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 Russ Pennell
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Pennell prepares to be Olson's assistantArizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.25.2008
Former ASU assistant Russ Pennell is preparing to become the Arizona Wildcats' new assistant basketball coach.
Pennell told his youth summer-circuit team Wednesday that he was leaving to join the Wildcats, according to Mark Carlino, boys basketball coach at Gilbert Highland High School. Carlino's son, Matt, is a highly regarded guard on Pennell's Arizona Premier team.
"Russ indicated to the team that he was going to be going down there," Mark Carlino said. "He wanted his team to know before it got out, because he's got quite a few kids down there. So he informed his team (Wednesday) night that that was where he was going to be."
Matt Carlino, a freshman who has already attracted serious recruiting interest from schools such as UA, ASU, Kansas and UCLA, said he was not surprised Pennell made the announcement because he suspected it was coming.
Coach Lute Olson had been expected to seek a new assistant since announcing April 1 that former interim head coach Kevin O'Neill would not return to the staff. Pennell's name has generated increasingly widespread speculation this week.
Pennell did not return messages left at his office Thursday, and he declined comment when reached by the East Valley Tribune. Olson said Thursday he will no longer speak to the Star outside of regularly scheduled news conferences.
Arizona has yet to post the opening on its Web site, and it cannot officially fill the job until it has been posted for seven days. UA athletic director Jim Livengood said the position would probably be posted today.
"We have not hired anybody," Livengood said Thursday night.
The opening was created on Wednesday, when Livengood announced O'Neill was shifting to a fundraising role through at least the end of June. Livengood declined to comment further on staff changes, saying they were personnel issues.
Pennell, 47, has 14 years of coaching experience at the Division I level and started his academy after leaving ASU in 2004.
His presence on the UA staff would be another possible recruiting tie for Olson, who coached Matt Carlino's uncle, Brock Brunkhorst.
Matt Carlino will not play college basketball until the 2011-12 season, after Olson's current contract expires in 2011. But Olson, 73, has indicated he may coach beyond that point.
Even though it remains early in Matt Carlino's recruitment, it is no longer unusual for star recruits to commit to colleges as high school sophomores or juniors. Matt Carlino said he still can only receive letters from coaches, which are mailed to his school, and that he is not sure yet which school he will pick.
But Matt Carlino said having Pennell at Arizona could positively influence him to play for the Wildcats.
"I love Russ," Matt Carlino said. "I worked out with Russ every day. It's good to know someone so well in that program."
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