Hopkins Star Has Bright Future With Basketball, Harvard
HOPKINS, Minn. (WCCO) -- Siyani Chambers plays point guard for the Hopkins High School boys basketball team.
He helped lead the Royals to a Class 4A state championship last season. His future is encouraging in terms of basketball in college, and based on what's happened with Jeremy Lin in the NBA, in terms of basketball.
Chambers has a point guard's mentality. He understands the game, understands his role and understands winning.
"Siyani has been with us for a long time. I mean he's been with us on the varsity team since eighth grade," said Hopkins coach Ken Novak Jr. "He's won three straight championships and he started for three straight championships, so he's a tough, hard-nosed and very intelligent player who can do a little bit of everything."
He's good enough that colleges have come calling, and he's moving on to the ultimate student-athlete experience out east at Harvard.
"It's the place where I felt most comfortable. With the coaches and with the players, it's just where I built the best relationships and when I took my visit out there it's just where I felt my second home was," Chambers said. "Everybody was just very inviting, and at Harvard you can't get better academics."
But don't discount the basketball piece of it either, not with the hottest thing in the NBA recently. Before Jeremy Lin was with the New York Knicks, he was a point guard at Harvard.
"When he plays he's just so unselfish and that's how I try to play," Chambers said. "I try to get others involved because that's what excites the crowd and that's what makes them look good. When you get people involved, it makes not only himself but his teammates look good and that's what I try to do."
So when you watch Lin, you begin to think about the opportunity and the possibility for players that are a lot like him.
"It just shows how good of a coach (Tommy) Amaker is. He came in, took over that program and basically made Jeremy Lin what he is," Chambers said.
While going to Harvard assures him a great foundation through education, he's also free to think about what he could be on the basketball court.
"There's a lot of guys out there who are probably better than what some people think," Novak Jr. said. "They're not as fundamental and they're not as smart, but he's got those intangibles. Most NBA teams nowadays need it."
