Thursday, June 2, 2011

UPDATE: Rothstein: Chambers 'likely' to Penn State

By Craig Meyer and René Reyes/DFP Staff

Sources indicated that Penn State University will likely hire Boston University head men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers to be the Nittany Lions' next coach, MSG and CBS Network college basketball Jon Rothstein tweeted Thursday.

And on Friday, Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports tweeted that per his sources, Chambers was officially "offered the Penn State job earlier today." After Duquesne University head coach Ron Everhart withdrew his name from Penn State's head coaching search Thursday evening, only Chambers and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter remained as the final two candidates for the Nittany Lions' head coaching job.

However, this afternoon, Gary Parrish of CBS Sports tweeted that "Ron Everhart and Rob Jeter have both publicly withdrawn at Penn State. That means, barring a shock, BU's Pat Chambers is getting the job."

Current BU players may have foreshadowed the official announcement of Chambers' hire at Penn State, with sophomore forward Dom Morris posting on his Facebook status today, "Worst news I heard in my life besides hearing that my father past away...smfh," and sophomore forward Travis Robinson posting, "It's a business...gotta remember that...smh."

Amid these swarm of rumors surrounding the head coaching vacancy at Penn State, Chambers recently had agreed to a contract extension in early May to continue at BU through the 2015-16 campaign.

Chambers, who just completed his second season as the Terriers' bench boss, owns a career 42-28 record, with two postseason tournament appearances, including a berth in the 2011 NCAA Tournament.

Goodman tweeted on Thursday that, per his sources, Chambers has not yet been offered the job, but that he is "in the mix." ESPN's Andy Katz reported Thursday that no decision has been made, but that Penn State had narrowed its finalists for the job down to Chambers and Jeter, stating that both candidates have already interviewed for the position.

If Chambers is indeed hired by Penn State, BU would be placed with the task of conducting a search for a new coach at a very late moment of the proverbial coaching carousel.

A team official said that there was no comment on the situation when contacted by The Daily Free Press this afternoon.

Additionally, in a move that could signal Chambers' departure from Commonwealth Ave., Chambers' former assistant coach Dwayne Killings has accepted the same position at Temple University, according to The Recruit Scoop.

No comments: