Campbell named Crestview girls basketball coach

By RANDY DICKSON

Florida Freedom Newspapers

It seems Donald Campbell was born to coach basketball.

From his high school days in Louisiana, he's been helping develop players in the game he loves.

Campbell, a self-professed basketball junkie who lives in the gym, has been hired as the Crestview girls coach replacing Keith White, who has taken over the Bulldog boys.

Campbell's blend of experience and knowledge of local basketball made him a natural fit for the job. He coached an AAU basketball program for six years with the Panhandle Lady Stars. And he has coached girls from every major high school in the area, including Crestview, Fort Walton, Navarre, Niceville and Paxton. He also coached the Eglin Air Force Base varsity team the last four years.

"It has always been a dream of mine to be a middle school or high school coach, and this opportunity came about so I came in and interviewed for it because I want to make a difference in kids' lives," he said.

Campbell believes what the players do on the court will help them in the outside world and is hoping to pass those lessons along to the players.

Crestview principal Ed Coleman knows a little something about coaching girls basketball as the longtime girls coach at Niceville, and he's very happy to have Campbell on board.

"We are excited about Donald Campbell being our girls basketball coach," he said. "We had a selection committee that selected and recommended to me that he be the new coach. He has support of parents and boosters.

"I think some of his strengths and assets are he has worked with AAU basketball, so he knows what it is to be competitive. And he has contacts with college coaches to help the girls that have the skill to go on and play at the next level."

Campbell won't be the only new coach on the Crestview bench. He has named former Bulldog player Renee Polk as his assistant.

"She graduated from the University of West Florida and played four years of college ball," Campbell said. "She's a great asset to everything I'm doing."

Campbell plans on running a variety of offensive and defensive packages, but accountability and discipline will be the foundation of everything he does.

"I told them from the beginning you are accountable for your actions," he said. "I'm going to make them accountable for their actions on the court, off the court and in anything they do. I want them to be accountable.

"That's what I think I'm bringing in. I'm a disciplined coach that understands the game of basketball, and making them accountable is going to make a difference."

The new coach has set the bar high with his expectations for the upcoming season.

"I want a district championship, plain and simple," he said. "There's no way in the world I don't think we can get it because we have a good group of kids.

"I know all the programs in the area and all the teams in our district. We can play with all those teams in our district, so I don't see why we couldn't be district champions."