FORT MYERS, Fla. – Head coach Pat Chambers announced today the addition of Karl "KJ" Baptiste, Jr., as an assistant coach for the FGCU men's basketball program. Baptiste joins the Eagles after spending the past season as the Director of Recruiting and Video at Albany.
 
"KJ brings a passion and enthusiasm every day which helps naturally elevate everyone around him," said Chambers. "He is a terrific recruiter and a talented young coach. His work with our players on a daily basis will be key to their career development."
 
Baptiste joined Albany last spring after serving as a Graduate Assistant Manager with the Penn State men's program from 2019-21. While at Penn State alongside Chambers, Baptiste covered player development, recruiting, scouting, and administrative scheduling/planning for the team, contributing to a historically high-achieving Penn State team in 2019-20 that finished with a 21-10 record. 

Before Penn State, Baptiste served as an assistant coach for the Brimmer and May School varsity boys' basketball program from 2016 to 2018. There, he spearheaded development at the school through various channels, working through recruiting and networking to build a consistently better team. He worked with players on skill development, maintaining accurate statistics to improve weight training and fitness program effectiveness, and developed numerous future college athletes. 

Baptiste is also the CEO and founder of KJ's Summer Runs, which he created in May of 2019. KJ's Summer Runs coordinates summer basketball pick-up games for top-level collegiate and professional athletes, located in the greater Boston area. NBA players who have played in the Summer Runs include Marcus Smart, Lamar Stevens, the late Terrence Clark, Bruno Fernando, Duncan Robinson, Bruce Brown, and Carson Edwards. Additionally, he worked for three years with the Nike EYBL (BABC Program) as the assistant director of operations.

He graduated from Brandeis University in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in sociology. He was a member of the basketball program from 2014-16, served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and organized numerous initiatives and fundraising events. He earned a MPS in Psychology of Leadership from Penn State in 2021 as well.
 
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COACH CHAMBERS
Pat Chambers was officially introduced as the fifth FGCU men's basketball head coach in March 2022 bringing a wealth of experience in college basketball highlighted by head coaching stints at Penn State and Boston University. Chambers spent nine years leading the Penn State (2011-20) program and two years as head coach at Boston University (2009-11). He has 190 career victories in that span including four 20-plus win seasons. Part of his career as a head coach was highlighted by leading the Nittany Lions to a No. 9 national ranking in 2019-20 which tied the program's best-ever ranking set in 1996. Prior to becoming a head coach, he spent five seasons as part of the Villanova staff helping the Wildcats to a Final Four (2009), two Elite Eight, and three Sweet Sixteen appearances during his tenure.
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 90 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 44 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 25 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2021) each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
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