Total Embarrassment: Penn State Basketball
Posted: January 17th, 2019, 9:40 am
[font=Calibri]As fans, we want a good basketball program. There is no reason that the athletics department wouldn’t want a good basketball program yet 25 years into joining one of the premiere basketball conferences in the country followed by building one of the nicest arena’s (at the time) in the country, they are as stuck further in neutral as they have ever been.[/font]
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[font=Calibri]Where do they go from here? I mean the easy fix is to let Pat Chambers go and that is something that I think they should do. Pat Chambers brought energy, the highest level of recruiting the program has ever seen, and seems to be very well respected amongst his peers. Yet, here they are in year 8 without a tournament selection and are sitting at 7-11 (0-7). If you look at the numbers, Ed DeChellis probably had a better tenure than Pat Chambers. So if you move on from Chambers, what is the direction you go from there? Penn State has tried about every route. Do they just insert another guy that had a few seasons of success in a smaller conference? Do they try to swing a guy that has roots of success in a major conference program (Thad Maata or Steve Alford type)? Or do they make a run at an assistant from an elite level program? Would high level assistants or coaches with resume’s like Maata or Alford even have interest in this program? My guess is probably not without a huge contract with a long term commitment. I don’t think the program is in a place where they should invest the probably $15 or $20 million contract required to go with a high level coaching prospect or coach with established prior success. There is no track record that points to that working out.[/font]
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[font=Calibri]So does that mean just riding out this wave with Chambers? Maybe. Personally, I think the number 1 rule in firing a coach is knowing that you have a better option for replacement. What does firing Chambers followed by bringing in another coach from a slightly successful mid-major conference really do to make things better? [/font]
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[font=Calibri]I get so tired of hearing the same handful of excuses for the lack of success of this program being thrown around. They emphasize football…well so does Ohio State, Alabama, and Florida and they are all way more successful than Penn State. It’s hard to recruit city kids to play rural basketball…Iowa, Virginia Tech, and Nebraska seem to be doing a much better job of it. The arena is too big and doesn’t produce an atmosphere that is a draw…well be better and fill the arena or find an arena smaller to play in. Penn State will never be a winter sports draw it is too hard to drive up there in the winter…have you seen the hockey and wrestling programs?[/font]
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[font=Calibri]The fix isn’t going to be simple. I don’t think Penn State fans are looking to become the next Duke or Kansas. Heck, I don’t think we even are looking to be the next Michigan or Florida. Just give us a watchable version of basketball. Make the tournament every few years. Not once in 18 years (as a 10 seed that got bounced in the opening round). This is just pathetic. That athletic department should be embarrassed that an athletics department with the size and funding of Penn State is probably the worst basketball program in all of the major conferences. [/font]
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[font=Calibri]Where do they go from here? I mean the easy fix is to let Pat Chambers go and that is something that I think they should do. Pat Chambers brought energy, the highest level of recruiting the program has ever seen, and seems to be very well respected amongst his peers. Yet, here they are in year 8 without a tournament selection and are sitting at 7-11 (0-7). If you look at the numbers, Ed DeChellis probably had a better tenure than Pat Chambers. So if you move on from Chambers, what is the direction you go from there? Penn State has tried about every route. Do they just insert another guy that had a few seasons of success in a smaller conference? Do they try to swing a guy that has roots of success in a major conference program (Thad Maata or Steve Alford type)? Or do they make a run at an assistant from an elite level program? Would high level assistants or coaches with resume’s like Maata or Alford even have interest in this program? My guess is probably not without a huge contract with a long term commitment. I don’t think the program is in a place where they should invest the probably $15 or $20 million contract required to go with a high level coaching prospect or coach with established prior success. There is no track record that points to that working out.[/font]
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[font=Calibri]So does that mean just riding out this wave with Chambers? Maybe. Personally, I think the number 1 rule in firing a coach is knowing that you have a better option for replacement. What does firing Chambers followed by bringing in another coach from a slightly successful mid-major conference really do to make things better? [/font]
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[font=Calibri]I get so tired of hearing the same handful of excuses for the lack of success of this program being thrown around. They emphasize football…well so does Ohio State, Alabama, and Florida and they are all way more successful than Penn State. It’s hard to recruit city kids to play rural basketball…Iowa, Virginia Tech, and Nebraska seem to be doing a much better job of it. The arena is too big and doesn’t produce an atmosphere that is a draw…well be better and fill the arena or find an arena smaller to play in. Penn State will never be a winter sports draw it is too hard to drive up there in the winter…have you seen the hockey and wrestling programs?[/font]
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[font=Calibri]The fix isn’t going to be simple. I don’t think Penn State fans are looking to become the next Duke or Kansas. Heck, I don’t think we even are looking to be the next Michigan or Florida. Just give us a watchable version of basketball. Make the tournament every few years. Not once in 18 years (as a 10 seed that got bounced in the opening round). This is just pathetic. That athletic department should be embarrassed that an athletics department with the size and funding of Penn State is probably the worst basketball program in all of the major conferences. [/font]