The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles and Pat Chambers have agreed to a deal that will make him the basketball program’s next Head Coach. Chambers resigned from the Penn State Nittany Lions in 2020 after an internal investigation revealed inappropriate conduct including referencing a noose when talking to a player during the 2018-19 season. He is set to replace former Florida Gulf Coast Eagles Head Coach Michael Fly who was fired after just four seasons.
CONFIRMED: Pat Chambers will be the new head coach of FGCU’s Men’s Basketball ? ?
The university will introduce Chambers as the 5th HC in program history during a press conference tomorrow at 10 a.m. @Fox4Now @FGCU_MBB pic.twitter.com/GPpmdHlT32
— Calvin Lewis (@CalvinLewisTV) March 14, 2022
While with the Penn State Nittany Lions, Pat Chambers led the team to a 148-150 overall record and a 56-110 record in the Big Ten. In those nine seasons, the team did not make the NCAA Tournament but did make the NIT and CBI Tournaments once each. The 2017-18 season saw the Penn State Nittany Lions win the NIT Championship. It is possible the team would have made the 2020 NCAA Tournament had it not been canceled due to COVID-19.
“I’ve learned a lot from my past.” New FGCU head coach Pat Chambers talking about how much he’s been able to grow personally over the last 18 months.
— Derek Kopp (@DerekKoppTV) March 15, 2022
This hire will be met with controversy and it will be up to Pat Chambers to convince people he really has grown as a person. The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles expect to make the NCAA Tournament and it’s been a long time since Chambers has accomplished that goal. The last time he led a team there was in the 2011 NCAA Tournament season with Boston University.
