ESTERO, Fla. — While the rest of the college basketball world turns it attention to the NCAA Tournament, a new era began Tuesday in Dunk City.
Florida Gulf Coast University Athletics introduced Pat Chambers as the new Men's Basketball Head Coach.
"Four moves in 18 months," Chambers said with tears in his eyes, addressing his family. "Talk about resilience."
Chambers spent the last year at La Salle University where he served as an assistant coach.
But Chambers is probably well known for his time as the former men's head coach at Penn State University. He was with the Nittany Lions for nine seasons before making his way to La Salle in 2021.
Chambers stepped down as head coach from Penn State in 2020. The school said, at the time, he resigned following an internal investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct against him. Penn State did not say what those allegations were.
FGCU officials say they “were aware” of those allegations during the vetting process in their head coaching search.
Chambers briefly addressed the controversies in his address Tuesday.
"I've been continuing to grow and self-educate," he said. "I'm confident that you, my future players will be getting the best leader, best teacher and best coach. I've learned a lot from my past, I promise you that."
The program is filling the void left behind by former head coach Michael Fly, who was let go earlier this month. Fly had been with the team for four years and coached the Eagles to a 21-11 record this year.
