Reports: Pat Chambers will be DeChellis Replacement
They say that where there’s smoke, there’s fire–and over the past few hours, there’s been plenty of smoke surrounding current Boston University head coach Patrick Chambers, and the Penn State basketball program to which he may be headed.
Less than an hour ago, Jon Rothstein, of CBS Sports and MSG Network, tweeted that his sources were telling him that Penn State would likely name Chambers their next head coach of the basketball program, a report that was corroborated by Ben Jones, of Victory Bell Rings and Black Shoe Diaries.
If that wasn’t enough, another Twitter report surfaced, indicating that Dwayne Killings, an assistant coach at Boston University, was leaving BU to assume the same position under Fran Dunphy at Temple–an upward move, to be sure, but one that makes perfect sense if it comes in the wake of Chambers leaving that school for Penn State. (UPDATED 8:17 PM) Jeff Goodman, arguably the most well-respected name in breaking college basketball, added more circumstantial evidence, reporting that Ron Everhart–who was reported to be one of the top 3 candidates for the Penn State job, and who, alongside Chambers, interviewed for the position today–will remain at Duquesne.
Due to his impressive resume, prolific work as a recruiter, and significant ties to the fertile recruiting grounds of Philadelphia, Chambers was the preferred coaching candidate of quebecpenspinning and of much of the Penn State fanbase–after the exceedingly unlikely alternatives, such as Bob Knight or Larry Brown.
We profiled Chambers earlier this week, but here’s the Cliff’s Notes version: He was an assistant at Villanova for 5 years, eventually becoming Jay Wright’s right-hand man and recruiting coordinator. It was Chambers who brought in much of the core of Villanova’s recent tournament teams–players like MouphtaouYarou, Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes, Maalik Wayans, and Isiah Armwood. He moved on to Boston University, and immediately turned around a program on the downslope, guiding them to consecutive 21-win seasons and their first NCAA appearance in 8 years, where the Terriers hung with Kansas for more than 30 minutes before ultimate falling.
Should this report turn out to be fact, we ought to be elated. Throughout the coaching search, I, for one, had a persistent nagging feeling in the back of my head, that Tim Curley would replace Ed DeChellis with a similarly unattractive candidate, one who hardly boasted the potential to reform a Penn State program that requires an overhaul. But Pat Chambers is not that kind of coach.
Better days are likely ahead for Penn State basketball, unless these reports, much like Ed DeChellis’ continued employment at Penn State, is merely a cruel joke on the Nittany Lion fanbase.
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