Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/861263
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