GoYeo Storytellers: Andre Campbell '20

By by Alexis Dill '20

12/17/2019 1:27:00 PM

Senior basketball player Andre Campbell had a growth spurt at five years old that prompted his youth soccer coach to move him from forward to goalie. He loved the team aspect of the game but wanted to be more involved in the action — so he asked his mother if he could try basketball.

He played in his Jewish Community Center league in the San Francisco area for a few years before one of his coaches advised his father to put him in a more competitive league. Campbell began playing AAU basketball in fifth grade, and his passion for the game quickly took off.

“I thought, ‘These are my people, and this is what I like,’” he said. “The traveling was awesome. I played in cool places like [Las] Vegas and got to see [Duke University Head Basketball] Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] and all those big-time coaches.”

Campbell’s dream throughout his childhood was to play at a Division I school, but he was overlooked. After his freshman year at Urban School of San Francisco, his former high school and college teammate, Nate Cohen’17, introduced him to Oberlin. Campbell said he wasn’t thrilled about moving to Ohio but was impressed by Oberlin’s academic reputation.

“I put it on my list of schools, and the former assistant coach, [Timothy] McCrory, kept reaching out to me and asking how I was doing,” he said. “He was being very personal with me, and it was that personal connection to Oberlin that made me really want to come.”

Campbell has taken full advantage of his experience at Oberlin. An Anthropology major with a minor in studio art, he can often be found in the Allen Memorial Art Building painting or drawing.

“It’s a different atmosphere and environment that I really enjoy,” he said. “Sometimes it’s nice to get away from the north side of campus and talk to some new people.”

Throughout elementary school, Campbell’s mother dropped him off at the art studio after class some days. Slowly art became his outlet when school became too stressful or he needed a break from thinking about basketball. He was encouraged to further pursue art as a high school senior by one of his teachers.

“She told me she thought I was really good at art, so I threw myself into her class. It was an honors class, so I had to do an art show that the entire high school could see, and I had to give a speech. It went well for me, and hearing people talk highly about my work gave me more confidence coming to Oberlin. I decided to get my minor and really hone that craft here.”

Six months ago his friends encouraged him to start his own YouTube channel to showcase his creativity and personality in a unique way. His vlog, Fashodre, features 29 videos about his friends and his life as a basketball player at Oberlin. His goal, he said, is to make people smile and give himself a way to look back on the good times. He has also been a freelance model for a year and hopes to enter the entertainment industry after pursuing a masters in business a few years down the line.

First, though, Campbell hopes to continue his basketball career following graduation. His goal is to play professionally overseas in Italy, Spain, or potentially China. His co-captains, Josh Friedkin and Christian Fioretti, also plan on continuing their careers overseas. However, they have unfinished business left at Oberlin.

As a freshman, Campbell played in all 25 games with 23 starts as a forward, but the team went 3–22. The team has steadily improved since then, going 12–14 the trio’s sophomore year and 13–13 their junior year. Now, as seniors, the three have led the team to a 7–3 record thus far.

“Going through 22 losses that first year was shocking, bothering, and certainly not fun. We came together after that year and decided to move on — but how? That feeling of losing became ingrained in us. So all six of us came together and said, ‘Hey, you know what? Let’s leave it all out there. Let’s show up every morning to put up extra shots. Let’s change the culture of this team.’”

Many factors have played into the team’s ascension, but the captains agreed that ultimately the team’s improvements have stemmed from the leadership of the senior class.

“There was definitely a little bit of a changing of the guards after our freshman year,” Friedkin said. “We went from having seven seniors to no seniors, one junior, and a whole bunch of sophomores. It really allowed for our class to grow and become leaders early on, because we had to.”

Campbell has started in 84 of the 87 games he’s played in for the Yeomen, and is just 31 points away from joining the 1,000 Points Club — a rare accomplishment that Friedkin reached last game against Defiance College. He’s collected 23 blocks and dished out 79 assists throughout his career, and currently leads the team with 59 rebounds. He isn’t thinking about his stats, however.

“We know what it’s like to walk away from that court knowing we left it all out there, so we don’t sweat the outcome anymore. All that matters to us is enjoying the process and having fun. If we do that and take it one game at a time, we have a chance to be at the top of our conference.”

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