Tim Chambers enters his fifth season as the head coach of the UNLV Rebels baseball team. Last year, he led the team to its first Mountain West regular season title since 2005. For his efforts, Chambers became the third coach in program history to earn Mountain West Coach of the Year honors, joining Jim Schlossnagle (2003) and Buddy Gouldsmith (2005). He also became the fastest coach in program history to reach 100 wins.
The Rebels celebrated one of the most exciting seasons in recent history in 2014. The team was picked to finish third in the Mountain West, but used stellar starting pitching throughout the year to compile a 36-25 overall record and 20-10 record in the Mountain West, capturing a share of the regular-season Mountain West title with New Mexico.
UNLV opened the season with a four-game sweep of Central Michigan, but the following weekend the Rebels were swept at Tennessee. After being swept by the Volunteers, the team rattled off six straight wins and captured their first series win at New Mexico since 2009.
The team entered the top-25 polls (No. 25, Perfect Game) after taking two-of-three from San Diego State on March 24. One week later with a series win over Nebraska, UNLV entered Baseball Americars top-25 poll at No. 25 and moved to No. 19 by Perfect Game. The highest the team would be ranked would be No. 16 by Perfect Game, No. 20 by Baseball America and No. 25 by Collegiate Baseball News.n
UNLV hit some road troubles, losing at Arizona State and being swept at Air Force, but came back to sweep New Mexico at home, becoming the first Mountain West team to sweep the Lobos since 2011. The team finished the season with a sweep of in-state rival Nevada, Reno.n
The Rebels earned its first at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament since 1989 after falling to San Diego State in the MW Tournament, which was held at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. UNLV went 1-2 in the Corvallis Regional, capturing a victory over North Dakota State.
Starting pitcher Erick Fedde was lost to injury in early May, but the Las Vegas native earned All-America honors, becoming the second player under Chambers to be named to an All-American team. Fedde also became the third Rebel to earn MW Pitcher of the Year honors. He was the No. 18th overall pick in the MLB draft, becoming the third player drafted in the first round in school history. Three more Rebels were also taken in the 2014 draft: John Richy (3rd round, Los Angeles Dodgers), T.J. White n(18th round, Minnesota Twins) and Patrick Armstrong (39th round, Los Angeles Angels).
In 2013, he led the Rebels to a 37-20 overall record, which was the most wins for the program since 2004. Going into the season, UNLV was tabbed to finish fifth in the Mountain West. The youthful Rebels proved the coaches and critics wrong by finishing second with an 18-12 record in MW play.
A highlight to the 2013 season came in non-conference play when UNLV traveled to Stanford and swept the No. 9 ranked Cardinal. CollegeBaseballInsider.com named the Rebels the Louisville Slugger National Team of the Week for their efforts. That propelled the team into the rankings for the first time in a decade as UNLV was ranked as high as No. 21 by Baseball America.
In 2012, Chambers reached a career milestone early in the season, his 500th win. He came into the season needing only one win, and the Rebels help him reach the historic mark with a 6-1 win over Loyola Marymount in the second game of the season.
In his first season at the helm of the Rebel program, he led UNLV to a 33-25, 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 UNLVrs first freshman All-American since 2003.
One of the countryrs 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.
Named the Scenic West Athletic Conference Coach of the Year four times, including his final season, Chambers built the Coyotesr 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 Vegasr 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 l94 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 bachelorrs degree from Southern Utah University in 1989.
Chambers and his wife, Kimberlie, have two daughters, McKenzie, who is a student at UNLV,and Chase. He hails from the Sooner State, as he was born and raised in Claremore, Okla. and comes from Cherokee decent.
