Campbell Keeps Track of Opponents

Sophomore Brandon Campbell had no doubt about his role this season with the Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team.

After Jason Cunningham completed his eligibility last season, Campbell knew the Titans would need a defensive stopper to replace him.

“I watched everything Jason did last year, and I knew how tough a job he had,” Campbell said.

Like Cunningham a year ago, Campbell is frequently assigned to guard the opponent’s top outside scoring threat. He likes the challenge.

“I worked a lot on my defense back home [in St. Louis] during the summer,” Campbell said. “I expected to be in the starting lineup when the season began, but I knew I’d have to play good defense to stay there.”

Campbell said he thinks defense will be a key for the Titans (4-5) the rest of the season.

Fullerton had one of its best efforts on defense against San Jose State, holding the Spartans to 44 points Dec. 11. It was the fewest points by a Titan opponent since New Mexico State scored 41 in 1988.

Campbell was particularly effective, holding the Spartans’ Ben Sanders to four points. Sanders scored 20 points in a San Jose State victory over the Titans last season.

“The key for me is keeping the guy I’m guarding in front of me all the time,” Campbell said. “I don’t try to go for steals that much, but if I’m in the right position against the guy I’m guarding, I’ll get some.”

Campbell has six steals through nine games.

Titan Coach Bob Hawking says Campbell also has become more of a scoring threat. Campbell connected on four of five shots from the field against Patten College on Dec. 21, then made six of eight Thursday against Eastern Kentucky. He is shooting a team-leading 60.7% from the field. Campbell has attempted only five three-point shots this season, but has made four.

He is averaging 10.6 points and is second on the team in rebounds (4.4 per game).

“You can tell he’s shooting with a lot more confidence,” Hawking said. “Brandon has worked very hard in practice, and he’s improved in all phases of his game, not just on defense.”

Campbell said he wants to provide more scoring to relieve some of the pressure on Ike Harmon, the Titans’ top scorer.

“Ike is our star and the guy who leads us, but there are things he just can’t do when he’s being double-teamed all the time,” Campbell said. “That’s the big reason I want to step up more as a scorer.”

Campbell said ball-handling was his main weakness last season, and he also worked on those skills during the summer.

“I didn’t have to handle the ball that much in high school, so I knew I needed to work on that,” Campbell said. “ I was nervous when I got in the game last year, but this year I know more about what to expect.”

Campbell, 6 feet 4 and 205 pounds, is the team’s best all-around athlete.

He won the long jump in the Big West Conference track meet last spring at 24 feet, 5 3/4 inches and was third in the high jump at 6-9 3/4. He cleared 7-1 in the high jump last summer in the Junior Pan American Games, taking second place. He also set a school record in the 400 meters and ran on the Titan 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams last spring.

Campbell said he wants to begin training for the decathlon this spring.

“I think I can learn the other events I haven’t done before fairly quickly,” Campbell said. “My goal in the high jump is 7-3, and I think I can do that this next season. I still think the high jump can be my best event.”

Basketball is still his favorite sport, Campbell said, but track is gaining ground.

“I’ve been playing basketball for a lot longer,” Campbell said. “I started out running track mainly to be in shape for basketball, but then I fell in love with track too. I guess I’ll just let time decide which sport is going to be the best one for me later on.”