Penn State men’s basketball head coach Pat Chambers addressed the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant at his weekly press conference on Monday afternoon.

He opened his press briefing with a statement about the tragedy, which you can read below:

It was a trying day for sure — for everybody out there who Kobe affected. I’d be remiss not to say something. I have a quote of Kobe’s up in our practice facility about dreams and goals. I first watched him as a high school player — Lower Merion. My brother was an assistant for [one of Lower Merion’s opponents]. I remember it like it was yesterday — what a talented young man.

He went through some peaks and valleys, for sure, as a human being. But it’s unfortunate that tragedy puts life in perspective for everybody. What’s truly important is, obviously, faith, family, and friends, and today we woke up with a great reminder [of that]. If you didn’t go home last night and hug your kids, you should’ve — that’s what I do. At any second, it could be gone.

I talk to my players about making a positive impact on their teammates, community, this university, and their life when they leave here. I think that’s truly important.

What can you learn from Kobe? You learn from a guy who was so determined to be the best and sacrificed a lot — social life, things of that nature. And he has his ups and downs and scandals, but that’s what we learn from him as athletes and leaders. I show video clips of Kobe whenever I can, and I quote Kobe whenever I can.

He was a villain in the NBA, and I was more impressed with him then. He wasn’t trying to please anybody out there. He was just doing what Kobe does, and there’s a lot to learn from him. God bless him, his daughter, and everybody else who was on that helicopter — as well as his family.

Pat Chambers

The head coach said that he hasn’t addressed his team about Bryant’s death yet. He’s only addressed Lamar Stevens via text message so far because the star forward instills Bryant’s signature “Mamba Mentality” in both basketball and his everyday life.

Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, passed away after the helicopter they were travelling in crashed into a hill in Calabasas, California. They were two of nine people who perished in the accident, which sparked a huge swarm of responses from sports fans, celebrities, and public figures from all around the world — including a smattering of Penn Staters.

Penn State’s first sporting event after Bryant’s death was a men’s volleyball match against USC at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions held a moment of silence to honor Bryant’s life prior to the match, which began a little more than an hour after the crash was first reported.

Pat Chambers’ team will be back at the Bryce Jordan Center at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday for a contest against Indiana. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

You can watch Chambers’ full statement below: