On the small campus of St. Bernard High, the hulking Donald Penn, who transferred from Manual Arts, was easy to spot.

St. Bernard football coach Greg Dixon saw him coming a mile away.

“He was one of the bigger guys on campus, if not the biggest,” Dixon said. “I had to try.”

Penn was a basketball player, not a football player, so Dixon had work to do.

“He was a basketball guy, and he was good,” Dixon said. “I had to convince him to come out to football.”

The 6-foot-4, 340-pound Penn, who is embarking upon his ninth year in the National Football League and second with the Oakland Raiders, didn’t start playing football at St. Bernard until his junior year.

“I grew up playing basketball, but everybody kept telling me I’m a big guy, I should play football,” Penn said. “Coach Greg Dixon asked me to tryout, and things picked up fast.”

Basketball was Penn’s first love, but it soon became clear football was his future.

“I had basketball dreams, but letters were coming in from colleges for football, not basketball,” Penn said.

Penn was a junior on St. Bernard’s 1999-2000 basketball team that reached the CIF Southern Section Division 4-AA final and the CIF Division 4 State championship game.

Serra High boys assistant basketball coach Bernard McCrumby was a senior on that team with Penn.

“It’s one of my fondest memories, just playing with him,” McCrumby said. “He was a light-hearted dude who kept everyone laughing.”

Everyone except opposing post players.

“He was the big clog in the middle, he took up a lot of space inside,” McCrumby said. “He had soft hands. Even though he was a big boy, he had the most nimble feet of anyone his size I ever played with, just excellent footwork.”

Penn’s nimble feet helped him adjust to being a lineman.

“For a big guy he is so athletic, great footwork, strong and big,” Dixon said.

Penn’s personality helped him become a favorite at St. Bernard.

“Donald was a team leader, one of the more popular guys on campus, all the kids loved him,” Dixon said.

Penn was only lightly recruited out of high school.

“Being at a small school like St. Bernard, he flew under the radar,” McCrumby said. “In this day in age of social media, he would have been a big-time lineman getting tons of offers.”

There were a few Pac-10 schools interested in Penn, but nothing worked out.

“The Oregon schools were interested, but they were hesitant, I’m not quite sure why,” Dixon said. “It was unfortunate, we felt he could play at that level by his senior year.”

Penn actually committed to Arizona at one point, but at the end of the college season, Arizona coach Dick Tomey was replaced by John Mackoric, and the offer went to someone else.

“The new coach wanted to go in a different direction,” Penn said.

Penn said Oregon presented a gray-shirt situation, but that his family could not get a loan to pay for the first semester.

“I still had a couple of offers hanging around,” Penn said.

Penn ended up signing with Utah State, where he redshirted his first year before becoming a four-year standout starter. Despite his success at Utah State, he went undrafted in 2006 before signing with the Minnesota Vikings as a free agent. The Vikings released Penn, then he signed with Tampa Bay. Penn started the last 12 games of the season for the Buccaneers in 2007, and hasn’t missed a start since. He’s started 124 consecutive NFL games, showing amazing durability.

Penn credits Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks with helping him gain traction in the NFL.

“He really took me under his wing, he saw a lot of potential in me that I didn’t really even see in myself,” Penn said. “I started shutting guys down and stirring things up.”

After eight years with Tampa Bay, including one Pro Bowl year, Penn was released and the Raiders picked him up before last season.

“It hurt when Tampa Bay released me, but I look at it like everything happens for a reason,” Penn said.

It helped that Penn grew up rooting for the Raiders.

“It brought me closer to home, and I’m ecstatic to play for the team I grew up cheering for,” Penn said. “Playing for the Raiders is like a dream come true, and hopefully I can help turn things around here, the goal is to win a Super Bowl and retire a Raider.”

And what if the Raiders end up coming to Los Angeles after this season with Penn as the starting left tackle?

“Deep down in my heart, how would I not want to play at home?” Penn said. “Of course it would be amazing. But we have some of the best fans in the country, Raider Nation is everywhere, I love playing here in Oakland, but I’m happy wherever we play.”

Penn immediately helped shore up Oakland’s offensive line, locking down the left tackle position and allowing rookie quarterback Derek Carr to blossom.

Now he’s a veteran leader on the left side of Oakland’s offensive line, mentoring younger players like Gabe Jackson and Matt McCants.

“It’s crazy, when I was younger I’d joke around about how old the other guys were, it seems like just yesterday I was that young,” Penn said. “It’s kind of funny, but I embrace it, I make sure I do everything right, take notes heavily, come early, stay late, work hard, the younger guys see that and follow your lead.”

The likability factor with Penn makes him easy to follow; it’s on display every June at St. Bernard High when Penn and his foundation, which is designed to help low-income youth, host a free football camp.

“I hung out with him a couple of years ago, he’s down to earth, very humble, approachable, qualities a lot of guys don’t have that have his stature,” McCrumby said.