Penn State men’s basketball coach Pat Chambers is stepping down from his position, the school announced Wednesday. Assistant coach Jim Ferry will serve as the interim coach for the 2020–21 season, which will kick off in just about a month. Chambers, 49, has spent the last nine seasons at Penn State, leading the Nittany Lions to a 21–10 overall record and 11–9 Big Ten record.
In July, former Penn State guard Rasir Bolton said on Twitter that the reason he decided to leave Penn State was because of a comment made by Chambers that referenced “a noose around my neck.” Bolton said that in January 2019, Chambers said in a meeting, “I need to get some of this pressure off you. I want to loosen the noose that’s around your neck.”
Chambers’s resignation comes after Penn State conducted an internal investigation of the coach. After Bolton’s comments, Chambers issued a statement apologizing for his choice of words. After Penn State announced Chambers’s departure, he issued a statement saying he would be taking a “step back” from coaching while thanking the Penn State community.
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