Patrick Brian Chambers (born December 13, 1970) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach and is the current head coach at

Florida Gulf Coast University Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is a public university in Lee County, Florida, near Fort Myers. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is its second-youngest member. The university was established on May 3, 1991, and is acc ...

. He is formerly the head men's basketball coach at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Biography

Born in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, Chambers played collegiate basketball at

Philadelphia University Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. The university is ...

from 1990 to 1994. Despite joining the team without a scholarship, he left it as the starting point guard and the team record-holder in assists. He is currently 7th all-time in steals and led the team to four NCAA Division II Sweet 16 appearances and two Elite Eight finishes. Chambers took over for

Dennis Wolff Dennis Wolff (born March 1, 1955) is an American basketball coach whose most recent coaching position was with the Virginia Tech Hokies women's team.

as the head coach at Boston University following the 2008–09 season. He was previously the associate head coach at

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

. He started at Villanova as director of operations in May 2004. He was promoted to assistant coach after one season and finally Associate Head Coach in June 2008. Prior to Villanova, Chambers was an assistant at

, Delaware Valley College and

Episcopal Academy The Episcopal Academy, founded in 1785, is a private, co-educational school for grades Pre-K through 12 based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Prior to 2008, the main campus was located in Merion Station and the satellite campus was located in ...

. In his first season at BU, Chambers led the Terriers to a 21–14 overall record and an 11–5 mark in league play. The Terriers fell just short of an America East Tournament Championship after falling to

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

83–70 on March 13, 2010. The team did qualify for the 3rd annual

College Basketball Invitational The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007–08 men's college basketball regular season. The CBI sel ...

and won their first postseason game since 1959. They also hosted the first postseason game in program history, defeating

Morehead State University Morehead State University (MSU) is a public university in Morehead, Kentucky, United States. The university began as Morehead Normal School, which opened its doors in 1887. The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, a two-yea ...

in overtime at Case Gymnasium. In Chambers' second season at Boston University, he again led the Terriers to a 21–14 overall mark, including a 12–4 mark in conference play. They defeated

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

at Agganis Arena to win their sixth conference title and clinch an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. They received a #16 seed and fell to the #1 seed

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools List of college athletic programs in Kansas, in the state of Kansas that participate in ...

in the round of 64 by a score of 72–53. The game marked the Terriers' first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2002. Penn State announced Chambers as the 12th head coach in Nittany Lion basketball history in June 2011. The best season Chambers had at Penn State was the 2017–18 season where the team finished 26–13 and had its highest Big Ten finish in his tenure. The season was highlighted with 3 wins over Ohio State and a 2018 NIT Championship. However, in 2019 Chambers had the team ranked at #23 for their first AP appearance since 1996 after a win over then #4 ranked Maryland and a hot 10–2 start. They reportedly would have made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2011 had the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

not shut down the 2019-20 collegiate season. In July 2020, ''The Undefeated'' (now ''

Andscape ''Andscape'', formerly ''The Undefeated'', is a sports and pop culture website owned and operated by ESPN. Launched May 17, 2016, the site describes itself as "the premier platform for exploring the intersections of race, sports and culture." ...

'') reported that in January 2019, Chambers told freshman point guard Rasir Bolton that he knew he was feeling a good deal of pressure, and wanted to "loosen the noose around your neck." Bolton told his parents about the comment, and his parents drove to State College for several meetings with Penn State officials about Chambers. The relationship between Bolton and Chambers never recovered, and Bolton received an NCAA waiver to transfer to Iowa State and resume playing the following season. According to ''The Undefeated,'' Penn State officials scolded Chambers and referred Bolton to a psychologist who suggested Bolton get used to Chambers' personality type. However, they didn't mount a serious inquiry into the incident until after Bolton began the transfer process. Following ''The Undefeated'' report, Penn State launched an internal investigation into Chambers' treatment of players and assistant coaches. As a result of the investigation, Chambers resigned on October 21, 2020, a month before the start of the 2020-21 season. Assistant coach Jim Ferry was named interim coach for the season. According to David Jones of ''

The Patriot-News ''The Patriot-News'' is the largest newspaper serving Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area in central Pennsylvania. In 2005, the newspaper was ranked in the top 100 in daily and Sunday circulation in the United States. It has bee ...

,'' Penn State's investigation centered around verbal abuse and inappropriate comments on Chambers' part. According to several former players and coaches, Chambers had a short fuse and a penchant for "arbitrary eruptions." Jones said that athletic director Sandy Barbour and school president Eric Barron received the findings, what they saw was enough for them to call Chambers in and force his resignation. At a press converence, Barbour said there was no single tipping point that led to Chambers' resignation. She did say, however, that in the course of the review, a new allegation came to light against Chambers that was "previously unknown to Penn State" and unrelated to Bolton's claims. In November 2021, Chambers was hired as an assistant coach at La Salle under Ashley Howard. He was hired as head coach of

on March 14, 2022. Chambers and his wife Courtney have four children: Grace, Ryan, Caitlin, and Patrick.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Penn State profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, Pat 1971 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Boston University Terriers men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Delaware Valley Aggies men's basketball coaches La Salle Explorers men's basketball coaches Penn State Nittany Lions basketball coaches Florida Gulf Coast Eagles men's basketball coaches People from Newtown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania Jefferson Rams men's basketball coaches Jefferson Rams men's basketball players Point guards Basketball players from Delaware County, Pennsylvania Villanova Wildcats men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen