Patrick Chambers has infectious enthusiasm and a dynamic personality.
He’s an optimist, or he wouldn’t have accepted the challenge of becoming the Penn State men’s basketball coach last June.
Chambers, though, is not Pollyanna-ish. He understands he and the Nittany Lions face an uphill battle to gain national prominence, but he’s willing to make the climb.
“Look, we need to change the perception of Penn State basketball,” Chambers said Monday in Philadelphia during the Penn State Coaches Caravan. “I think we all would agree with that. …We’re changing the culture and changing the environment.”
It will take time. Penn State is not a brand name in basketball. It doesn’t have much tradition, making just four NCAA Tournament appearances since 1965 and one since 2001.
Penn State fans who are in the habit of driving hours to see football games on Saturdays in the fall don’t do the same thing on weeknights and Saturdays in the winter.
The Nittany Lions averaged just 6,937 fans per home game this past season. That’s one thing the 41-year-old Chambers is trying to change.
“We need to pack the BJC (Bryce Jordan Center),” he said. “We need to get people there. We play a good style. We play hard. I’d like to have 15,000 there every night. That’s not the reality right now, so you have to keep doing things like this.
“As a head coach, it’s hard to be patient, but you’re going to have to be.”
In Chambers, Penn State has something it hasn’t had in decades or maybe ever. He’s a young, passionate and outgoing coach who has extensive Philadelphia area ties and an impeccable basketball resume.
He’s exactly the model that Penn State officials should have been pursuing the last few decades.
He grew up in Newtown Square, Delaware County, and played high school ball at Episcopal Academy and then at Philadelphia University for Hall of Famer Herb Magee, college basketball’s all-time leader in wins.
He assisted Jay Wright at Villanova for five years, helping the Wildcats reach the Final Four in 2009. He won 42 games in two seasons as head coach at Boston University before going to Penn State.
In Chambers’ first season, the Lions beat South Florida, Purdue and Illinois and played with more intensity, urgency and hustle than they have in a long while. That doesn’t mean he was satisfied.
“I’m not happy about being 12 and 20,” he said. “I’ll never be happy about having a losing record. Throughout my coaching and playing career, we didn’t lose much.
“But these kids played hard. They competed every single day in practice. They came out and played as hard as they could no matter who it (the opponent) was.”
Chambers knows, however, that his program will go only as far as the talent will take it. He was an outstanding recruiter at Villanova, which has slipped since he left.
D.J. Newbill, a 6-4 transfer from Southern Miss, will play with All-Big Ten first-team pick Tim Frazier next season in the Penn State backcourt. Newbill played at Strawberry Mansion and led the Philadelphia team to the 2010 PIAA Class AA title. Brandon Austin, a 6-6 junior from 2012 PIAA-AA champ Imhotep Charter in Philadelphia, has already committed to Penn State.
And Wednesday, Chambers received an oral commitment from Berks Catholic senior Donovon Jack, a Class AAA all-state first-teamer.
“I’m getting to see a ton of players,” he said. “People are starting to listen. Maybe when I first got here, they weren’t listening. We have to win. Our success this year and in years to come is going to be critical.”
If this guy can’t get it done at Penn State, then who can?
“We’re going to be better, no doubt,” Chambers said. “Guys are getting better. I’m excited.”
