It’s been just about seven weeks since Patrick Chambers was named the 12th coach in Penn State basketball history. A Pennsylvania native, Chambers spent the previous two seasons as head coach of Boston University, where his teams went 42-28.
Chambers, 40, cut his teeth in collegiate basketball working under Jay Wright at Villanova. Now, he has his own program at in the Keystone State. Chambers sat down with Mike Poorman on Tuesday in the HUB on campus.
The two-part interview concludes today. To read and see video of Part 1, click here.
You’ve already have an early commitment (Akosa Madueg- bunam, a 6-foot-3 swingman from Charlestown, Mass.), right? Can you talk about him?
I can’t. He is a verbal. A good one.
Do you have any more scholarships to give? How is that looking?
One. We’re working very hard. We’re out working very hard. Every stone has been turned over.
When you are out on the circuit, like camps, what are people telling you?
I’ll tell you, nothing but positives. I sit with coaches. They couldn’t be happier for me. A ton of them have said, “I always thought that was a great job. I think that’s a great job. Big Ten’s a great conference. What a great league you’re in.” Positive, upbeat.
It’s the Big Ten. It’s got football, we’re on the cutting edge of doing things differently. It’s everything you want. It’s everything that I want. And I think it’s the most well-run league out there, so I’m excited to be a part of it.
Can you talk a little bit about BU and what you learned in your two years as a head coach?
I just learned to be one, a little more patient. We had success, but you can’t get it all right away, especially in the non-conference at a lower level.
You have to have a vision of what you want. You have to set goals, but they can’t be too lofty because if they are too lofty you won’t hit those goals. Personally it will hurt your ego and (hurt) mentally. For the team it will hurt because they think they’re failing. It’s OK to fail; that’s not a bad thing. But you also have to keep things in perspective.
It really taught me that I am in charge. Leadership doesn’t take a day off. It’s 365 and people are going to need answers and people are going to need guidance. You have to be on 365 days a year, be ready to make some hard decisions. Hard ones. And I’ve made some difficult decisions.
I think for the most part, when I look back at those two years, I wouldn’t have done anything differently. I’m really pleased how everything turned out. A couple of things here and there, basketball-wise. In the offseason you like to go back when you are not so attached to the games or teams, and say, “Why did I do this?”
That’s probably the greatest thing I’ve learned: You can’t make emotional decisions. You have to sit on something for 24 hours, really look at it from every angle, depending on what the decision is. Then make a wise and very detailed thought-out response.
Any tough decisions in the first seven weeks here?
Not really, not yet. Staff was important to me and I think it all fell into place because of being patient. I like the guys that we have.
I like that Tim (Curley, the athletic director) and Graham (Spanier, the university president) allowed me to go out and see all of the players before they got here so they knew who I was. The administration was very supportive of that.
For the most part, there have been a few bumps in the road, but nothing too crazy.
Are there parameters about how often you want to make it to the postseason? Is it fair to say every season? Is it fair to say every other season?
Is it OK to say I’m greedy?
I will tell you that I’ve won in every chapter of my life, whether it be grade school, high school, college, being a businessman, when I was an assistant coach, when I was a head coach. We’ve had success. I’ve had success in all levels of my life.
I don’t expect it to be any different here. I went to Villanova (as an assistant), where we went to the (NCAA) tournament five years in a row. They’ve gone eight years in a row now. I think they and Pitt are the only teams to do that.
I want to start a streak like that. That’s the goal. Then let’s not just be happy to be there, let’s do some damage and make some things happen.
Can you talk about your first job? You were in sales, right?
I started in pharmaceutical sales, then the company got bought out. I actually worked in Allentown for Dave’s (Caporaletti, an administrative assistant) dad, it was incredible. But then I left and worked for my brothers. They brought me up the chain. It was hard.
What were you selling?
Printing, copiers, faxes. Magazines, newspapers, brochures. Very difficult to sell. Cut-throat. And those 10 years taught me how to be organized, how to be detailed, how to have a work ethic. You hear a lot of “no’s.”
No one realizes that when you’re recruiting you hear a lot of “no’s.” You can’t let that affect you. You have to be like a relief pitcher in baseball. You throw that pitch, home run, “OK, give me the baseball.”
What can you do? You have to keep working. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure it affected me throughout those 10 years. But it fuels the fire.
You seem have a great wife (Courtney), so it looks like you got at least one “yes.”
With her, as they, I outkicked my coverage big-time.
Was it a tough sell?
When we met it was like we knew. You just know. People used to tell me that when you’re dating, “You’ll just know.”
My wife, without question, is the head associate coach. She’s phenomenal with the emotional part of it, the metal of it. She really helps me in every capacity. She may not be great with what happens on the court with X’s and O’s, but when it comes to relationships she’s great. And she does a great job with my kids (Grace and Ryan).
You were in an accident…(Chambers pulls down his shirt collar to show a scar on his neck)…about what happened there?
I won’t tell too much of the details. Wrong place, wrong time. I got jumped from behind and got stabbed. (He points to the scar.) In the back and across the front here.
I almost died. I think that’s why I don’t need to sleep as much. I wake up with a sense of gratitude and I am so excited to have a second chance. Every day. There’s no question about it.
We all have tough days, c’mon. I’m not going to sit here and say I have good days everyday. But out of a year, I have mostly good days.
I always say this is the greatest thing to ever happened to me and I truly mean that. I was headed down a path that was obviously not the right path. And I got completely derailed and knocked back.
I just chose another path and it was the right one. It’s pretty amazing, actually, when you think about where I was at when I was 31 and I’m 40 — what’s transpired in nine years.
When you were 31…
…I was a high school coach. I became an owner of the company. I had a good life. I had a nice life.
I read where you would show up for basketball practice in your tie and your starched shirt, just come off the business side.
I would jump out of the car like this (a suit), but I probably took the tie off and would jump right in.
So what was the decision that made you change your life that way?
I wanted to follow my passion. The money was driving me. I enjoyed the money, I enjoyed the social life that I was having. I could do as I wanted, come and go as I pleased. Looking at my checking and savings accounts was fun. Then I realized it’s not about materialistic things, it’s not about money — you need to follow your passion.
My brothers thought I was crazy. I left the company, lived in the basement of one of my friend’s houses. I literally was making nothing. It was a humbling experience. I liked to buy nice clothes, I like to go out, I liked to pay for people. That stuff was over.
I was director of ops (for Villanova basketball). At the time, nine years ago, it was very poor pay considering what I had been making. So it was a little bit of a reality check, a little bit of an eye-opening experience. I had difficult days that first year.
I used to be the boss. But now I was low man on the totem pole. Not only was Jay Wright my boss, but I had three assistants telling me what to do too. It was a great challenge. But you know what, they always say that if you work more hours than the money you make, someday that will turn around.
You mentioned about CEO of the basketball program. Joe Paterno is CEO of a $70 million corporation. You’re CEO of a company that grosses $7, $8, $9 million ($8.38 million in 2009-2010, according to the U.S. Department of Education). How much do you think about the financial imperative in your role?
I don’t think of it the way you are saying it. But I do think of it overall as, “OK, we really have to market, put a great team on the floor. I really have to go out and be seen, and give speeches, give lectures, reach out to the alumni, do community service.”
That’s important to me. I want to be seen in the community. I want to do anything I can to help the basketball program and change the perception. The perception for whatever reason in Philly has been that Penn State is really football, and has nothing to do with basketball — that basketball is kind of a hit or miss, which is not true. 2009 NIT, 2011 NCAA Tournament. That’s not hit or miss; that’s pretty good. That’s not bad at all. That’s some winning right there.
So I have to keep it at a high level. But we do look at the budget, we do look at numbers, I do look at ticket sales, I do look at season ticket-holders. We just had a meeting about that. I do want to generate more season ticket-holders, I do want to generate more of a relationship with the students. That’s why I have Twitter – 3,500 followers now. And I want to have a connection with the students, so we are going to do some things to make sure we have that.
What is the best thing that has happened basketball-related since June 4 – besides getting the job?
My family’s here – that was a piece that was a void, I was missing something. Now that my wife and kids are here, that would be that piece.
I think our kids are working hard. And getting an early commitment was nice. One of those two.
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