In this week's interview edition of The Flagship Podcast, we talk to former Texas basketball coach Tom Penders, who gave new Texas coach Chris Beard his first taste of coaching as a student assistant at UT in the early 1990s.

Penders goes into vivid detail about Beard's days as a student assistant at Texas - from Beard helping work at summer camps to stepping in at practice from time to time when the team might be short a player.

Penders talks about how observant Beard was as a student assistant - from pointing out to the coaching staff when a UT player might be down emotionally to Beard relentlessly cutting up film in an 8-foot by 12-foot cubby hole next to Penders' office.

Penders recalls going to Seminole, Okla., to visit Beard while Beard was the head coach at Seminole Junior College ("You fly into Oklahoma City and drive forever, and when you get to 'ever,' you bang a left to get to Seminole," Penders laughed.)

Penders said Beard had Penders talk to Bob Knight when Knight was considering hiring Beard onto his staff at Texas Tech and recalls the foremost thing Knight wanted to know from Penders: "Is he loyal?" Knight asked.

The game of basketball "keeps evolving," Penders says on the Flagship Podcast, and then Penders gives examples of how Beard has kept evolving with it.

Penders talks about why Texas can be considered "a hard job" for basketball coaches and why he thinks Beard will be successful.

Penders, who knew Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte when Del Conte was the AD at Rice and Penders was the head coach at Houston, also stresses the importance of a coach and athletic director working well together and why he thinks Beard and Del Conte will be a good combination.

Penders talks about what he has learned from Beard over the years and why Beard is much more than a good Xs and Os coach.

"A lot of coaches recruit and game plan," Penders told the Flagship Podcast. "Chris' teams know fundamentals, have great footwork, and his players always get better."

Penders gives his thoughts on how long it will take Beard to build something at Texas like Beard constructed in five seasons at Texas Tech.

Catch all of that and more on this week’s interview episode of The Flagship Podcast with special guest Tom Penders.

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