Penney drops for Hawks

The former New Zealand Breakers linchpin trained with his Illawarra Hawks teammates for the first time on Wednesday and hasn’t lost any of the deadly shooting touch that punctuated his 2009 NBL MVP performance.

Penney has plied his craft in the NBA and Europe, and the Hawks are his 15th club since he turned professional in 1997.

‘‘Individually I’m not going out to try and prove anything, but as a team we’re going to go out and try to be great for the community and really compete in what will be a competitive league,’’ the 195cm swingman said.

‘‘The challenge of making this club great and making sure we compete this year is something that you want as a player. At this point in my career you’re kind of looking for opportunities like that. You can really be part of something special.’’

Born in Auckland, high school basketball star Penney was recruited by American colleges and ended up playing four standout years with the University of Wisconsin.

Despite being overlooked in the talent-rich 2003 NBA Draft, he spent time with the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers before heading to Europe for two years.

He returned to New Zealand in 2007 to play with the Breakers, capturing MVP honours two seasons later and winning the 2011 NBL title.

After spending the past four years with four different European clubs, Penney is embracing his adventure with the Hawks.

‘‘Waking up this morning and going for a walk along the coastline with my wife and our little girl, it felt pretty good to be back here and knowing we’ll be a part of this community,’’ he said.

‘‘Every time we came to play Wollongong, I always felt like it was a nice place and the fans were really into it, regardless of how the team did. Obviously the club had a lot of tradition, and that’s what I knew about it. Now I get to experience it first-hand and discover what it’s all about.

‘‘It’s my first full day here and I’m meeting all the guys today, so I’ll get an understanding for what the team is all about.

‘‘We’re really excited to be back here in the NBL again.’’

Penney never saw a move to Wollongong in his future. But he has been around long enough to expect the unexpected.

‘‘At times I did think I’d be back [in the NBL] and at times I didn’t. You just never know what’s around the corner,’’ he said.

‘‘With a professional sporting career, you’re going in one direction and the next thing you know you’re going in another. That’s kind of how this played out because it happened quite quickly. We were looking at probably going back to Spain again, and then a few things happened and the next thing you know I’m signed to play here.’’

Aside from his greying hair, Penney looks much younger than his 34 years.

‘‘I’m always looking after myself,’’ he said.

‘‘I love to play the game and want to be able to play as long as I can.’’

Wooden spooners last season for just the second time in club history, the Hawks have assembled one of the club’s all-time strongest teams on paper.

‘‘Looking around, it looks like we have a lot of weapons,’’ a smiling Penney said.

‘‘This is a great challenge. First of all Bevo [coach Rob Beveridge] came in, then with the likes of AJ [Ogilvy] and Kevin [Lisch] coming in, you could see they were putting together a special team.

‘‘We’ve got a lot of talented guys and hopefully everyone gets an opportunity to do what they do well. We just want to make sure that everyone can fire, and if everyone’s firing, we have a pretty good squad on our hands. Hopefully the fans will really enjoy the year and enjoy watching a good brand of basketball.’’