The Fighting Camels of Campbell University live up to their nickname.  They will fight you tooth and nail even as much as spitting in your general direction.   And btw who names themselves after a brand of smokes?  I know you are trying to get the kids to come to games but that is ridiculous!  Why didn’t they name themselves the Fighting Soup Cans or something?  Enough with the banter, let’s look at this team.  Who is this Coach that makes Bill Walsh look like a middle school PE Coach?   Coach Fred McCall lives by the creed ‘I have never seen a defense put the ball through the hoop.”  He started here way back when Campbell College was a JC and turned it into a powerhouse at that level developing kids to go on to bigger things (such as star Bob Vernon who actually ended up in Durham playing for the Blue Devils).  McCall is also a great teacher of the game.  He loves teaching so much that he was the first (along with buddy Bones McKinney) to set up camps specifically for basketball instruction.  These camps which take place during the summer when the kids are out of school at Carter Gym (home of the Camels) so that the kids can learn the fundamentals of basketball.  This has expanded every year with the most noteworthy student being someone named Pistol Pete and one of the primary instructors being the one and only Wizard of Westwood.  McCall obviously emphasizes fundamentals in these camps with an eye on the offensive end.  How innovative is McCall?  Well, he came up with a machine that helps kids work on rebounding fundamentals which he dubbed the McCall rebounder!  As for basketball coaching at this level well that might be an entirely different story. 

The Fighting Camels did have some guys who could play.  The leader of the Flying Soup Cans was senior point guard George Lehmann.  Or at least that was the plan!  Lehmann is one of McCall’s best pupils as he is a product of that great camp.  This Newark kid came down to Carolina one summer and suddenly caught the basketball bug.  Lehmann learned how to shoot the jump shot at this camp and had worked on it for hours and hours in the gym.  He came here to pay back his instructor as Lehmann has now become one of the top teachers in the country with his method he calls BEEF.  This acronym stands for Balance-Eyes on Target-Elbows Straight-Follow Through and he has traveled around the country teaching this to kids.  He had one year left of eligibility and decided to come play for McCall and help out his mentor.  Of course this vagabond had to sit out ten games to be eligible but he would be back in time for the conference schedule and this kid wanted to prove to the pros that all of that work he put in was not just for show.   And to be honest things were going well for this basketball junkie at least for a little while.  Lehmann is a score first, pass second point guard who really competes.  Don’t get me wrong Lehmann can really distribute but when you have as sweet of jump shot as he has with his range then you let it fly once in awhile.  Well more than once in awhile but who’s counting?  Lehmann led the team in scoring and assists and may have been the most underrated player in the league.  He was most undoubtedly the best shooter.  Sure the season might not have turned out like he wanted but he did get some attention and this six three shooting magician will got a shot at the next level!  Of course replacing him will be easier said than done as the Camels do have gifted post players but are very thin in the back court especially with Lehmann moving onto greener pastures. 

Junior Sam Staggers got the call once again at Center and did a solid job but was a bit overmatched against the monsters of this conference.  The one thing the TAAC has for a small conference is big dominant centers and Staggers at six foot six was just not big enough.   Not that he didn’t give it everything he got but this once dominant NAIA performer was just not going to get it done against these behemoths.  Against the rest of the league Staggers held his own as he is a solid scorer and board guy who plays well especially in big games. He should start again next year though there are some bigger players pushing for time on the post.  Senior Mike Reidy became the first guy off the bench and even started some games.  He is a hard worker underneath and can score some but he only goes 6’4.  He began the season actually as the starter but not for long as McCall went with some bigger bodies underneath.  Still, he was very effective in his new role.  The Camels do have some height deficiencies but McCall is intent on using his smaller lineups like he did in his NAIA days.  6’8 senior Johnny Marchbanks and another 6’8 junior Andrew Broadie will battle once again for the starting center spot though there is a seven footer waiting in the wings and who needs more time.  Neither one of these guys is going to remind you of Tom Burleson but they will bang down low and can set some screens and board.  The Camels do have some depth at the forward position and Coach McCall used some of his depth there at times to help with his weak back court.  Juniors Danny Gaither, Don Whaley, Allen McRae, John Heckstall and Wayne Sanford can all play.  Whaley is 6’3 and a shooter and played often at the two as did Sanford who is 6’4 and more of a defender.  Gaither is a swing forward but had a great 2nd year here and is looking to start at the one of the two forward spots.   McRae and Heckstall better hope McCall has not recruited any forwards or they will be either deep on the bench or in the stands watching the games. 

The guard play for the Camels has been inconsistent outside of Lehmann.  Coach  McCall just could not find the kind of chemistry he was looking for in the backcourt.  Chemistry is a weird synonym for talent isn’t it?  Seniors Peter Wish and Cordell Wise and Juniors Marshall Lovett and Fred Whitfield will get the first shot again but none of these guys are exactly up to D-1 standards.  These guys can play but none could shoot from the perimeter as well as McCall wanted and the new world of basketball demands with the three point line.   Still, unless McCall has brought in some castaways from NC (and you know they keep those guys around on their JV) this quarter will battle for minutes.  Wise has started since he got from Riverside New Jersey and has been one heck of an addition.  The first African-American student ever at Campbell, Wise is an athletic 6’2 wing who loves to inside and can really board.  He needs to improve on his outside shot as with his height he cannot play the three (or the four) anymore and expect to survive let alone compete.  Whitfield is similar but at 6’3 is nowhere near as athletic as Wise but he can shoot a bit better from beyond the arc though he is streaky as hell.  Wish is also from New Jersey (there is a pipeline you know) and is consistent but will have to fight to keep minutes with his Garden State compatriot switching down to the two.  At 6’0 is more of a swing guard anyway so that could help.  The returning starter at point guard is Marshall Lovett from down the road in Fayetteville.  This 5’11 kid is quick and can get the ball to his teammates and can score a little but does not shoot well from behind the arc either.   Sophomore Brad Childress started the season on the JV squad at point but was not that effective.  He is a gamer, though, and showed he belong when he got called up midway through his first year here. Childress might be able to become at least a reasonable leader if he can improve his ballhandling especially his turnover to assist ratio.  At five nine he is scrappy and a solid on the ball defender and is one terrific long-range shooter.  This ability will keep him in the running for minutes and popular with the fans.  He does not shoot often but when he does he is spot on target and you got to love his toughness.   McCall has brought in a slew of first year bombers to try and address this problem as well as the hopeful return of the King, George!

Fellow Sophomores Ron Curtis, Clarence Grier, Tony Britto and Henry Wilson all played and all had the same resume.  They are all hard workers but are usually overmatched but are tough on the boards.  Grier was a primary option the second half after tearing up the JV for a month.  Curtis was tearing it up underneath especially on the boards before he went down with injury and then Wilson took over his role.  Both did a solid job and have learned some very solid fundamentals on the boards.  McCall has some very inventive ideas which he incorporated into practice.  The biggest is a mechanism called the ‘rebounder’ that helps his players get better at rebounding.  It works.  His team can really board as undersized as they may be.  Britto needs more time with this as even though he is by far the biggest camel (a true seven footer) he does not board well.  He gives the team a presence and is developing a little offense and he will get minutes.  He should find the Big South more to his liking as he will not have to fight off Gilmore and Parish anymore and this league does not have a dominant seven footer.  Yet!

The Campbell Fightin’ Camels had just come out of the NAIA world that they were dominant in and then they jumped ship right away from the Carolina friendly league of the Big South to the not friendly and much more difficult TransAmerican Conference.  Coach Fred McCall has got an experienced group of players trying to adjust to the big time.  The bad part here is that the back court is in flux at best and unless they get some help from long-range shooting they will be under the ice just like they were in the TAAC.  The good thing there is a great group of forwards who have shown the potential to be something special in ‘the Creek.’  The fans of Buies have been waiting long enough for something special.  Now if they could just get some ACC schools to play them they might finally get to build a gym bigger than a 947 seater they have now.