Penn State men's basketball players still searching for answers after Pat Chambers' resignation

Izaiah Brockington opened up preseason media availability with a quick statement about his former head coach Pat Chambers, an uncommon action from a player. The junior guard gathered his thoughts and spoke softly.

“I was shocked and hurt by the decision that coach made (to resign),” Brockington said. “As a team we’re all committed to this season. … As a team we decided that we want to play this season out for coach and for each other. That’s really the No. 1 thing on our mind right now.”

Shortly after Brockington took center stage, senior guard Jamari Wheeler did the same. Again, opening with a statement.

“We miss him, a lot,” Wheeler said about Chambers. “We wish he was here still battling with us and helping us through this whole season, coaching us. But unfortunately some circumstances won’t allow him to be here with us. Which, I’m still confused and don’t understand how that happened. … We love him so much. … He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever played for, and I’d still love to play for (him) if he was still here.”

It’s been nearly a month since Chambers abruptly announced his resignation from his post as the leader of the men’s basketball program. Yet, Brockington, Wheeler and other Nittany Lions still feel as if their questions haven’t been answered and the departure of their coach still perplexes them.

Chambers announced his resignation Oct. 21 after the Penn State athletic department conducted an internal investigation into Chambers’ conduct. The investigation was started after new allegations of inappropriate conduct by Chambers were unearthed following a report by “The Undefeated” this summer, citing previous misconduct issues. Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour said she and university President Eric Barron received the internal review report inside the two weeks prior to Chambers’ resignation.

The former head coach came under fire in the spring for his comments to former Penn State guard Rasir Bolton that came to light, detailed by “The Undefeated,” about “loosening a noose” around Bolton’s neck, in reference to relieving the pressure the former Nittany Lion was feeling.

Wheeler came to Chambers’ defense on the matter Wednesday afternoon.

“I noticed a bunch of things about him being racist,” he said. “For me, I’ve been here four years, a Black athlete that plays for him. … I didn’t get questioned not one time if coach (was) racist or anything like that.”

The incident was the second in which Chambers was scrutinized for his behavior. He was suspended for a game in the 2018-19 season after pushing now-junior guard Myles Dread during a game against Michigan. The guard, however, says that incident has been overblown and shouldn’t have received the attention it did in recent months.

“I believe that that was blown completely out of proportion,” Dread said. “The situation was handled and it was handled extremely fast. Coach Chambers dealt with it with the administration. Then, after that, for it to come up again was absolutely unnecessary and uncalled for.”

Now that Chambers is gone, Brockington, Dread and Wheeler — along with other Nittany Lions — are still waiting for a sense of finality on why he isn’t their head coach this year.

They’re still actively seeking out what happened that caused Chambers to resign and why the decision was made.

“I’m not at peace with it,” Dread said. “I will not be at peace with it until everybody has answers on why. But that is all I have on the subject.”

Wheeler began to elaborate on what happened in the lead-up to the announcement from Chambers that he wasn’t going to lead the team into the 2020-21 season after landing it in the top 25 and facing a near-certain bid into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his tenure last season.

“We haven’t gotten any answers,” Wheeler said. “It was hard because earlier that day we had a meeting with a couple of the people on the staff at Penn State, because we knew something was kind of off in the two weeks leading up to it. We just felt a vibe. So me and a couple guys just had a private meeting with a couple of staff members that’s up above. Was told that everything was good …”

Then Wheeler suddenly stopped talking as another voice on his Zoom call cut off his response. The senior guard asked if the reporter could restate the question. His new response was much different than the original.

“Can I just get the next question please?” Wheeler said. “I’m sorry about that.”

Since the decision came down, the uncertainty around the program has bubbled to the surface. According to a report by StateCollege.com’s Ben Jones, redshirt freshman forward Patrick Kelly is in the transfer portal, while all three of the Nittany Lions’ commitments in the 2021 recruiting class have since decommitted.

With the lack of incoming talent and the frustration within the current roster about the departure of their former head coach, the future of the program is anything but certain. A timetable for hiring a new head coach hasn’t been laid out by Barbour since she promoted assistant Jim Ferry to the interim head coach position.

There are plenty of questions to be asked about the direction of the program moving forward. It remains to be seen — however — if those questions will be answered, considering even the players seem to be left in the dark.