# Bill Chambers (basketball)

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American basketball player and coach

Bill Chambers Personal information Born (1930-12-13)December 13, 1930 Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S. Died July 11, 2017(2017-07-11) (aged 86) Alexander City, Alabama, U.S. Listed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Career information High school E. C. Glass (Lynchburg, Virginia) College William & Mary (1950–1953) NBA draft 1953: – round, – Drafted by Minneapolis Lakers Position Center Number 32 Career history Coaching 1953–1954 Warwick HS 1954–1957 Newport News HS 1957–1966 William & Mary Career highlights NCAA record for rebounds in a game (51) 2× Second-team All-SoCon (1952, 1953) No. 32 retired by William & Mary Tribe Stats at Basketball Reference

**William B. Chambers** (December 13, 1930 – July 11, 2017) was an American [college basketball](/source/College_basketball) player and coach for the [William & Mary Tribe](/source/William_%26_Mary_Tribe_men's_basketball).[1]

## Playing career

### High school

He attended [E. C. Glass High School](/source/E._C._Glass_High_School) in [Lynchburg, Virginia](/source/Lynchburg%2C_Virginia) where he led his team to a state championship and an undefeated season (22–0) during his senior year.[1]

### William & Mary

Chambers then went on to play collegiately for the [College of William & Mary](/source/College_of_William_%26_Mary) in [Williamsburg, Virginia](/source/Williamsburg%2C_Virginia) from 1950 to 1953. He earned all-state, All-[Southern Conference](/source/Southern_Conference) and Helms [All-American](/source/NCAA_Men's_Basketball_All-Americans) status while playing for the Tribe. On February 14 of his senior year, Chambers set an [NCAA](/source/NCAA) single game [rebound](/source/Rebound_(basketball)) record of 51 against the [University of Virginia](/source/University_of_Virginia).[1] It is a record that still stands to this day. He was also selected as Virginia's Outstanding Collegiate Basketball Player that same year.[2]

Chambers ended his William & Mary career with 1,456 points. He also set the [Virginia](/source/Virginia) schools' record for rebounds in a single season when he grabbed 509 in 1951–52.[3] His jersey number (#32) was retired and now hangs in the rafters of [Kaplan Arena](/source/Kaplan_Arena).[2]

### NBA

In the [1953 NBA draft](/source/1953_NBA_draft), Chambers was selected by the [Minneapolis Lakers](/source/Minneapolis_Lakers) as their 11th pick.[2] Despite the selection, he was cut by the Lakers during preseason.

## Coaching career

In 1957, Chambers returned to his alma mater to coach his former team after several years of highly successful high school coaching.[1] Over the course of the next nine seasons (six of which were winning years), he compiled at 113–110 career record, a win total not surpassed by any other W&M men's basketball coach until [Tony Shaver](/source/Tony_Shaver) passed the mark in February 2013.[2][4] The most notable win during his tenure was on January 30, 1960, when his unranked Tribe defeated No. 4 [West Virginia University](/source/West_Virginia_University) 94–86. The win broke the Mountaineers' 56-game Southern Conference winning streak.[2] For his accomplishments, Chambers has been inducted into the William & Mary Hall of Fame. In 1995, Chambers was also inducted into the [Virginia Sports Hall of Fame](/source/Virginia_Sports_Hall_of_Fame_and_Museum).[1]

### Head coaching record

Record table Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason William & Mary Indians[5] (Southern Conference) (1957–1966) 1957–58 William & Mary 15–14 9–9 5th 1958–59 William & Mary 13–11 7–7 4th 1959–60 William & Mary 15–11 10–5 3rd 1960–61 William & Mary 14–10 9–6 4th 1961–62 William & Mary 7–17 5–11 T–8th 1962–63 William & Mary 15–9 10–5 3rd 1963–64 William & Mary 9–13 5–9 7th 1964–65 William & Mary 12–13 6–8 6th 1965–66 William & Mary 13–12 8–3 3rd William & Mary: 113–110 (.507) 69–63 (.523) Total: 113–110 (.507)

## Later years and death

After retiring from coaching in 1966, Chambers worked in sales and management for the [Converse shoe company](/source/Converse_(shoe_company)) and later became a salesman of sporting goods in Florida. In 1990, he was appointed vice president of sales for [Russell Athletic](/source/Russell_Brands).[6]

Chambers died on July 11, 2017, in [Alexander City, Alabama](/source/Alexander_City%2C_Alabama), following a lengthy battle with [Parkinson's disease](/source/Parkinson's_disease). He was 86.[6]

## See also

- [List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 30 or more rebounds in a game](/source/List_of_NCAA_Division_I_men's_basketball_players_with_30_or_more_rebounds_in_a_game)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-HOF_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-HOF_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-HOF_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-HOF_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-HOF_1-4) [HOF Inductees 1995: Bill Chambers](http://www.vshfm.com/hall/induct_chambers.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080228235503/http://vshfm.com/hall/induct_chambers.html) February 28, 2008, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine). Accessed March 19, 2008.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-PDF_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-PDF_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-PDF_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-PDF_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-PDF_2-4) [William & Mary 2007–08 Media Guide – All-Time Stats & Players](http://www.tribeathletics.com/files/mbb/2008/MediaGuide/0708mbbguide(71-90).pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080705045632/http://www.tribeathletics.com/files/mbb/2008/MediaGuide/0708mbbguide%2871-90%29.pdf) July 5, 2008, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine). Accessed March 19, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Virginia Basketball Records: Men's Division I Individual Records](https://web.archive.org/web/20240727030434/http://www.ferrum.edu/athletics/VaSID/Records/Men%27s%20Division%201.doc). Accessed March 19, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-CSN_4-0)** ["Tribe Sweeps Season Series with ODU as Tony Shaver Sets W&M Wins Mark"](http://www.csnwashington.com/ncaa/tribe-sweeps-season-series-odu-tony-shaver-sets-wm-wins-mark). Comcast SportsNet Washington. Retrieved February 19, 2013.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Tribe_media_guide_5-0)** ["2011-12 Tribe Men's Basketball Media Supplement"](http://www.tribeathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=25100&ATCLID=205317893). College of William & Mary. Retrieved February 13, 2015.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Chambers_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Chambers_6-1) O'Connor, John (July 15, 2017). ["Former W&M star Bill Chambers, NCAA record-holder with 51 rebounds in a game, dies"](http://www.richmond.com/sports/former-w-m-star-bill-chambers-ncaa-record-holder-with/article_be14690c-398b-5da3-8dab-bb77e81b9456.html). *[Richmond Times-Dispatch](/source/Richmond_Times-Dispatch)*. Retrieved July 16, 2017.

## External links

- ["No. 4 in The Untouchables: Bill Chambers’ 51 rebounds in a single game"](https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/no-4-in-the-untouchables-bill-chambers-51-rebounds-in-a-single-game?urn=ncaab,wp11985) @ Rivals.com

v t e William & Mary Tribe men's basketball head coaches J. Merrill Blanchard (1905–1906) H. W. Withers (1906–1907) F. M. Crawford (1907–1911) William J. Young (1911–1913) Dexter W. Draper (1913–1916) Samuel H. Hubbard (1916–1917) Harry Young (1917–1918) Vernon Geddy (1918–1919) James G. Driver (1919–1923) J. Wilder Tasker (1923–1928) L. Tucker Jones (1928–1929) John Kellison (1929–1934) Thomas Dowler (1934–1937) John Kellison (1937–1939) Dwight Stuessy (1939–1943) Rube McCray (1943–1945) Sam B. Holt (1945–1946) Richard F. Gallagher (1946–1947) Barney Wilson (1947–1951) H. Lester Hooker (1951–1952) Boydson Baird (1952–1957) Bill Chambers (1957–1966) Warren Mitchell (1966–1972) Ed Ashnault (1972–1974) George Balanis (1974–1977) Bruce Parkhill (1977–1983) Barry Parkhill (1983–1987) Chuck Swenson (1987–1994) Charlie Woollum (1994–2000) Rick Boyages (2000–2003) Tony Shaver (2003–2019) Dane Fischer (2019–2024) Brian Earl (2024–)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bill Chambers (basketball)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Chambers_(basketball)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Chambers_(basketball)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.