Yesterday I went with some friends to the Washington (DC) Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) tournament semifinals for boy's basketball. There were 5 Rivals 150 players (including both 2012 and 2013) in one of the semifinals: the Gonzaga-Dematha game, including the #11 ranked junior (and UNC commit), Nate Britt. ESPN has called the WCAC the best HS basketball conference in the nation and the Washington Post labeled the Gonzaga-Dematha rivalry the best HS basketball rivalry in the country.

Why do you care? Because I met Coach Chambers at the games! I noticed him during the intermission between the two games standing courtside about five feet from me, so I introduced myself and we chatted for 30 seconds. He looked tired, but was really nice. I told him I was an alum and was effusively praiseful for what he's done to the program and might have said: "you're the best thing to happen to PSU hoops in my lifetime." The vibe of our interaction was "moderately creepy," but he gave me a head nod later in the day when he walked past.

With the exception of the American University coach (the games were played at AU's gym), my guess is that Chambers was the only college head coach there, though there were definitely a ton of scouts. The fact that Chambers is taking the time to go to these games and meet the players is definitely huge for PSU basketball; frankly, I think a lot of the starters in these games who aren't top-ranked, but end up playing in the small D1 conferences, would probably fit well in Chambers scheme. And if we can just get one or two of these top guys -- even the kids who are freshmen and sophomores now -- PSU hoops can quickly be...wait for it...elite.