Episode 131: Hope Springs Eternal

Husky baseball coach Jim Penders joins this edition of the UConn 360 podcast as he enters his 22nd season guiding this historic program. He is just the fifth coach to guide the team in the past 100 years and Penders talks about the responsibilities that carries. The Penders family has deep baseball and athletic roots in Connecticut and nationally, which inspires him every day. He has spent 33 of the past 35 years as part of the “Hook C” as a player, assistant coach and head coach – the two other years were spent in politics in Washington, D.C. Penders has led UConn to nine NCAA tournament trips and to the Super Regionals in two of the past three years. He previews the 2025 Huskies, which look to make UConn’s first trip to Omaha and the College World Series since 1979.
Listen to Episode 131 at Podbean
Mike: Well, hello everybody. Welcome to another episode of the UConn 360 podcast. Mike Enright from University Communications here, along with Izzy Harris. Hi, Izzy.
Izzy: Good morning, Mike.
Mike: Izzy, have you heard of the saying, hope springs eternal?
Izzy: No, I haven’t.
Mike: Well, even though it’s snowy here in Storrs and it’s February, baseball season is here, and hope springs eternal.
Izzy: Oh, thank goodness. I am so ready for some warm weather.
Mike: Well, we are real privileged to have today with us, our head baseball coach here at UConn, Jim Penders, who, I can’t believe it when I looked it up in his bio, is entering his 22nd year in charge of the UConn program. Hard to believe.
And he’s spent 33 of his past 35 years involved in the UConn baseball program, and we’re going to talk a little bit about what he did during that two-year gap because it’s pretty interesting. He’s the winningest coach in UConn baseball history with 735 wins entering this season. He has led UConn to nine NCAA tournament appearances and three trips to the super regionals, including two of the past three years.
UConn players have gone on to the pros. They’ve made headway, great careers in summer leagues. And the Penders family is deep in Connecticut sporting history. And we’ll talk about that. So, Jim, thank you for joining us and welcome to the podcast.
Jim: Thank you, Mike. Thanks, Izzy. It’s a pleasure being with you.
Mike: Jim, you, like I mentioned, you and your family have deep roots in Connecticut. The Penders name is well known all over the state and really all over the country. Tell us a little bit about your family history and your earliest memories of UConn and the baseball program.
Jim: Sure. Yeah, it goes back a long way. That introduction made me realize I am getting old. My grandfather, Jim Penders, born in 1909 in Hartford, Connecticut, was a high school baseball, football, and track coach, as well as a football official at Stratford High. There’s a Penders Field in Stratford named for him.
My other grandfather was involved in Stratford’s Original Little League and was one of the first coaches to take a team to Williamsport. Both my grandfathers were deeply involved in baseball from a young age. My father coached baseball and basketball at East Catholic High School for 44 years, from 1968 through 2012.
When my grandfather, Jim Penders, retired, my father took over at East Catholic. There has been a Jim Penders coaching baseball since about 1934. We’re aiming for the century mark if everything goes well.
As far as UConn goes, my dad came here in 1960, and that’s when our family’s association with UConn began. He played here with my Uncle Tom, who went on to have a successful college basketball coaching career. They both look back fondly on their time here, having gone to Omaha in 1965.
I played here from 1990 to 1994 under legendary coach Andy Baylock. I feel very privileged to be the temporary caretaker of this proud program.
Izzy: So, baseball is quite literally in your blood. That’s so funny to think about—when I was four years old, you started coaching here.
Jim: Wow. I’m really old. Thanks, Izzy.
Izzy: I have to rub it in once in a while. I want people to know there’s a young, fun person on this podcast too.
Mike: And it’s not me.
Izzy: No, it’s not you. I’m sorry, at least not the young part.
Mike: Very true.
Izzy: You are fun, though. So, Jim, how have you made the baseball team a nationally prominent program in a climate that’s traditionally pretty hard to do?
Jim: Well, it certainly hasn’t just been me. We had a great foundation here, and Mike knows about that foundation. He’s a historian here and a de facto campus historian. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Mike.
Mike was on the hiring committee in 2003 and stood up for me when I was just a 31-year-old guy with zero head coaching experience. He gave me the opportunity of a lifetime.
Since then, my assistant coaches have been instrumental in our success. We’ve had great continuity in our staff—our four-man coaching staff has been the longest-tenured in all of Division I baseball since 2011.
The credit goes to the young men we recruit. I always say we try to recruit good people from good families and not screw them up. It’s a simple formula.
Izzy: The Toy Department of Life—I love that.
Jim: Athletics is the Toy Department of Life, even though it has changed a lot.
Mike: Speaking of history, there’s been incredible continuity in UConn baseball. Since 1924, there have been only five coaches. Talk about how your program today connects to those of the past.
Jim: I’m a historian by nature. It’s an honor to be part of that lineage, but it’s also intimidating. I look up at the wall behind the left-field fence, see names like Christian, Penders, and Baylock, and remind myself to try to live up to their legacy.
Mike: When I was a kid?
Izzy: Yeah.
Mike: I was not a terrific athlete, which is how I got involved in writing about athletes. So, I played a little baseball, a little basketball, and a little soccer, but I went to a very large high school. That’s my excuse for not making the teams. I’m not sure I would have made it at a smaller school either, but that’s how I got involved in public relations and athletics. I started editing videotape and doing PA for basketball games at Norwich Free Academy in the early 80s.
Izzy: The rest is history.
Mike: Exactly. Speaking of history, Jim, you’ve been involved in UConn baseball for 33 of the past 35 years, but there’s a two-year gap in there. What did you do during those two years?
Jim: For some reason, I had a temporary lapse of sanity and got into the world of politics. I worked in Washington, D.C. I had an internship with Sam Gaidenson, who hired me as an unpaid intern between my junior and senior years.
I was nervous to tell Coach Baylock about it because I thought it might jeopardize my scholarship since I wasn’t going to play in the summer. But Coach was very supportive and told me it was the right decision, so I went for it.
I fell in love with Washington, even though I didn’t have a political party affiliation at the time, which seems crazy now. Back then, people actually reached across the aisle. I worked on fundraisers for Senator Tom Harkin, one of which was held in Peter Angelos’ box at Camden Yards, and another in George Steinbrenner’s box at Yankee Stadium.
After two years, I was on a path to become a speechwriter. My guy won, but something kept pulling me back to the family business. I called Coach Baylock, who had an opening, and I came back to UConn.
Washington was an incredible experience, but you see the sausage being made, and it doesn’t taste as good. By the time I left in 1996, the political atmosphere had changed a lot, and people weren’t reaching across the aisle anymore.
Izzy: So politics are in the past, and baseball is the focus now. You’ve been here for 33 out of the last 35 years. How have the modern realities of college athletics, like the transfer portal and NIL, affected college baseball and our program at UConn?
Jim: They’ve affected it a ton. It’s a big challenge, but all change is uncomfortable, and growth doesn’t happen when you’re comfortable. I hope this is a period of growth for athletics.
The transfer portal and NIL have changed my job significantly. Fundraising has always been a part of my role, but I don’t think the current state of NIL is sustainable. The kids deserve compensation, but there needs to be regulation.
I don’t want to keep asking the same donors for money, only to have players transfer out and compete against us. It’s not fair to the donors or the players. Something needs to change, whether that comes from the NCAA, institutions, or the government.
As for the portal, it’s been a double-edged sword. Fortunately, we’ve been able to keep the players we want and bring in talent to fill gaps. For us, the portal has been beneficial so far, but I worry about the day when it might not be.
Mike: You’ve approached the portal differently by recruiting players from Division II and III schools. What do those players bring to the program?
Jim: Those players are fantastic because they have zero entitlement. They’re so appreciative of everything, from the gear to the travel opportunities. They come here to develop further, compete on a national stage, and chase the dream of Omaha.
We’ve built great relationships with Division II and III coaches in New England. These coaches know their players want to move up, and they trust us to help them succeed. It’s been a mutually beneficial relationship.
We’ve also started recruiting in the Pacific Northwest, particularly in junior colleges in Washington and Oregon. Some of our best players this year are coming from those programs.
Izzy: Out of all the years you’ve been at UConn—from student-athlete to assistant coach to head coach—what’s your favorite baseball memory here?
Jim: That’s tough to pick just one, but I’d say our win against Maryland in 2022 to advance to the Super Regionals at Stanford. My dad was there, and it was incredibly special because he nearly lost his life on that same field in 1963 after being hit by a pitch.
He had to relearn how to talk and read after that injury, but he came back two years later as a co-captain of the College World Series team. To share that moment with him, on that field, was unforgettable.
Mike: I remember the 2011 Regional at Clemson. You lose the first game, then come back to win four straight, including beating Clemson twice. That felt like the moment UConn baseball arrived on the national stage.
Jim: That was an incredible experience. Clemson’s fans were first-class, even tipping their caps after the game. That weekend also saw George Springer, Matt Barnes, and Nick Ahmed get drafted. It was surreal.
That was an incredible experience. Clemson’s fans were first-class, even tipping their caps after the game. That weekend also saw George Springer, Matt Barnes, and Nick Ahmed get drafted. It was surreal.
I remember walking out behind George Springer when he found out he was drafted. He hugged his mom and said, “Can you believe it? We won.” It wasn’t about the money or the draft—it was about the team. That’s the kind of players we’ve had at UConn.
Mike: They’ve changed things now, but it was like playing the Rose Bowl while the NFL draft was going on.
Jim: Exactly. I think Springer was in the on-deck circle when he got picked.
Mike: It was a strange but amazing moment. So, getting down to brass tacks, tell us about the 2025 Huskies and what we can look forward to. You guys open the season in Puerto Rico on Valentine’s Day. Romantic, right?
Jim: Very romantic—nothing says Valentine’s Day like baseball in Puerto Rico. We’re opening against Stetson, who ended their season just like we did at Florida State, but a round earlier. They’re very talented and aggressive, so we’ll have our work cut out for us.
It’s also the first-ever Puerto Rico Baseball Challenge, and we’re playing the first game of the college baseball season in the country, which is pretty cool.
I’m really excited about our returning players on the mound. Ian Cook is the reigning Big East Pitcher of the Year, and Gabe Van Emon had an all-star summer in the Cape Cod League. Brady Afthim, our closer, is back, which we didn’t expect. It always starts on the mound for us, and I think we’ve got a solid foundation there.
We’ve also got some promising newcomers. Caden Suki, a lefty from Northern Virginia, has great potential. Kyle Peters, a redshirt freshman, is expected to contribute, and Tommy Ellison is coming into his own as a potential third starter.
Offensively, I think we’re going to be explosive. Sam Biller from Loyola Marymount adds punch and speed. Caleb Spurs is back in center field, Matt Garbowski is a veteran catcher, and Maddox Delaney is the Big East Preseason Player of the Year at first base.
We’ve got a strong lineup, but we need our pitching to come together quickly if we’re going to have a great year.
Izzy: It’s funny, Mike. All the coaches we’ve interviewed on this podcast have such great things to say about their players. I don’t think any of my coaches ever used those kinds of adjectives to describe me.
Mike: Sometimes coaches talk about their players differently than they talk to their players. They don’t want to pump them up too much, but they’re always proud of them.
Izzy: That makes me feel a little better. Well, Jim, I wish you a happy, healthy, and successful season. But before we wrap up, I have a non-baseball question for you. Who do you think is going to win the Super Bowl this weekend?
Jim: Oh, man. I was watching the games this weekend, and I want to root for the Eagles because the Chiefs have been there so many times. But I’d be foolish to pick against Mahomes. He’s unflappable and always says and does the right things. I think the Chiefs will win.
Izzy: Me neither. Well, when we catch up with you in April, we’ll see if your prediction was right.
Mike: Sounds good. Who do you think is going to win the Super Bowl?
Izzy: Honestly, I’m in the same boat as Jim. I’d love to see the Eagles win. Jalen Hurts has been one of my favorites since Oklahoma, but the Chiefs are a dynasty now. I think they’ll pull it off.
Mike: The UConn connection to the Chiefs is their defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, who was an assistant football coach here in the early 90s.
Izzy: You just know all these little fun facts, don’t you?
Mike: That’s why I root for the Chiefs.
Jim: How good is he? He’s unbelievable.
Mike: I read that people are already talking about him being the first assistant coach inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.
Izzy: Well, now I have another reason to root for the Chiefs.
Mike: There you go.
Jim: Thanks for having me. Everyone should come to a game at Elliot Ballpark. It’s a great place to see a game, and hopefully, the Huskies will make it to Omaha.
Mike: Amen to that. If they do, we’ll do a podcast from the College World Series.
Izzy: Little cold out there.
Mike: Not in June.
Izzy: Really?
Jim: It’s going to be warm.
Izzy: Sunny and 72.
Jim: That’s right.
Mike: Sounds good. Thanks for joining us on the podcast. And please join us next time.