STARKVILLE — Vic Schaefer believes in giving players chances to make an impression.
If the Mississippi State women’s basketball coach didn’t follow that adage, Dominique Dillingham, Breanna Richardson, and Ketara Chapel wouldn’t have made as big an impact as they did in their freshman seasons.
Last season, Schaefer showed he was willing to follow the same plan and allow freshmen Victoria Vivians and Morgan William to assume key roles in their first seasons in the program.
Schaefer’s thinking is simple: He wants competition in practice, and he is going to go with the player who can produce, regardless of whether she is a freshman or a senior.
Schaefer wants to make sure freshman center Zion Campbell knows that. Instead of Campbell automatically thinking she is third on the depth chart at center behind 6-foot-5 junior Chinwe Okorie and 6-7 freshman Teaira McCowan, Schaefer wants Campbell to compete every day at practice and to put herself in the mix to earn minutes on the frontline.
“I want her to realize how lucky she is lucky that she gets to go against two very big and physical post players like she’ll do on most nights in our league,” Schaefer said, “so it won’t be unusual for her whenever her opportunity comes that she’ll be going against something that big. She will have that experience every day in practice for the next four years.”
Campbell will get an opportunity to show what she has learned from banging with the big bodies in paint at 6 p.m. Thursday when MSU holds a Maroon-White scrimmage at Humphrey Coliseum. The event is free and open to the public.
Unfortunately, Campbell, a 6-3 freshman from Washington, D.C., has battled a stress fracture in her leg in the first month of practice. Schaefer said Campbell has shown toughness in fighting through the injury that has forced her to wear a boot when she is off the court.
When Campbell has been on the court, Schaefer has liked what he has seen. In one media availability, he said there have been days he walks onto the court and Campbell is the best looking post player in practice.
That being said, though, Schaefer doesn’t expect Campbell to burst onto the scene and lead the Bulldogs in scoring like Vivians did (14.9 points per game) last season. If it happens, Schaefer will take it, but he has said several times in the preseason that MSU doesn’t have to rush Campbell, even if she has good hands and can run the floor.
Campbell was a three-star post player at Riverdale Baptist in Maryland. ESPN/Hoopgurlz ranked Campbell in the top 100 nationally and the No. 17 post player coming out of high school. She moved to Riverdale after playing for St. John’s Catholic High School in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, she played at Hilton Head High in South Carolina.
Campbell said the transition from high school to college has been “difficult” but it has been making her better. She said it has been a “challenge” to go against players who are so much taller than she is. She said she is trying to combat their size and strength with her agility and quickness.
Campbell said the stress fracture has been another adjustment that she has had to make, but she isn’t going to let it stop her.
“It is me pushing myself harder and I have to overcome it,” said Campbell, who is dealing with a stress fracture for the first time. “It is not as bad as it seems. I guess it is just like a stepping stone and my leg is going to be stronger after it.”
Campbell isn’t going to allow the stress fracture to be her excuse. She understands Schaefer is open to give freshmen chances to play and contribute if they prove they are ready. She plans to take the mind-set that she is going to come out every day and grind and get better. She also knows that she has to do something to set herself apart from Okorie and McCowan because they are so much bigger.
Campbell has tried to do that in practice by showcasing her mid-range game and using her athleticism and quickness to beat her teammates up and down the court for easy baskets.
“The coaches told me what they want from a post player, and it is kind of like I have to work harder to do those things that might be easier for taller and bigger people,” Campbell said. “I feel I have to add more and something they didn’t ask me to do to set myself apart.”
That’s good news for Schaefer, who reminds the players it doesn’t matter if they are a freshman or a senior. He is going to go with the player who can help the team the most.
“Embrace that opportunity and make the best of your time,” Schaefer said. “It happens every year. Some people get better faster than others. Dominique is a great example of that. Her freshman year she breaks into the starting lineup two games into the SEC season and never gives it back up and beats out a kid that is two years older than her.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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