Rend Lake College has found its next head basketball coach, and he is awfully familiar with Southern Illinois basketball.
Rend Lake College Athletic Director Tim Wills announced Brian Gamber will take the head coaching position for the Warriors in 2020-21 -- the choice out of more than 70 applicants.
"It was a difficult decision, but we felt Brian was the best fit," Wills said. "He is familiar with the college and his love for RLC really came through in the interview. As a former student and student-athlete from Rend Lake, the place means a lot to him -- as it does to all of us who graduated.
"He is going to bring a passion for the players and coaching, and the college as well."
Gamber played for the Warriors from 2007-2009. The sharpshooting forward was named to the Great Rivers Athletic Conference All-Conference Team as a freshman and helped the team to winning seasons during his two years as a Warrior.
Gamber's playing career was actually sandwiched between some coaching opportunities. After graduating from Mt. Vernon Township High School, Gamber joined the Ram's coaching staff as a volunteer assistant under Doug Creel his first year out of high school.
"I loved my time playing at Rend Lake," Gamber said. "But coaching was something I definitely knew I was going to continue."
As he finished his education at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Gamber coached freshman and sophomore teams at Mt. Vernon. After graduating from SIUC, he spent two years teaching and coaching in the Waltonville school district before being hired at Woodlawn where he has spent the past six years and built up an impressive resume. His career record as head coach at Woodlawn was 91-34 with three regional titles and one sectional title. He was named the Midland Trail Conference Coach of the Year three of those four seasons and he was an Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year three of four seasons.
Now, he's looking to bring more success to Ina.
"We're going to do things right," Gamber said. "Hard work, discipline, respect -- those are things you try to build off. Wins tend to fall in line with that."
And Gamber said he is looking to bring in recruits that have those high-character qualities to represent Rend Lake College.
"He isn't an experienced recruiter," Wills said. "When I was hired as coach 28 years ago, I didn't have a lot of experience recruiting either. Recruiting is salesmanship and you can sell something you believe in."
"I'm a Southern Illinois guy," Gamber said. "I've been living and coaching here for a long time and know the talent we have around here. With RLC being in the middle of it, it's a great place to get players from all over."
Gamber takes over for Tommy Holder who stepped down from the head coaching position in April. Gamber will be reaching out to the current players about staying with the team, and all current scholarships will be honored.
