Story originally appeared in Florida Weekly

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- When Patrick Chambers was a boy, his eight older brothers included him in the basketball games that turned into football games.

As Patrick grew older, his brothers regularly took him to pick-up games around the Philadelphia playgrounds.

"We're a tribe," Chambers' brother Tim said. "Mom insisted on us taking our little brother. He regularly tagged along. It was a big part of our upbringing."And he was never too young to get him on the court."

Flash forward to March 15, 2022, when Florida Gulf Coast University officially named Chambers as its men's basketball coach. He quickly reached out to forward Zach Anderson, guard Caleb Catto and other FGCU players who had eligibility remaining.

He told them he wanted them to be part of his team. They would not be left behind.

Chambers' commitment established a bond, a trust with his players.

They've responded with a 14-11 record, which started with a season-opening win over USC and former coach Andy Enfield, who led the Eagles on that memorable run to the Sweet 16 in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

"We've bought into what coach is preaching," said guard Isaiah Thompson, a comment Catto echoes.

A devout Catholic, Chambers developed five pillars that are the foundation of his program — accountability, faith, humility, gratitude and passion.

These words have resonated with players like Anderson and Catto.

In this new world of college athletics — where players can transfer without sitting out a season while potentially receiving legal money on the side because of name, image and likeness opportunities — the grass always seems greener at the next college campus.

Chambers squelched those thoughts.

"You're my No. 1 recruit," he told Catto, his glue guy.

"It's a clean slate," he told Anderson.

He also told the other players his house would be re-arranged, reconfigured and revamped — but not cleaned out.

"That's not my approach," Chambers said. "Messaging is critical. We wanted to keep these kids. They're good kids. The prior regime did a good job recruiting. We want to keep our players, have them get degrees, and we want to develop them into men."

Inspired play

On the court, Anderson and Catto made man-sized contributions when the Eagles opened ASUN Conference play.

In the ASUN opener against Jacksonville, FGCU trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half before Anderson led a rally. In a 7½-minute stretch, he had a layup, jumper, dunk and two free throws, assists on three, 3-pointers and three rebounds.

He also had a block, which looked more like he swallowed a shot with one hand.

The Eagles won 72-65.

Two nights later, Catto delivered one of the rarest plays in college basketball — a four-point play. He made the 3-pointer and free throw with 13 seconds left in the game when the Eagles trailed 75-71.

The play spurred FGCU, which won in overtime 84-79.

While Chambers said Catto deserved to take the shot because of the work he put in, Johnson said his preparation also put him in position to deliver at crunch time.

"Coach Chambers said when you start to focus on attitude, everything else opens up," he said.

Importance of family

The tough love Chambers received as a youth prepared him well.

A talented high school senior in the Philadelphia area, Chambers didn't receive a scholarship. But he earned one by the time he left Philadelphia University when the point guard finished as the school's record-holder in assists while helping the team make four NCAA Division II Sweet 16 and two Elite Eight appearances.

"Physically and mentally, I was more resilient, gritty, because of my upbringing," Chambers said. "I've been an underdog my entire life. I know the role very well. In high school and college, I was told I couldn't do this, couldn't do that. There were naysayers. So I thought 'I gotta do this for myself.'"

After earning a degree in marketing, Chambers became a businessman while coaching basketball at Philadelphia University, Delaware Valley College and Episcopal Academy.

Then-Villanova coach Jay Wright noticed. His children attended Episcopal Academy. Wright coached at Villanova from 2001-22 where he won two national championships.

"I always liked him, his energy, his personality. I loved his way with people," Wright said. "And then I saw how good he was at practicing with and developing kids. So I went to him and said 'You're good at this. You should consider doing this full time.' He's old school. He went into this to become an educator."

Wright hired Chambers as Villanova's director of operations in 2004. He was promoted to assistant coach after one season and then associate head coach in 2008. Chambers then left for Boston University where he became head coach for two seasons before Penn State hired him.

Chambers coached the Nittany Lions until 2020. He and the school parted ways after he made a comment to a black player that was ruled insensitive.

"That was a bad break," Wright said. "But he handled it well."

Chambers faced the situation head on as he took sensitivity training.

He also spoke to black friends, including some of his former players, family, mentors, administrators. Their message: Get back into coaching.

Chambers realized he couldn't hide.

Isolation is the worst thing," he said. "Educate yourself, keep moving, self-heal, grow and learn."

Chambers' staff includes several former players and personnel members. David Caporaletti spent 10 seasons with him at Penn State, where Assistant K.J. Baptiste, Jr., also served as a graduate assistant from 2019-21. Assistant Matt Griffin played for Chambers at Boston University. Penn State's 2018 NIT Champion captain Shep Garner is FGCU's director of video operations and FGCU's director of operations Kevin Hudash is also a former Penn State colleague.

Year 1 has had highlights and tough times. There have been injuries, there have been overtime defeats.

But no matter how rough times get, Chambers wants his players to know he's there. When they're substituted for during a game, whether they played well or not, the coach will instinctively slap hands with them.

"I want them to know I have their back," he said. "I read somewhere how important it is to have human contact. It's important to be connected and supportive of one another in any way, shape or form."

FGCU director of athletics Ken Kavanagh said he looked at Chambers' overall character when he made the hire.

"His strong faith plays into who he is," Kavanagh said. "He's a major role model with young people and he's a tremendous ambassador for the university and the community.

"His optimism and positive perspective overall exude a confidence more than just Xs and Os."

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS, MINI PLANS AVAILABLE 
Tickets for the 2022-23 FGCU Basketball season are on sale now and can be purchased by going online to www.FGCUTickets.com or calling 866-FGCU-TIX. Group tickets can also be purchased for 10 or more people – making a memorable evening for families, businesses, or other organizations. 
 
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN 
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow! 
 
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 204 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 (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/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 https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.  
 
ABOUT FGCU 
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 94 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 47 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22 and No. 25 in 2022-23) beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & 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 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. 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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