Cam Chambers, the lone fourth-year senior on the UNC Wilmington men’s basketball squad, has had an interesting journey to becoming a member of the Seahawks. A team manager during his freshman and sophomore years, Chambers had to wait for his opportunity to join the team as an official member. While trying at first, he admits the process was not without purpose.

“It was tough early on,” he said. “I was missing playing. It re-lit a fire under me, though, and I started working harder, because I could see the end goal of being on the team. Then, my sophomore year I had knee surgery, but just the memories from freshman year of having the goal to play kept me motivated with my rehab and everything.”

Chambers, a Durham native, got the opportunity to scrimmage with the team during some practices, but was mostly regulated to team manager duties. He still was able to travel with the team, something he cites as his favorite part about being a team manager.

Although he had offers to come in and play right away at smaller Division I programs and Division III schools, Chambers chose UNCW because he felt it was the right place for him. “My brother, who graduated 2 years before me, introduced the school to me,” he said. “He was a manager and when I came to visit, I fell in love with UNCW. It was where I wanted to go right off the bat.

“I talked to (then head coach) Benny Moss who was here, and he said you’re going to have to be a student assistant for a year and then if a spot opened up, it’d be mine. So, I worked for the team for two years, and I was able to earn a spot and start playing, which has been awesome.”

While Chambers has not been the biggest contributor on the court, playing 26 minutes in 17 games over his two years with a career high of four points–occurring twice this year against Georgia State and Hofstra–he is a 45 percent shooter from the field and shot 50 percent from behind the arc in his career. However, it is not so much what Chambers contributes during the game as to how hard he pushes himself and his teammates, something coach Buzz Peterson witnessed early on.

“I don’t know if anybody works as hard as Cam. He lays every blood, sweat and tear that he has out there on the floor,” said Peterson. “He loves the game, loves being part of the team and what he does, he pushes guys. They become better ball players by playing against him. He has some toughness about him and does not hold back in practice. He takes a lot of pride in having ‘UNCW’ across his chest.”

Chambers leaves UNCW as a fan and team favorite. Whenever someone subbed out, he was always the first person off the sideline clapping for them. And when he did get his chances to play, he made sure he tried his hardest every second he was out there. While he has moved from being a team manager onto the varsity squad, Chambers insists his goals have not changed at all.

“I just want to come in every day and work hard. I want to try to set an example. I’m the only player whose been here all four years, a true senior. Last year, I was getting used to playing with the guys, but this year I raised the intensity and competitive streak,” he said. “I hate losing and here, in my four years, we haven’t had the most successful seasons, but it’s a driving motivation making sure no one is taking days off; making sure that their senior year will come and they won’t regret anything when they look back.”

While his playing days may be over, Chambers, a finance major, is not ruling out the possibility of coaching down the line, staying involved with the sport that has been a part of him all his life.

“If the opportunity rises and there’s a chance, then I definitely would like to coach,” he said. “If it’s not coaching college, then maybe working with younger kids and giving back. A lot of people have made sacrifices for me, so I feel like I could give back a lot with my experience and knowledge.”