Scoonie Penn is moving on.
After spending the past two years as Ohio State's director of recruiting and player development, Penn has left the men's basketball program to become an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA.
Penn will join Niele Ivey, Brad Jones, David McClure, Vitaly Potapenko and Neven Spahija as assistant coaches on head coach Taylor Jenkins' staff in Memphis.
Chris Holtmann brought Penn onto his staff on July 11, 2017, just a little over a month after he became the team's head coach. At the time, Holtmann referenced Penn's status as a former Ohio State player and connectivity with other Buckeyes as something he "was looking for in this position."
Though Penn couldn't practice or work out with the team since he was not one of the three assistant coaches, he had a host of duties, including maintaining a connection between the program and former players, helping the program with recruiting visits and mentoring current players. He also spearheaded the initiative of the team wearing shirts to honor black inventors.
While working at Ohio State, Penn helped put together a team filled with former players in The Basketball Tournament. The team was formerly named Scarlet & Gray and is now known as Carmen's Crew.
Penn, who played for Ohio State in the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons, was named the Big Ten Player of the Year in 1999 and was a second-team All-American in 2000. He averaged 16.3 points, 4.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game in his two seasons with the Buckeyes. Penn helped Ohio State advance to the Final Four in 1999.
In 2013, Penn was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame.
