Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

REBELS BASEBALL:

New coach Tim Chambers optimistic he can turn UNLV baseball into a winner

Veteran coach leaves College of Southern Nevada program after 11 seasons, two World Series appearances

Chambers

Justin M. Bowen

Former College of Southern Nevada coach Tim Chambers addresses the media at Si Redd Room Friday, June 11, 2010, after being named the new UNLV baseball head coach.

Tim Chambers - New UNLV Baseball Coach

UNLV athletic director Jim Livengood and UNLV's new baseball coach Tim Chambers shake hands after a press conference at UNLV's Si Redd Room Friday, June 11, 2010. Launch slideshow »

Tim Chambers will be coaching baseball for a different college in a different part of the Las Vegas Valley for the first time in more than a decade next spring.

His expectations, however, will remain the same.

Chambers, who was named UNLV's baseball coach Friday after spending the last 11 years at the College of Southern Nevada, still will be aiming for the sport's ultimate prize.

"The goal is still the same — to get to the World Series," Chambers said during an after press conference in the Si Redd Room at the Thomas & Mack Center. "It's just Omaha now instead of Grand Junction."

Chambers, who started the CSN program in 1999, led the junior college to a pair of World Series appearances. The Coyotes won the event in 2003 and went 3-2 last week in finishing with a 52-16 record.

UNLV Director of Athletics Jim Livengood said he was contacted by more than 100 coaches interested in the position, but only brought one — Chambers — to campus for an interview. Several in the local baseball community long had argued for Chambers, a veteran baseball man who is a proven recruiter and fundraiser, to be the Rebels' coach.

They finally got their wish.

"He brings nothing but class and excellence to this university and our program," Livengood said.

Chambers replaces Buddy Gouldsmith, who led the Rebels to a pair of Mountain West Conference titles in his seven-year tenure. The Rebels, however, have had four consecutive losing seasons.

Chambers, who four times was the Scenic West Athletic Conference coach of the Year at CSN, has a history of turning struggling programs into winners.

He coached Bishop Gorman High from 1991-99, leading a program that hadn't been to the playoffs in more than 35 years before he arrived to six straight Sunset Division crowns.

No matter where he has coached, Chambers' has expected to play meaningful games at the end of the season. He plans to do that sooner than later at UNLV.

"We are going to win, we are going to win," Chambers said. "I'll work hard at it."

Chambers' first task will be upgrading the talent level on the roster. He said several players from the CSN team he coached to the World Series are still uncommitted and could wind up at UNLV. One of those players likely will be outfielder Marvin Campbell (15 home runs and 69 RBIs in 2010), who was in the crowd at the press conference.

UNLV had only eight from Southern Nevada on its roster last year, while Chambers' squad at CSN had 16 locals. He plans to continue tapping the local high schools to fill his roster.

"The best players in town were wearing yellow (CSN's color) as freshmen and sophomore," he said.

Chambers said it was hard leaving CSN, reminiscing about his first days on the recruiting trail and promising recruits a facility would be built before they arrived. Morse Stadium was constructed on the Henderson campus in time for the team's initial season.

"We started that program from dirt and made it to two World Series'," Chambers said.

Ultimately, he said it was time for a new challenge. It's a challenge he believes will produce similar results.

The details of his contract weren't released. Livengood said it first must be approved by the Nevada Board and Regents.

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