He drove us out to Maine West because that’s where the college coaches were.
“I love the man. I tried to talk with him once a week. I know he was suffering from diabetes and he’d been on dialysis.”
Funeral arrangements are pending.