Penn State Men's Basketball Is COVID-Free, Pat Chambers Says

Penn State has some 'unfinished business' on the basketball court after the abrupt end to 2019 season.

Penn State men's basketball coach Pat Chambers asked fans to knock wood for his team, which has produced no positive tests for COVID-19 through three months of testing.

"Our guys have done an amazing job of sacrificing and being disciplined," Chambers said on Thursday's episode of the Penn State Coaches Show. "... Obviously that could change, but they're taking this very seriously."

Chambers sounded a positive tone for the Lions, who are coming off a 21-win season and what would have been their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2011. He cited returning standouts like Myreon Jones and Myles Dread, the infusion of energy new assistant coach Talor Battle has brought and a lingering bad taste from the season's finish.

"I'm excited about this group, but I do believe they have unfinished business," Chambers said. "A word I’m going to use a lot this year is attack. I don't know if we attacked those last 5-6 games [of the season]. I think we had a bad taste in our mouths about how we finished the season. We can learn a lot from being hunted. We were being hunted as opposed to being hunters."

Penn State still is putting together its 2020-21 schedule, which can include up to 27 games. Chambers said he expects Penn State to play around 20 regular-season games, depending on how it schedules non-conference matchups. The Lions are looking for regional games in which they can rely on bus travel.

"Everything's very fluid, depending on how things fo with football and how testing goes," Chambers said of schedule-building. "... We're working hard on the phones to fulfill a really good schedule, but I think we're headed in the right direction and think this will all work out."

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