WINK News sits down with FGCU’s new men’s basketball coach Pat Chambers

The FGCU Eagles officially have a new head men’s basketball coach. Pat Chambers signed a five-year contract with Florida Gulf Coast University.

Chambers said he plans to bring back the success we saw back in the Dunk City days by dunking in all areas of life. That means slam dunks at home, in the classroom, and in life. And, if you can put it all together, then maybe you can throw down on the court.

Pat Chambers has always been a fighter. “Being the youngest of 12…,” Chambers said.

Yes, you heard that correctly, 12. “Eight boys, three girls. I had to fight for everything. I wore hand-me-downs till I was like, 21,” Chambers said.

It’s that mentality that propelled him from places like Villanova to the head coaching gig at Penn State. But, he believes it’s the things there aren’t any trophies for that offer the biggest rewards in life.

“It’s developing men. What are we gonna do with life after basketball? We’re going to be in the community. We’re going to do charity events,” said Chambers.

But, as we all know, the fans care about the guys on the court. Chambers told WINK News that he’s invested in FGCU, and his players will be, too.

“Retention is going to be our number one recruiting tool. And because we want to keep kids and I have a plan for retention,” Chambers said.

Do you want to know what that plan is? Well, we can’t yet. “But I have to keep that quiet, but I have a plan for retention,” said Chambers.

Well, at least FGCU Athletic Director Ken Kavanagh can tell us what his plan is. “Once somebody comes here, our goal is to get them graduated,” Kavanagh said.

Of course, there was one last question on everyone’s mind. “What does your version of dunk city look like?”

“My version is we’d like to score 70+. But on the other side, we’re going to get stops, and we’re going to fly around. We’re going to defend. We’re going to rebound. We’re going to dive. We’re going to take charges. We’re gonna have a good time, getting dirty,” Chambers said.

Chambers doesn’t have a clean coaching record, though. He resigned from Penn State after almost a decade amid investigations into improper conduct. But Chambers also has another plan, this time about how to win over SWFL in light of his checkered past.