IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
RHONDA PENQUITE (19xx - )
PAPERS, 1967-1998
5 linear inches and
artifacts
|
ACQUISITION: |
The papers (donor no. 567) were donated
by Rhonda Penquite in 1998. |
|
|
ACCESS: |
The papers are open
for research. |
|
|
COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to the University of Iowa. |
|
|
ARTIFACTS: |
In Box 3. |
|
|
PHOTOGRAPHS: |
In Box 1. |
|
|
PROCESSED BY: |
Shelley Lucas, October 2000. [Penquite.doc] |
|
Biography
Rhonda Ann Penquite graduated from
Ankeny High School in 1974 after moving to Ankeny, Iowa, from Des Moines in the
6th grade. At the time of
her move, Des Moines schools did not offer a basketball program. The move proved significant for Penquite’s
future because her success as a high school player provided a starting point
for a variety of experiences and opportunities available through
basketball. In high school, Penquite
received numerous honors including being named to the all-state team and an
unanimous all-conference choice as her team advanced to the first round of the
state tournament her senior year. She
was also the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) runner-up free throw champ and an AAU
all-American.
Her college career included two years at Grand View College in Des
Moines and one season at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, ending her college
basketball career at Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma. She received all-American honors at Grand View
College and became the first woman at Oral Roberts to be named an
all-American. During this time, she
also traveled to Central and South America and the British Isles on a
“basketball ministry” with the Youth Enterprises organization. Penquite competed professionally for three
years, 1978-1980, in the Women’s Basketball League (WBL) and the Ladies’
Professional Basketball League (LPBL).
She played for the Iowa Cornets (WBL), founded in 1978 by George Nissen
of Cedar Rapids, and later for the New Mexico Energee (LPBL). Both leagues were short-lived due to
financial problems. While playing for
the Cornets, Penquite resumed her undergraduate education at Drake University, graduating
in 1981. She returned to Oral Roberts
University in 1986 as the head women’s basketball coach, a position she held
for three years.
On July 30, 1998, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in
Springfield, Massachusetts, opened a new exhibit, “Heart & Soul: The Trials and Tribulations of Women’s
Professional Basketball.” Penquite
donated personal items from her time with the Iowa Cornets and New Mexico
Energee for the exhibit. Photographs of
the exhibit opening document this “gala event.”
Rhonda A. Penquite currently resides in Des Moines, Iowa, and works as
an independent beauty consultant for Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Scope and Content Note
The Rhonda Penquite
papers date from 1967 to 1998
and measure 5 linear inches. The papers
are divided into four series:
Biographical information, Career, Photographs, and Artifacts.
The
Biographical information series
(1967-1968 and undated) is comprised of her sixth grade class picture in the
elementary school yearbook and her business card for Mary Kay Cosmetics.
The
Career series (1971-1989) includes materials
from her high school days through her professional activities, such as
newspaper clippings; a scrapbook documenting her year playing for Oral Roberts
University, her summer basketball ministries and the Iowa Cornets; game
programs and media guides, and correspondence pertaining to the Naismith
Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opening in 1998.
The Photographs series (1998) contains photographs from the Naismith
Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame banquet.
The
Artifacts include two banners, two
T-shirts, and an Iowa Cornets jacket.
Related
Collections
Iowa Cornets records
Molly Bolin papers
Bolin played for the Iowa Cornets.
Box no. Description
Box 1
Biographical
information
Career
High school and college
Ankeny High School, 1971, 1974
Grand View College,
1974-1976
Oral Roberts University, 1977-1978
General
Scrapbook, 1977-1978 [oversize: Box 2]
Newspaper clippings, 1977-1980
Professional
Iowa Cornets, 1978-1980
Head Coach, Oral Roberts University,
1986-1989
Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame, 1998
Photographs
Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame, 1998
Box 2
Oversize
Career
Pre-professional
Oral Roberts University
Scrapbook, 1977-1978
Box 3
Artifacts