Sam Caldwell believes Zion Campbell has the potential to help his Riverdale Baptist (Md.) girls basketball team build on its national championship from last season.
Vic Schaefer and the Mississippi State women’s basketball coaches have seen that potential, too, and they hope Campbell can continue to develop and push the Bulldogs closer to championships of their own.
Campbell, a 6-foot-3 forward recently became the third member of MSU’s Class of 2015 when she made a verbal commitment to play for Schaefer and the Bulldogs. She joins a recruiting class that includes former New Albany High School standout Jazmine Spears, who is a sophomore at Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College, and Jazzmun Holmes, a point guard at Harrison Central High in Gulfport.
According to Dan Olson, director of Dan Olson’s Collegiate Girls Report and espnW’s HoopGurlz, Spears is the No. 7 junior college sophomore, while Holmes is the No. 190 prospect (No. 48 point guard) in this year’s graduating class. Olson rates Campbell as the No. 299 player (No. 49 center) in the Class of 2015.
“She is a long, athletic low-post insider who rebounds and scores on putbacks,” said Olson, a former college coach and longtime women’s basketball recruiting analyst. “She is mobile in uptempo and can catch in traffic. Her finesse game is developing with her offensive game.”
Potential is a key word with Olson. It is the same for Caldwell, who is entering his third year as head coach at Riverdale Baptist in Upper Marlboro, Md. Last season, Riverdale Baptist went 29-3 and won the national championship for the first time in school history. It also was invited to the Dick’s Sporting Goods National High School Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York. Riverdale Baptist defeated Orlando Edgewater (Fla.) and Fremont (Utah) High in the four-team event to cap their season with another title.
Caldwell hopes Campbell, a transfer from St. John’s College High School by way of Hilton Head, South Carolina, can help fill the void left by three players who went on to play Division I basketball. Guards Chloe Jackson (North Carolina State) and Chania Ray (Florida State) and center Khalia Prather (Miami) played integral roles in helping Riverdale Baptist win the National Association of Christian Athletes Championship game against New Hope (N.C.).
This season, Caldwell said Riverdale Baptist will play another national schedule that will features games against some of the top girls basketball programs. With three returning players and only one starter, Caldwell hopes Campbell will be counted on to step into a bigger role to keep the program rolling.
“She is going to be a big part of what we do,” Caldwell said. “She rebounds the ball real well and she runs the floor extremely well. She is a shot blocker and finishes great around the basket. She has a nice shooting touch out to the free throw line extended. She is going to be a great asset. The more and more she gets stronger, she is going to be a beast.”
Caldwell said Campbell needs to get stronger. He said she has a “long, wiry frame,” but that she is “definitely stronger than she looks, and she is only going to get stronger.”
Caldwell said Campbell enrolled at Riverdale Baptist in the summer after a junior season in which he said she came off the bench and didn’t play very much. He said he didn’t have any idea why Campbell didn’t play a lot because he didn’t see her play too much. But after watching her play with Team Takeover, an Amateur Athletic Union team based in Maryland, and working with Campbell on Riverdale Baptist’s summer league team, he saw a player with “a good motor” and an incredible upside.
“Because she hasn’t played a whole lot, I don’t think a lot of people had seen here,” Caldwell said. “Some mid-majors were on her because of her size. I think some folks were still waiting for an opportunity to see her play. She had some pretty good run over the summer, and a lot of college coaches saw her play at our open gyms. Once they got to see her in practice and saw her work ethic, a lot of doors started to open up for her as a result of them getting a chance to see her play and to see her with the ball in her hands and make plays.”
Caldwell said MSU associate head coach Johnnie Harris and assistant coach Elena Lovato watched Campbell at open gyms and left impressed. He anticipates Campbell will be a “force to be reckoned with” this season. He also feels Campbell will continue to develop and be an even bigger force at the next level.
Caldwell said Campbell, who couldn’t be reached for comment for the story, had attracted interest from Miami, Charlotte, Rutgers, and UCF. He feels Campbell will fit in nicely at MSU because she will have a chance to learn and to develop playing with experienced players in the program.
“They found a diamond in the rough,” Caldwell said of Campbell. “Her upside is huge. By the end of this year, Zion is going to transform into a totally different player. The strength will come and the maturation on the court is going to come. She is going to be a force to be reckoned with with her inside ability and her ability to turn and face and shoot the ball pretty well. She is definitely going to be a factor at Mississippi State. Once she gets more and more comfortable handling the ball, that is going to make her even more dangerous with her size and athleticism.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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