A ‘BlackMamba’ man
Thornwood grad Pennington uses Kobe Bryant as inspiration to lead mentality for Trinity Christian
Trinity Christian junior guard James Pennington has always been inspired by Kobe Bryant.
During the long grind of offseason workouts, Pennington often thinks about the longtime Los Angeles Lakers star, who died in January in a helicopter crash.
“I always try to follow his work ethic,” Pennington said. “I have a saying I got from him — ‘one percent better.’ I just want to get one percent better every day. Then when those days add up, it’s like, ‘Wow, I got way better than I thought Iwould.’
“I try to follow that ‘Mamba mentality’ that he had.”
Pennington, a Thornwood graduate, brought that mentality to the Trolls last season and jumped immediately into a starring role.
After transferring from NCAA Division II power West Texas A&M, Pennington led the team in just about every notable category during his first season in the NAIA at Trinity.
He was tops on the Trolls, averaging 17 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.9 steals.
“He didn’t just do a little bit of everything for us,” Trinity coach Jason Hawkins said of Pennington. “He did a lot of everything for us.
“James is in the gym all the time. He puts in the extra work, he puts up extra shots. The proof is in the pudding when he gets on the court.”
Pennington hopes to help the Trolls improve upon last season’s 11-19 record, including 6-16 in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play.
Trinity was set to open the season Saturday at Indiana Tech after its first four games were postponed or canceled due to COVID-19.
“I’m very excited about the amount of returning players we have,” Pennington said. “And I think we have one of the best freshmen classes I’ve seen, too.”
“I think a strength will be how deep we are. We have a lot of players who can score and a lot of guys who can defend and rebound.”
Pennington takes pride in his ability to do all of those things.
“If they said Kobe couldn’t do something, he wanted to prove that he could do it,” Pennington said. “If they look at me as just a scorer who can’t pass, I want to show that I can pass. If they say, ‘Oh, he can’t defend, he takes plays off, he doesn’t rebound,’ I put that chip onmy shoulder and go out to showthem that I can do that.”
It’s that growing belief in himself that led Pennington to Trinity.
After redshirting his first year at West Texas A&M, he was part of a Final Four team in 2018-19 but averaged just 2.7 points and eight minutes.
“In Texas, at first I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself and thought I couldn’t play at that level,” Pennington said. “But being on one of the best teams in the country and playing with
those guys in practice, I realized I could play with them.
“I wanted to go somewhere where I could kind of be the guy.”
Pennington's friendship with a high school rival — Thornridge graduate Jalyn Clark, a senior for the Trolls — sparked his interested in Trinity.
Now, he's primed for a big junior season after again following some of Bryant's advice over the offseason.
“Kobe always said to add one thing you didn't have the year before,” he said. “I think my midrange game got a lot better.
“I start every offseason watching film and writing down what I want to get better at, then I work at it.
“I always want to be overly prepared.”