By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – After the thrill of leading the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, Golden Eagle head coach Kim Rosamond is determined to keep the Tech women coming back for more.
She gained a big piece to that as the team announced the addition of Vanderbilt transfer Yaubryon Chambers to the Tennessee Tech roster.
"To win championships, you must surround yourself with championship people," Rosamond said. "We have worked really hard to recruit young women that fit our culture, and Yaubry is another perfect addition. She is an incredible and multi-talented young woman, a leader on and off the court, and embodies our core values that are so important in our program."
Chambers, a 6-1 forward, just finished her senior season with the Commodores, playing in all 31 contests and starting 24 as she averaged 20.3 minutes a game. Averaging 4.5 points and 4.6 rebounds, Chambers had a solid .600 shooting percentage, leading the team.
She had 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting and 12 rebounds – both career highs – in a December 18 contest against Lipscomb, while also recording five assists on January 29 against Texas A&M, two blocks on February 2 against Missouri and had four steals on January 16 against Arkansas. Chambers also had double-digit scoring nights against Western Kentucky, Northern Iowa and Texas A&M.
Chambers finished the season with 139 points, 144 rebounds, 30 assists, 13 blocks and 45 steals.
As a junior, she posted a team-best 46.7 field goal percentage and 71.9 from the charity stripe as she compiled 65 points, 17 steals and 13 assists. In her sophomore season, she played all eight games Vanderbilt played during the pandemic season, shooting 50-percent from the floor with 10 points and nine rebounds against Kentucky and 10 points against Gardner-Webb.
She saw action in 13 games as a freshman with a season-high seven points against Arkansas and four rebounds at Alabama.
"We are so excited about all that Ya will bring on and off the court," Rosamond said. "She has competed against the top teams and players in the country for the last 4 years, and her relentless mentality matches our team. She is a tremendous athlete who never takes a play off and plays so hard. Ya's athleticism, ability to rebound, consistency of finishing around the basket, and commitment to the defensive end will help us continue to compete for championships."
Originally hailing from Orlando, but spending most of her childhood in Nashville and Murfreesboro, Chambers played three seasons at Pearl-Cohn High. Under the guidance of Kandra Bailey, Chambers scored 1,000 points as she helped lead the Firebirds to a district championship in 2016-17 and a substate appearance.
She also had a tremendous resume off the court as she held lead roles in Pearl-Cohn's productions of High School Musical and Little Shop of Horrors, was a vocalist and member of Fab Five – a traveling musical group from Metro Nashville schools – and won six Pearlies – Pearl-Cohn's version of the Grammys – for Best Female Rap/Hip-Hop, twice for Best Music Video, Record of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year and Song of the Year. Those helped lead to her studies at Vanderbilt in Cinema and Media Arts.
The talent also runs in the family as Chambers is the daughter of Tamara and Grammy-winning artist Byron "Mr. Talkbox" Chambers Sr.
Chambers was also a district champion in debate and worked on coding for Pearl-Cohn's robotics team.
She closed out her prep career at Murfreesboro's Providence Christian Academy, earning a 2019 TSSAA State Tournament MVP following the Lions' Division II-A state championship win over CAK. The team swept through the postseason that year, winning district, regional, sectional and state titles. Chambers was on the all-district team, as well as the all-tournament teams in the district, regional and state tournaments.
"I chose TTU because, more than ever before, there was this feeling of belonging from the moment I stepped foot on campus," Chambers said. "This staff and team showed love to who I am as a person, but also made it clear that I add value to their team on the court as well. The peace that fell over me was amazing and, at that point, I knew I wanted to be a Golden Eagle."
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
