How Penn State men’s basketball and coach Pat Chambers are dealing with the loss of the NCAA Tournament
Head coach Pat Chambers found out from an assistant on the flight home from Indianapolis last week as the Penn State men’s basketball team’s plane descended onto the runway at University Park Airport. Then he heard angst arise from the back of the plane and knew his players also heard the news.
The NCAA Tournament had been canceled amid the growing concerns about the coronavirus.
The bus ride to the Bryce Jordan Center was eerily silent as the team processed news.
Chambers already had to tell the Nittany Lions they wouldn’t be playing in the Big Ten Tournament. But he wasn’t able to tell his players about the NCAA Tournament before they saw it on social media.
“I didn’t want to (discuss it) on the bus,” he said. “So we went to the locker room and it was one of the hardest thing I’ve ever done ... To deliver that news was horrible. It was devastating. Guys were crying, heads were down ... There was no comparison. You just deliver the news and try to comfort them ... That’ll stay with me for the rest of my life.”
Penn State men’s basketball may not get to finish its season, and it may not get send its seniors off with an NCAA Tournament bid, but Chambers plans to do something to honor the 2019-20 team for all it accomplished.
“We will (recognize this as an NCAA Tournament team),” he said. “I think that’s fair. Some people had us as a fifth seed, some people had us as a sixth seed, I don’t think you can steal that away from us. We were an NCAA Tournament team hands down. We’re talking about putting a year up on the banner, but doing a standalone banner ... So there’s items of that being thrown around, rings have been thrown around (to honor the team).”
While this year’s Nittany Lions didn’t technically make the NCAA tournament, they certainly made their case for being recognized as one of the top teams in program history. The 2019-20 Nittany Lions tied the highest AP Poll ranking in program history, won 21 games, including 11 in the Big Ten, and were in a position to win the Big Ten regular season title with two weeks left in the regular season.
Penn State had been looking for a fresh start after losing five of its final six games in the regular season, and the Big Ten Tournament was exactly what the team needed. Chambers and his players were reinvigorated with an opportunity to start over after closing the season with that skid.
That made the cancellations even harder on the head coach and his players.
“We were really excited about a new season, a reset, a (chance to) recalibrate,” Chambers said on a conference call Friday morning. “We had some of our best practices. Our guys looked healthy, heading into the NCAA Tournament.”
For all of the pain the team experienced in its own world — the basketball world — Chambers knows it pales in comparison to what’s going on across the globe with the spread of COVID-19.
But that doesn’t change the impact the cancellations had on him.
“For me and my staff, for our little world, the bubble that we live in ... it’s been devastating,” he said. “Many tears have been shed. I’m getting emotional right now thinking about it. We put our heart and soul (in), we’ve invested so much time and energy and sacrifice.”
The impact was so great that the Nittany Lions head coach was ready to play without fans, even when the tournament was canceled.
“At that time I thought we could play,” he said. “I was definitely an advocate to play in empty arenas ... I talked to our physicians and asked what would be the best solution right now and they said to play, but be in empty arenas and make sure we sanitize everything after the games.”
The cancellations were hard for the players to handle, and prevented them from seeing all of their dreams come to fruition.
That’s why Chambers wanted to see the NCAA move forward with Selection Sunday and a television show on CBS to announce what the NCAA Tournament would’ve looked like had it not been canceled.
He felt his team deserved an opportunity to see Penn State announced as an at-large team in the NCAA Tournament field.
“(We worked) to be able to hear that, to see that,” he said. “To get our kids to that selection show. To have it taken away from you, that’s why I was so disappointed in the NCAA’s decision ... I feel cheated when it comes to something like that.”
The NCAA decided not to move forward with the show, much to Chambers’ dismay, and he’s still searching for a reason why.
“I’d still like an answer,” he said. “It’s not just for me, not just the nine year guys on the staff, but for the players.”
The Nittany Lions may not have heard their names on Selection Sunday, and may not get to play in any postseason tournaments, but that doesn’t change their impact, specifically on Chambers. He went from a head coach on the hot seat to seeking an extension. Now, it’s about securing his long-term future at Penn State.
Chambers responded to a question about his status and if he plans to continue coaching at Penn State next year.
“I love Penn State,” he said. “I think we’ve put ourselves in a position to be a top 25 program. I love the team that I have coming back. I’m extremely hopeful that I will continue to be the coach at Penn State for years to come.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 6:10 PM.
