UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Sandy Barbour's mind was made up before the Nittany Lions headed back to Madison Square Garden and cut down the nets after winning the NIT.
Pat Chambers is in line to receive a contract extension at Penn State, one Barbour said Chambers certainly deserves after the Nittany Lions reeled off 26 wins. However, they're not quite at the point of announcing an extension just yet.
"As you all can imagine I don't think we've kept it any secret that we've been talking since the season has been over," Barbour said Thursday. "These things not unlike some other contract situations we've all been involved in they take on a life of their own but we've had really good conversations and I believe that we're close."
Momentum was the word Barbour kept referring to Thursday when she spoke about the future of the program. It's something Chambers hit on as well.
Penn State heads into the offseason without NBA-bound Tony Carr, but Chambers expects everyone else will return. While there's no guarantees for the roster and Nazeer Bostick was granted his release last week in an effort to take on a bigger role elsewhere, Lamar Stevens will return for his junior season and Josh Reaves and Mike Watkins are all expected to be right there with him, Chambers said.
"You love my line about being the best team that we can be by the end of the season and we absolutely were," Chambers said Thursday. "To be sitting here for the first time to say we closed with a victory, man, that feels so much better than the alternative."
Chambers said they're still "working out a few things" with the extension. He signed the original contract in 2011 and it has one year remaining. The Lions have yet to make the NCAA Tournament during that span but should be trending upward after last season's noticeable progress.
Chambers added that his future with the program hasn't been a talking point on the recruiting trail. He expects to be at Penn State and after Barbour said in December they'd see how the Big Ten slated played out before making any decisions about Chambers' future. It's now clear where this program is headed next season, as if the NIT victory didn't already do so.