It's debatable that Penn State basketball will ever be a consistent national threat, but this much is certain: The Nittany Lions will never be one if they can't get their share of talent from the lush Philadelphia recruiting region.
That makes Philly native Patrick Chambers a good hire.
It's not the best hire PSU could have made because the school - given its candidate pool - clearly showed it isn't interested in paying a coach a lot of money.
So Chambers is the best coach Penn State thought it could afford. He'll probably be making in the $600,000-$700,000 range and will be by far the lowest-paid coach in the Big Ten - just as Ed DeChellis was.
Finances aside, Chambers has the right kind of background and personality for Penn State.
"He has great ties" to Philadelphia recruiting, according to Altoona native Doug West, a friend of Chambers' from their days as assistants at Villanova.
Chambers also is said to be a fiery guy who can excite not just recruits but also fans, so he's a coach people can rally behind.
Will he be consistently successful at PSU? Can any coach?
Chambers has the right credentials but also now has one of the toughest jobs in major college basketball as he takes over a program with little tradition at a football-crazed school.
He will take his lumps this year, as any coach would given the state of the Lions' depleted roster.
But if Chambers can quickly tap into his Philly connections and sell kids on the program's future, Penn State just might have one.
Cory Giger can be reached cgiger@altoonamirror.com or 949-7031
