Alonzo Campbell is a seven-foot basketball player currently playing center for the Alcorn State University (ASU) Braves. Apart from his height and his athletic prowess is a young man who already owns a degree.
Born in Portland, Oregon, Campbell relocated to Columbus, Ohio at age 4. During his time in his adoptive hometown, the basketball star played for Africentric High School but would later transfer to Gahanna High School after his Freshman year. “I played Junior Varsity as a Freshman and a Sophomore,” he said. “I came into my own at Gahanna, and became more comfortable. The more comfortable I am the better I play.”
Before coming to Alcorn, Campbell played basketball at two other colleges, the first being Stony Brook University in New York, followed by a tenure at Paris Junior College where he graduated with an Associate’s degree in Kinesiology. “I redshirted my first year at Stony Brook while majoring in Computer Science,” he said. “Once I transferred to Paris, I changed my major to Kinesiology and earned my Associates in that field.”
Campbell began his tenure at Alcorn in the Fall of 2018 but in late November, he suffered an injury while in the post. Feeling immense pain, the doctors diagnosed the injury as a hip-pointer. “When I hurt my hip, I was contesting a shot,” he said. “As I came down, I felt a pop. I remember feeling a mixture of fear and pain.”
Despite the injury, he would not accept the status quo and gave everything to his recovery. After sitting on the sidelines for nearly a month, Campbell made his long-awaited return to the court on December 10th.
From Portland, Oregon to Columbus, Ohio, to Stony Brook University to Paris Junior College to finally arriving at ASU, Campbell has traveled a long way both literally and figuratively to call himself a Brave.