Born July 16, 1981, Desmond Penigar grew into a 6-foot-7, 245-pound, forward who dominated the game at Ventura College in 2000 and 2001.

At Ventura, Penigar was a two-time all-conference and all-state player. He led the Pirates to a 50-11 record and a conference championship in his two seasons. He went on to play at Utah State University where he led the Aggies to a Big West Conference Championship and a Big West Tournament title. He was a two-time all-conference selection and twice earned a spot on the Big West All-Tournament team. 

After graduating from Utah State, Penigar began an odyssey that took him from the National Basketball Development League, where he was selected as the NBDL Rookie of the Year and won a league championship, to the NBA (Orlando Magic) to South Korea, Germany, Austria, Lebanon, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

His greatest success came overseas.

In Austria, he was selected to the All-Austrian Bundesliga Imports Team (twice), All-Austrian Bundesliga First Team (twice) and played in the Austrian Bundesliga “A” All-Star Game in 2009 and 2010. In 2010, he helped his squad to the season championship. In Asia, Penigar was selected to the all-league first team and all-defensive team. In 2013, he helped his team capture the Kuwait Federation Cup. In 2014, while playing in Saudi Arabia, he earned a championship at the Qadisiya International Tournament and Abu Dhabi International Tournament.

While rehabbing a leg injury, Penigar spent time as a counselor for juveniles at Salt Lake Observation and Assessment, as health and fitness instructor and as assistant basketball coach at Roy High School in Roy, Utah.

He is also the founder of 50-50 Sports, LLC, [2] a basketball skills and character development organization specializing in camps, clinics, small group and individual training sessions, mentoring, and speaking engagements. The company's slogan is Play HARD, and they state their mission is to "build exceptional athletes who are also exceptional people.”

He eventually retired from professional basketball in 2016. Today, he spends time with three children, Jadin, Jackson and Lilah, and wife, Lindsey. Penigar, who resides in Asheville, NC, is a Magistrate Judge and also runs the Asheville Basketball School, developing and teaching youth basketball players.