Former HLSCC Stingrays player, Kleon Penn recordds 117 blocks for McNeese State. Photo>Dean "The Sportsman" Greenaway

TORTOLA—Former H. Lavity Stoutt Community College basketball player Kleon Penn—who transferred to the McNeese State Cowboys in Louisiana during the 2006-2007 season and this year broke Edmond Lawrence’s 35-year old block shots record during the 1972-73 season—is petitioning the NCAA for another year of eligibility.

The 6-11 Penn narrowly missed only the second triple double in Cowboy history, scoring 12 points, pulling 15 rebounds and blocking nine shots, during their 74-71, victory over Lamar on March 1. Penn totaled 108 rebounds at the end the game during his short career, breaking Lawrence’s mark of 106. He ended the season with 117 blocks for a 4.0 average, as the Cowboys had 180 blocks on the season and were the top team in blocks in the Southland Conference.  

“It’s very special to have broken the record because it is not something to be broken every season,” said Penn who started all 29 games and averaged 24.6 minutes per contest, with 6.7 points and 6.3 points per game. “It’s a very tough record to break because block shots are not very common, so it’s very nice to have it.”

Penn described the season where the team finished with a 13-16 record as an up and down year. An injury kept him out of the last few games and they were eliminated from the Southland Conference tournament in the first round following a loss to but

“It was a good season for me compared to the first year. My scoring went up and there were some games where I nearly had a triple double,” Penn reflected who played up to 32 minutes in a game. “My best game was against Lamar, who was co-conference champions. In that game, I had 12 points, 15 boards and nine rebounds.”

 Penn, who played less than 20 BVI Basketball Federation league games before heading to the Cowboys, said his improvement over his first year, came because of experience and being in better shape. He said he wasn’t prepared for the first year, but the off season training prepared him well for the past season.

He is now petitioning the NCAA for another year of eligibility and is working out the details. If approved, he said it would mean a lot as he would be able to further his education, get another year of collegiate basketball and get more experience. “The collegiate experience has been wonderful,” he pointed out. “I’ve been able to travel, a lot of scouts and people have seen me and see what I could do. Knowing that I’m from a small island and I wasn’t planning on playing college basketball, the experience has been very nice.”