Blue White Illustrated

September 2017

Penn State Sports Magazine

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Penn State adds Ferry to coaching staff Former Duquesne head coach Jim Ferry has joined Patrick Chambers' sta; as an assistant. Penn State announced the addition on Aug. 1. "We absolutely seized the opportunity to bring a person and a coach of Jim's caliber into our Penn State basketball family," Chambers said. "We've been good friends for a long time, and his ex- tensive experience, perspective and ability to develop and recruit players will have an immediate impact on our program." Prior to his :ve years at Duquesne, Ferry spent 10 seasons as head coach at LIU Brooklyn, guiding that program to Northeast Conference regular-season titles and tournament championships in 2011 and 2012, including their :rst NCAA tournament appearance in 14 years. Ferry engineered a turnaround at LIU Brooklyn, inheriting a team that had won only :ve games in the season before his arrival. He transformed the Blackbirds into consistent winners, posting back- to-back campaigns of at least 25 wins. "Through the years as competitors and friends, I have watched how Coach Chambers and his sta; have built this program up," Ferry said. "It's an exciting time for Penn State basketball, and to be able to contribute to the success is something I'm really looking forward to. I'm already familiar with this great uni- versity and have a strong connection, as my oldest daughter graduated from Penn State and my youngest daughter is a current student. I'm proud to say I'm a part of it now, too." With his offense-minded approach, Ferry has produced some of the na- tion's top-scoring squads. LIU Brook- lyn was the fourth-highest-scoring team in the country in 2011, and the 2012 Blackbirds ranked second, scoring at a clip of 81.4 points per game. In ad- dition to steady improvements in other key statistical markers at Duquesne, the Dukes averaged nearly 80 points per game in 2015-16. Ferry's Duquesne teams reached sev- eral milestones, including a 17-win mark in 2015-16, setting a school record for points (2,704) and netting 322 3-point :eld goals, the third-highest total in At- lantic 10 Conference history. During that season, Ferry celebrated his 300th career coaching win, and the Dukes helped add to that total with a trip to the postseason. Nittany Lions win two at Bahamas tourney Penn State went 2-0 during its trip to the Bahamas in early August, with wins over the New Providence Basketball As- sociation All-Stars (109-105 in double overtime) and Providence Storm (112- 63) at the Summer of Thunder tourna- ment in Nassau. Sophomore guard Tony Carr's 3- pointer broke a 105-105 tie with 18 sec- onds le= in the :rst game, and freshman guard Jamari Wheeler added a free throw for the :nal margin. Carr :nished with 26 points. Senior guard Shep Garner had 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting from behind the arc. Sophomore forward Lamar Stevens added 16 points and 11 re- bounds. "I thought our kids showed some guts, and some heart and, most importantly pride," Patrick Chambers said. "It was de:nitely a di

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