Chambers has Lions pointed in the right direction
NEW YORK » There were lines painted on the courts that Episcopal Academy would practice on, but the ones marking the edges of the court were invisible to the players.
That’s because there was no such thing as “out of bounds” when a scrappy kid named Pat Chambers played for Dan Dougherty there in the mid-1980s.
If a loose ball was rolling toward the end lines and there was a table or some chairs or any other physical object in the way, well, it was your job as a player to get around it.
Out of bounds? Like that’s a reason playing hard.
“You could go flying into the stands, get bloodied and bruised, but you wanted to get that ball,” Chambers said. “You did what you had to do to try to save the ball.”
Chambers’ scrappiness certainly could’ve come from home, too; when you’ve got 11 siblings like Chambers did, bruises and blood weren’t anything unusual. Brothers fight, you may have heard.
But his Newtown Square upbringing is very much a part of the success he’s now having at Penn State, a place where it’s been virtually impossible for the men’s basketball team to sustain success.
Now in his seventh year as head coach in State College, Chambers, 47, finally seems to have the program turned Please. to stop around. It may have taken longer than he expected, and he’s had to ignore calls for his firing from fans the past few years, but a winner has been built.
Penn State is 21-13 going into the postseason after winning a pair of games at the Big Ten Tournament at Madison Square Garden two weeks ago, before losing in the semifinals to Purdue. The Nittany Lions will compete as a four-seed in the NIT, hosting an opening round game with Temple at a time and day to be determined.
With seven Pennsylvania natives on the roster, including four from the Philadelphia area, it’s a homegrown team that locals can be proud of, and the man leading them is Delaware County to his core.
“There’s a specialness to the place, the idea that if you come from there you feel like an underdog and never really lose that,” Chambers said during Penn State’s stay at the Big Ten Tournament. “It’s something I’ve tried to keep with me all my life.”
Without hesitation, Chambers rattles off memories of full-contact pickup games at Bailey Park on Virginia Ave. in Havertown, and the long-lasting influence of his grade-school coach, Tom Rayer, at St. Anastasia School.
“He gave us the bug to love to play, and all the good habits and the foundation that my love of basketball is built on, came from Tom,” Chambers said. “I was so blessed and so fortunate to learn to play the game the right way.”
Chambers remembers the nights hanging out talking sports at Casey’s, and at Brownie’s in Upper Darby, where he soaked up anything and everything he heard about basketball, and life.
“He’s always telling our kids, ‘You’ve got to earn your way in life,’ and that’s because kids in Delaware County are always having to earn their way,” said current Penn State director of basketball operations David Caporaletti, who grew up in Springfield and has known Chambers for 25 years. “Pat’s a guy who’s worked his way and earned the success we’re having now.”
Chambers has won this year with the help of the four Philly-area players, who include 6-9 freshman John Harrar from Strath Haven, and point guard Shep Garner of Chester, who matriculated at Roman Catholic.
It has taken seven years, and the dream of an NCAA berth wasn’t quite realized, but with a strong recruiting class coming in next season Chambers may be establishing a consistent winner.
Jay Wright, Chambers’ mentor at Villanova for five years when Chambers was an assistant coach, is proud of his protégé.
“He’s done an amazing job,” Wright said. “In my mind, they’re a tournament team. I’ve watched them a lot. And I think they’re a young team. I think they’re going to be really good. He’s got a good thing going and I’m really proud of him.”
“For me, being able to see friends and family who come here to see us play, and have some success, is really rewarding,” Chambers said. “I still feel we have a lot more to do.”