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Penn State's Chambers signs 2-year contract extension

03/19/2015, 8:00pm EDT

By Anna Pitingolo

Anna Pitingolo (@anna_pitingolo)
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Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour announced today that head coach Pat Chambers has signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him at the reins of the program through the 2018-19 season.

The extension comes after Barbour recently reaffirmed her commitment to the coach despite another somewhat underwhelming season from the Nittany Lions that nevertheless represented another small step forward for a school whose hoops program has been struggling in a Big 10 conference full of powerhouse programs.

"I am grateful for the commitment and enthusiasm for the men's basketball program [that University president] Eric Barron, Sandy Barbour and the Penn State administration have shown," Chambers said in a press release. "We are proud of what we have accomplished, but know there is so much more ahead. I think our staff and players have laid a foundation to build upon for years to come."

Penn State started the season off strong, going a program best 12-1 in non-conference play before going 4-14 in Big Ten play. Despite the choppy Big Ten performance all season-long, the Lions finished the season winning three of their final four games, including an exciting conference tournament run. Penn State beat No. 5 Iowa and Nebraska in the tournament before falling to No. 4 Purdue in the quarterfinals.

The Nittany Lions' 18-16 season record was the most wins the program has had since the 2011 season, and is the best record the program has had under Chambers in his four seasons at Penn State, in which he has gone 56-75.

Although the results on the court haven't always been positive, Chambers has made his mark as an aggressive recruiter, and that paid off this past signing day. Chambers has the highest-rated recruiting class in Penn State history coming in next season, coming in at No. 30 in ESPN's RecruitingNation's Class Rankings, led by Oak Hill Academy (Va.) guard Josh Reaves and Phelps School (Pa.) forward Mike Watkins.

Although the Nittany Lions will lose the no. 4 all-time leading scorer D.J. Newbill along with Ross Travis, the signees will join eight returning letter winners next year, including Brandon Taylor, Jordan Dickerson, Geno Thorpe and Shep Garner.