Chambers needs to play ball with AAU coaches
The first thing Pat Chambers will have to do to get Penn State to the forefront of recruiting in Southeastern Pennsylvania is forge contacts with the area’s AAU coaches. Penn State’s reluctance to deal with the AAU coaches who so frequently control a prospect’s future has been the major reason for the Lions’ inability to bring in top prospects.
The first thing Pat Chambers will have to do to get Penn State to the forefront of recruiting in Southeastern Pennsylvania is forge contacts with the area's AAU coaches. Penn State's reluctance to deal with the AAU coaches who so frequently control a prospect's future has been the major reason for the Lions' inability to bring in top prospects.
Talk to local amateur coaches, or to observers of the recruiting scene, and they'll tell you Penn State is invisible in AAU circles. No one, in fact, can remember ever seeing a Penn State coach at a major AAU event. And since, in 21st century recruiting, it's the AAU coaches – NOT the high school coaches – who call the shots, this is vital to Chambers' future success.
Villanova, where he honed his craft, has done well in that area. In Chambers' two seasons in Boston, he did well in attracting the mid-major level player. Whether he can attract Big Ten-caliber players from the AAU ranks remains to be seen. And whether they will stay in Centre County if recruited is another question. But he'll have to at least bang on the door.
-- Don McKee
Contact staff writer Don McKee at dmckee@phillynews.com.