R.J. Campbell, still young, grows into top prospect for No. 1-ranked Southside

It only seems like R.J. Campbell's been around for a while.

When you're that big, that good and you've been starting for one of the state's best teams since your freshman year, you tend to stand out.

"He's still a young player," Southside High School boys basketball coach Steve Beasley said. "He's still only 16. He won't turn 17 till April. He's maturing and getting strong in the weight room, so he's coming along pretty good."

That was the goal for Campbell, a junior who's added about 15 pounds — he's up to 230 — to his 6-foot-8 frame.

"I was in the gym every day, every week, until the high school season got here," he said, "and AAU helped me out, so I was getting stronger, getting more aggressive and making my game more successful."

He's one of the big reasons Southside, No. 1 in Class AAA, is the favorite to win a second straight state championship. The Tigers are 8-2 heading into Friday night's Region 2 opener at Berea.

Campbell has been playing basketball since he was 6 years old, but he's come a long way from the "sort of chubby" kid who took the court as a seventh-grader at Mauldin Middle School.

Campbell started as a freshman at Southside, a school steeped in tradition. It was a veteran lineup, and Campbell was a role player on a team that went 19-5 but lost unexpectedly in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs.

"I had to get a feel for the game, because I was a freshman starting on varsity, so I was kind of nervous," Campbell said. "My sophomore year, I just kept improving and improving, and it just got easier and easier."

Last year, with realignment, Southside joined region rival Berea as one of the top dogs in AAA, ascended to No. 1 and stayed there, finishing 27-1.

"Winning state, that's a dream come true for any high school kid," said Campbell, who averaged 14.4 points and 9.1 rebounds.

That was a team with one senior, albeit the Greenville County Co-Player of the Year, point guard Jalen McKelvey.

This year's Tigers started on top and are more than equipped for a repeat, with Campbell and 6-10 senior Jamal Burke both bigger and stronger and senior guard Tuzion Brock and senior forward Jayden Shell having both returned to the starting unit.

"We're just trying to get back and get a state ring, back to back," Campbell said.

That's Campbell's main goal right now. Along the way, he can help himself by progressing, and he's already done so.

He's already seen the difference the increase in strength has made.

"Guys are bouncing off me," he said. "Last year, I was kind of skinny, so Coach told me I had to gain weight and get stronger, and that's what I did."

Campbell said the extra work has paid off in scholarship offers from UNC Greensboro and South Carolina State, and he's also being recruited by Clemson, Mississippi State, Georgia State and Florida Gulf Coast.

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"If I handle better and get my shot right, more offers will start coming in, more (Division) I offers, and that will be better for me," said Campbell, who maintains a 3.2 grade-point average.

"I just want to extend my game, work on my dribbling and my shooting, so when I go to college and play basketball, I can maybe be a small forward."

Beasley said Campbell has progressed in those areas.

"But when it gets down to crunch time, he wants to get back inside, because he doesn't have a lot of confidence yet," Beasley said. "But he's working on those skills. He's a big boy, though. He may outgrow that position. Who knows?

"He's very personable, and he's got a good family. That means a lot. He's a real good student. He'll have a chance to play at the next level, for sure."