Hopkins Point Guard Siyani Chambers Wants Fourth Title

Siyani Chambers, a 5-foot-11 rising senior point guard from Hopkins, is one of the top playmakers in the country. Chambers attended the Deron Williams Skills Academy two weeks ago and visited colleges on both the East and West Coast this month. Hopkins Patch caught up with Chambers to learn the latest about his busy summer and hopes of winning a fourth straight Class AAAA basketball title.

Chambers averaged 11.5 points per game this past season and scored in double figures in 20 of 31 games, including 21 points versus Osseo. He scored 12 points as the Royals defeated No. 2 seed Eden Prairie 64-52 in the championship game.

Hopkins finished the season ranked No. 14 in the final USA Today Top 25 poll.

Chambers currently has scholarship offers from St. Louis, Central Michigan, Cal Poly, Santa Clara, UC Davis, UC-Irvine and Boston University.

Hopkins head coach Ken Novak said that Butler head coach Barry Stevens, Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker, Santa Clara assistant James Ware and Wisconsin coach Greg Gard were among the coaches to watch Chambers during open gyms this year. Schools such as North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Minnesota, Loyola, St. Louis, Harvard, Butler, Indiana State, Longwood, Drake, Creighton, Stanford, Boston College and Wofford have also made trips to the school.

“I think his biggest strength is his leadership capacity,” said Novak. “He is very assertive, very verbal. Being verbal is huge for a basketball player, being able to constantly talk the game. He handles the ball well. He is very tough defensively. He is really starting to shoot the ball. He is really improving on it to the point where he is becoming a really good shooter. He is becoming really well-rounded. He gets to the basket and is very tenacious. He is going to do well.”

Chambers is attending the LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron, Ohio July 5-8 and will play for the Howard Pulley AAU program in the Nike Peach Jam in Augusta, S.C. July 12-15. 

Hopkins Patch: You were in Chicago for the Deron Williams Skills Academy for the top point guards in the country last week. How was that experience?

Siyani Chambers: It was really good. I learned a lot of new stuff. I got to meet a lot of new people, so it was a great trip.

Hopkins Patch: You were playing against a lot of the t op players in the country at your position. Were you able to pick up things from them as well as the college players who were there serving as counselors?

Siyani Chambers: Yes, I learned a lot. I learned a lot of new things that I can bring back and work on. It was a really nice camp. 

Hopkins Patch: You are playing against some of the best competition in the country and you always need to be on your “A” game against them. 

Siyani Chambers: With them out there, they pushed me a lot harder to go 100 percent all the time. I really think that helped me improve. 

Hopkins Patch: You went out to Stanford on the West Coast and Boston College, Boston University, Harvard and Providence out East. How did the trip go?

Siyani Chambers: It went good. They are all really nice campuses. Everybody was really nice. I really enjoyed the trip.

Hopkins Patch: Have you even thought about when you might make a college decision or are you going to take some official visits?

Siyani Chambers: I haven’t decided yet. I think that I am going to wait until after July and starting narrowing it down.

Hopkins Patch: You had a good spring with the Howard Pulley AAU program. What are the expectations for this summer?

Siyani Chambers: We are just going to go down to the Peach Jam and try our best. We need to get out of the pool play and show people that we are actually as good as they say we are. 

Hopkins Patch: What types of things are you working on to improve yourself as a player? 

Siyani Chambers: Keep working on my shooting and my change of speed and direction.

Hopkins Patch: Are you playing much with your Hopkins teammates this summer so far?

Siyani Chambers: Not much as a team. We are just trying to work out individually and when we can, we do open gyms. 

Hopkins Patch: You have high expectations every year at Hopkins and have won three state titles as freshman, sophomores and junior. I don’t think that there has ever been a Minnesota basketball player to win four titles. That has to be a nice thing to aspire for?

Siyani Chambers: Right now, we are just trying to get better. We’ll think about it when the time comes, but right now, we are just trying to get everybody better.