For Cloudland’s Tyler Chambers, Tuesday had the makings of a Disney movie.
Chambers, a 2010 Cloudland graduate, was announced as the new head coach of the ‘Lander basketball program taking over for Gary Harrison who resigned on Monday afternoon.
Cloudland’s Richard Church announced the hire in a Tuesday press release.
“I focused my coaching search one seat to the left on the bench to Mr. Tyler ‘Opie’ Chambers, and I am proud to announce Tyler Chambers as the next head boys’ basketball coach at Cloudland High School. This was the perfect fit at the perfect time and we look forward to what Tyler can do with his alma mater.”
Chambers is a familiar face to the Roan Mountain community.
The Roan Mountain native has been affiliated with Cloudland basketball since 2012. Chambers first as an assistant and head coach with the junior high basketball program and then from 2016-2020 as an assistant with the high school program.
Now, it will be his turn to lead the very program that he grew up in.
“I am going to do my very best with this program and to challenge and push these guys to be the best that they can be as basketball players and as human beings,” Chambers said. “At the end of the day, if I’ve shown God’s love then everything else will take care of itself.”
As a player, Chambers played a key role in Cloudland’s 2009 state tournament appearance as well as a 2010 substate appearance.
Cloudland finished the 2019-20 season with a 15-16 mark and a Region 1-A tournament appearance.
“I’m very excited about the group of players that I have coming back,” Chambers said. “They all have talent and skill, and we will just have to work hard and get better together. Cloudland is known for having tough and gritty players and I intend to keep that true.”
