ESPN Ranks Chambers 34th Best Player in Nation

For over a year now, Harvard men’s basketball coach Tommy Amaker has called junior co-captain Siyani Chambers the best point guard in the Ivy League and one of the best nationwide.

As of Monday, ESPN agrees.

In its College Basketball Player Rankings, ESPN slotted Chambers as the 34th best collegiate hooper in the country, 12 spots ahead of teammate Wesley Saunders. Chambers earned a score of 7.21 points out of a possible 10, placing him directly in front of opponents from perennial basketball powerhouses like Kansas, Arizona, and Oklahoma State.

“We’re very hopeful that he will maintain his identity and maintain his role for our team as a leader [this season],” Amaker said last week. “He is a pacesetter and turns on the jets as well as anyone in our country.”

While Amaker noted Chambers’s speed, ESPN commented on his dependability, deeming him “one of the most reliable point guards in the country.” With the graduation of fellow point guard Brandyn Curry ’14, the Crimson will need to rely even more heavily on Chambers in the backcourt—a fact that will likely force the junior to log significant minutes on a nightly basis.

“We want him on the floor,” Amaker said. “He makes us that much better when we are out there. That’s obvious and he’s proven that and we want him out there as much as we can.”

Chambers has averaged the most minutes of any Harvard player in each of his first two seasons, clocking in 37.8 and 34.3 minutes per game in his freshman and sophomore years, respectively.

“Siyani has been great for us from day one that he got into the program,” co-captain Steve Moundou-Missi said. “We just need him to keep being a leader on the floor and one of the big voices on the team. If he just keeps doing his job, we’ll be fine.”

—Staff writer Juliet Spies-Gans can be reached at juliet.spies-gans@thecrimson.com.