Pat Chambers Visits His New Players

Pat Chambers was introduced as the new Penn State basketball coach at the Bryce Jordan Center on Monday to much fanfare. Many believe he'll be able to sell the Nittany Lion program like few before him, and man, is he making a good first impression. Since the press conference, Chambers has been jetting around the country to meet members of his team.

Almost 6,000 miles in two days? I'm relatively certain Joe Paterno hasn't traveled that far for recruiting in a decade and Chambers is doing this just to meet team members who are going to be back at school in a few weeks anyway? Wow. I'm impressed.

So too, apparently, is the new face of the team, point guard Tim Frazier, who lives in Houston, Texas.

I'll be honest. The whole "salesman" thing came off as media schtick to me in the early going, but if this doesn't show the kind of energy and drive this guy has, I don't know what will. No one would have faulted him for giving the players a call and saying "See you soon!" before settling into his new home for the first couple of days on the job. Instead, he went to connect with the players and their families in his first 48 hours on the job. Crazy.

I'm also interested to know who, exactly, is paying for all of this. Unless Chambers has racked up a massive number of rewards miles, you'd have to assume Penn State is kicking in significant coin for at least part of the journey. If it is, well, then this hire is off to a very good start on both sides of the administrative coin.