The moment the news about BU firing basketball coach Dennis Wolff hit the wire, the coaching carousel was cued. Sure, people could debate and elaborate on why Wolff was given the boot, but that was all in the past and nothing could be done about it. What really mattered for Terrier hoops was who the school would choose to take the reins of the program. After a long and strenuous search, Boston University will be unveiling its new basketball coach today, and his name is Pat Chambers.
If the first thing that comes to your mind is ‘Who’s that?,’ don’t worry ‘-‘- a good majority of the Terrier faithful were probably thinking the very same thing. Pat Chambers is a man who, upon further review, has quite a pedigree, to say the least. He began his career at Delaware Valley College as an assistant and then moved up the ranks to his alma mater, Philadelphia University, where he worked and studied under the legendary Herb Magee. His last stint was at Villanova, where he was the associate head coach for a team that reached this year’s Final Four.
The decision to go with Chambers culminated what was a highly speculated and tumultuous process for Athletic Director Mike Lynch and the BU Athletic Department.
For me, at least, the skepticism began when the athletic department employed the Parker Executive Search Firm, a $75,000 move that you would expect from schools with larger athletic budgets, but certainly not from a place like BU. It seemed strange to let an important search be handled by an organization that prides itself on arranging marriages like Kelvin Sampson with Indiana and Billy Gillispie with Kentucky.
For those of you who are out of the loop, in his two-year reign as IU head coach, Sampson single-handedly tainted a program that had long prided itself on not only winning, but doing so without violating NCAA rules. Gillispie didn’t fare much better. In addition to a pair of mediocre seasons, his free-wheeling and often-abrasive personality alienated school administration and an uber-passionate (albeit delusional) fan base.
Was this really the kind of result BU was hoping to get with the new face of its basketball program?
Names floated out and about for weeks on end, and the speculation hit a peak when BU narrowed down its list. Richard Pitino had the name, but his limited experience and age (26) were too big of risks to take. Andre LaFleur seemed like a possibility, but the recent allegations against the Connecticut basketball program raised questions that no one seemed prepared to answer.
All signs pointed to BU having finally found its man in Tennessee assistant Tony Jones last week, but UT coach Bruce Pearl received a raise from the school to keep him from heading to Memphis. In turn, each of Pearl’s assistants got pay increases, and it got to the point where Jones would be making just as much money staying in Knoxville as he would being the head coach here. Thanks, but no thanks.
So, now we find ourselves where we are now, with the BU basketball program at a crucial juncture in its history, and with a new coach leading the way.
In all honesty, I was initially disappointed with the hire. Like a lot of other Terrier fans, I had gotten caught up in a lot of the commotion of bringing in a ‘name’ guy like Pitino. I was in the minority in that I was a big supporter of bringing Tony Jones in, and I guess I was a little let down when that deal didn’t materialize.
But I kept mulling over the hire, and the more I thought about it, the more I warmed up to the idea of Chambers.
Throughout the search for a coach, the Athletic Department was looking for two things ‘-‘- someone who could come to Commonwealth Avenue and win, and also an individual who could bring more publicity to the team and generate interest among the student body (the latter of which is the more difficult task). It is a lofty expectation that demands an extraordinary individual to attempt it.
His name alone won’t immediately bring BU students in throngs to Case and Agganis, but his track record indicates that he will be more than able to win here. His deep Philadelphia connections could ensure that BU will get quality players not only from the City of Brotherly Love, but also from Washington, D.C., and Baltimore.
Chambers was the longest-tenured assistant on the Villanova staff and got to work for one of the top coaches in college basketball in Jay Wright, who touted Chambers as ‘one of the bright young coaches in the business.’ Maybe he even picked up a few style tips from his soign’eacute;e mentor.
Wolff’s 15-year tenure stands as an anomaly for a Terrier basketball coach. If history is any kind of guide, one of two things will happen under Chambers. He could come in, prove to be successful, win America East Championships, make NCAA Tournaments and then bolt for a bigger and better gig. The other possibility is that he ends up being a disappointment and the BU men’s team continues to underachieve in a conference it should dominate, and the Athletic Department finds itself back at square one.
After some handshakes, photo ops and a series of Q&As today, the Pat Chambers Era will officially begin here at BU. For the sake of Mike Lynch and Terrier basketball fans, hopefully the new regime’s beginning will be better than the ending to the last one.
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