Penny Turrentine has been one of the most influential figures in the UA and Pima College sports departments for almost a quarter-century.
When she retired last week, those who arrived to celebrate the occasion included former UA coaches Dick Tomey, Jim Rosborough and Jerry Stitt.
“Penny’s impact has been enormous, to say the least,’’ said Stitt, a former UA baseball coach and current assistant AD at Pima College. “ She was a counselor in the Freshman Center at the UA when I first met her. Her results with student academics and especially student-athletes was no less than phenomenal.
“Her help with the CATS program led to the buy-in by Tomey, Rosborough, Joan Bonvicini, Mike Candrea. It was immediate and total.’’
Pima College men’s basketball coach Brian Peabody said Turrentine’s impact was significant.
“For the first time in school history, Pima’s men’s basketball program did not lose a single scholarship player to academics two years in a row,’’ he said. “My starting five from last year all graduated and received scholarships to play at four-year schools. Penny deserves so much credit. She has devoted her life to helping student athletes.’’
Pima defensive back Aaron Maddox, who last week signed a scholarship offer from Colorado over interest from, among others, Arizona, Arkansas, North Carolina and Kentucky, enrolled at PCC because his father, Richard Maddox, captain of Arizona’s 1992 Desert Swarm defense, remembered the impact Turrentine had on his academic pursuits while at Arizona.
In the meantime, Turrentine wrote a book — "Champions in the Classroom" — in which Tomey, Rosborough and PCC athletic director Edgar Soto are quoted.
She will be greatly missed.
