‘We built something special’

Final part of a three-part feature: Chambers’ departure signals uncertain futures ahead for BU, Penn State alike

Chambers’ departure from BU is nothing out of the ordinary in the college basketball world – in fact, it’s a mere anecdote in a greater trend that regularly takes place in what can be known as the proverbial coaching ladder. After working for years as an assistant, someone like Chambers finally gets a chance at being a head coach, usually at a low-major school like BU. If successful, he will likely attract attention from larger, mid-major programs offering more money and incentives, and more often than not, said low-major coach will jump at that opportunity. From there, there is a plethora of high-major jobs of varying quality and desirability in the six primary conferences that pay seven figures and offer a coach a chance to be at the forefront of the sport.

While his move to Penn State – going from an AE school to a Big Ten basketball program that isn’t a mid-major but certainly pays like one – doesn’t fall in line with the basic coaching trajectory, Chambers made the same kind of move that his mentor Jay Wright did when he left Hofstra University for Villanova in 2001, the same sort of career decision that coaches have been making for decades.

The decision to leave for Penn State makes enough sense to any observer of the game given all the variables at play, but for some, resentment and disappointment may linger with Chambers’ departure. The man who came in to the program promising to turn it into the next Gonzaga or Xavier had just left after two seasons on the job. While two postseason appearances in two seasons is nothing to scoff at, it certainly doesn’t amount to the sustained excellence of a Gonzaga or Xavier, programs that regularly advance in the NCAA Tournament, success that comes from years of diligence and hard work in building the respective programs.

Chambers acknowledged that he can understand a sense of disappointment from the growing BU fan base, but he also noted that he could have never anticipated the series of events that developed in early June.

“I hope they appreciate the hard work that we put in to BU and the basketball program, and I’d like to think that we’re leaving the program in a [better] place than when I started,” Chambers said. “I thought we brought in great kids and good character kids, ones that were into getting their degrees and showed that on the floor, and represented the program and the university in the way that you want it to be represented.

“It wasn’t like I was looking to leave – I signed a two year extension, we were looking for a house. It’s bittersweet. It wasn’t my intention to get there and leave as soon as I could. That wasn’t the plan at all – the plan was long-term. I think we built something special there.”

With his departure to State College, Pa., Chambers will no longer be in charge of building BU into the next Gonzaga or Xavier, but in his mind, his departure does not stifle what he sees as the long-term potential of the Terriers basketball program.

“The talent is there – we had six seniors coming back with some talented sophomores,” Chambers said. “It’s there, but somebody’s just got to keep it going and get those guys to play hard and believe. They’ll do it too because there’s great leadership there [at BU].”

Lynch and the leadership that Chambers alluded to conducted an extensive three-week search in which they had a pool of 50 candidates, 12 of whom Lynch talked with directly and seven of whom interviewed for the position. Ultimately, Lynch and BU administration tabbed Jones as Chambers’ replacement.

But while there is a sense of continuity bringing in another Jay Wright protégé who promises to play an up-tempo style of basketball, the series of events represents a new era of BU basketball, a new tenure with a new coach in place who will craft and mold the program to his own specifications.

Two years after Chambers moved his family and his career north to Boston, he packed his bags and boxed his belongings to head back home. He left behind a bare office and a clean slate for someone new to continue the tireless work and wholesale change he brought about in his 26 months on the job, a stark reality that stands in contrast to his routinely-referenced mantra of “tapping the stone.”

Years from now it is unsure what will become of Chambers’ decision and the direction of the BU basketball program. Chambers could prove many skeptics and pundits wrong and turn what many perceive to be a “dead-end” job at Penn State and make the Nittany Lions a perennial Big Ten contender, a feat that would likely grant him a job at a more prestigious basketball program. Or the possibility always remains that he could fail to do what DeChellis, Jerry Dunn, Dick Harter and many others before him failed to do, which is lure top recruits to rural Pennsylvania, regularly make the NCAA Tournament and make people (and administration) care about basketball at the football-centric school.

As for BU, the hire of Jones could be a different chapter in the same story of BU basketball coaching hires in which the school replaces a successful, up-and-coming coach who bolted for greener pastures (Rick Pitino, Mike Jarvis, Chambers) with someone who fails to continue his predecessor’s work and the program slides back into a state of mediocrity and indifference. Then again, BU could do exactly what a program like Xavier has done and replace its outgoing coaches with someone who can maintain the program’s positive momentum, a situation in which Jones could turn out to be the Sean Miller to Chambers’ Thad Matta.

But regardless of how things play out down the road, Chambers maintains that he will always remember his brief career at BU.

Even if the stone he constantly alluded to was never entirely tapped, he maintains that he will never forget the school that took a chance on him and started what he hopes to be a long and prosperous career as a college basketball head coach.

“I know it was only two years, but we developed trusting relationships and I’m definitely going to miss it, there’s no question about it,” Chambers said. “We loved where we lived and loved Boston – it was an incredible experience.

“If you told me two years ago that I’d be sitting here as the new head coach at Penn State, I would have thought something was wrong with you. It’s just true.”