Coach Chambers talks about Collegiate Baseball's recruiting ranking and the start of fall ball.
Tim Chambers enters his second season as the head coach of the UNLV Rebels baseball team. He led UNLV to a 33-25 mark in 2011, marking the first time the squad had reached the 30-win plateau since the 2005 season.
Chambers ushered in a new era of Rebel baseball in dramatic fashion, racing out to the best start in program history through 21 games, posting a 17-4 mark. In that span, UNLV went from unranked to cracking the top-30 in both the National College Baseball Writers Association and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls for three consecutive weeks.
Among the 33 wins in 2011 were three over nationally ranked opponents, including No. 9 TCU, No. 11 UC Irvine and No. 14 Arizona. The 23 wins at Wilson Stadium were the most at home since the 2004 season when UNLV posted a 26-10 mark.
Four Rebels earned all-conference honors following the season while two were named All-Americans. Junior pitcher Tanner Peters became the first UNLV hurler to earn conference pitcher of the year honors and was named a Louisville Slugger Third Team All-American while closer Zack Hartman became UNLV's first freshman All-American since 2003.
One of the country's most successful baseball mentors at the high school, American Legion and then junior college levels over the past two decades, Chambers took over the Rebels after 11 seasons leading the nationally ranked College of Southern Nevada program. He has also served as athletics director for CSN since 2003.
"Tim Chambers brings an incredibly accomplished resume with him to UNLV after his years at Bishop Gorman High School and at the College of Southern Nevada," athletic director Jim Livengood said. "His knowledge for the game, his love of this community and his total commitment to excellence were all factors that brought us to the decision to hire him to lead our baseball program. Timing is everything and this is the right time for Tim Chambers and the right time for UNLV."
Named the Scenic West Athletic Conference Coach of the Year four times, including his final season season, Chambers built the Coyotes' powerful program from the ground up and has enjoyed stunning success: seven conference championships, three region titles, two district crowns and the 2003 JUCO World Series Championship. The 2010 squad, led by top Major League Baseball draft pick Bryce Harper, was ranked second in the nation and finished 52-16 overall after reaching the national semifinals.
Before moving to CSN, Chambers served as head coach at Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman High School from 1991-99 where he won six consecutive Sunset Division championships (1992-97) and was the state runner-up in 1997. The NIAA High School Baseball Coach of the Year in 1993 and '94 was also head coach of the American Legion Las Vegas Knights from 1991-99, winning numerous local, regional and national awards. The three-time state champions played in the 1998 American Legion World Series and finished the season ranked fifth in the nation.
After a college playing career that saw him named all-conference at three different schools, including earning All-America honors at Dixie College in 1984, Chambers earned his bachelor's degree from Southern Utah University in 1989. He and his wife, Kimberlie, have two daughters, McKenzie (16) and Chase (3).
