Camille Downs Making the Most of Fresh Start at NSU

By the spring of 2021, Camille Downs was done with basketball. Or at least she thought so. The sport ruled her life since she started playing AAU in the eighth grade, but the difficulties she faced during her college career had piled up to the point that Downs decided to finish school, but not as a student-athlete.

Little did she know, her basketball career sat just a few months away from a monumental leap. Downs had remained in the transfer portal, eventually being approached by a familiar face: Norfolk State head coach Larry Vickers and his staff. 

Vickers had scouted the Fredericksburg, Virginia product out of high school, losing the recruiting war to in-conference foe Coppin State. Four years later, Vickers wanted Downs on his roster once again, and this time the pitch was successful.

“She’s obviously a phenomenal athlete,” Vickers said. “She jumps out at you physically, her ability to move and play multiple positions. We knew she’d be a great fit here.”

Downs’ move to Norfolk marked the latest step in the windiest of journeys. Her fourth school in five years, she learned soon after that NSU was different from the rest; a place she could call home.

Back in 2017, Downs looked to make an immediate impact as a wide-eyed freshman at CSU, earning a spot in the starting lineup for the team’s opener against Baylor. That excitement turned bittersweet in a heartbeat, though; Downs tore her Achilles 22 minutes into her first collegiate basketball game, ending her season.

It took Downs seven months to recover from the devastating injury that has derailed many careers in the sport, but she returned to the court in a new uniform. She opted to take the JUCO route, transferring to Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas. 

Entering an environment that felt like a different planet from her previous campus in Baltimore, Maryland, Downs quickly grew comfortable in the quaint community along the Walnut River.

“They were very supportive, everybody in that little town supported Butler, all sports.” she said. “We had packed gyms, homemade food after games. I haven’t had a homemade meal like that in a minute.”

In her two years at Butler, Downs led the Grizzlies to two Region VI championships, receiving tournament MVP honors in 2020. She averaged 12.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in her second season, earning first team All-Jayhawk East Conference and Region VI honors. But Downs credited the Butler coaching staff for her greatest development: becoming an elite defender.

Downs returned to the Division I scene for her junior year, joining the University of North Carolina Wilmington roster. She got off to a quick start against Norfolk State in the season opener, recording 21 points and six rebounds. The performance caught the eyes of the NSU coaching staff.

But while Downs appeared impenetrable on the court that day, she was going through one of the roughest patches of her life off it after a traumatic experience when she witnessed the death of a friend. It caused her on-court performance, academics, and mental health to decline in the coming months. 

“That messed me up in the head,” Downs said. “I was just out of it. I did not want to be at Wilmington at all.”

When NSU assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Trinese Fox noticed Downs’ name in the portal, she was surprised. Just a few months prior, Downs shined on the court against the Spartans, and now her career stood at a standstill. Before long, Fox reached out to establish the beginning of a tight relationship between Downs and the NSU program.

Fox made Downs one of her top priorities in the offseason, calling her three to four times a week in the early stages to make sure Downs knew the team wanted her to be a part of their championship hopes. The team made sure someone on staff spoke with her via text, FaceTime, or over the phone every single week.

“They saw potential in me, and I respected it because they worked hard to get me here,” Downs said. “They gave me their full attention.”

After Fox found out that Downs was on the brink of ending her basketball career altogether, she only wanted to land the commitment even more. Fox looked at is a chance for Downs to receive a fresh start.

“Once she called and committed, we were ecstatic for ourselves and our future and for Camille to even give herself another opportunity to fall back in love with the game,” Fox said. “She told me she felt the genuine love through our consistency and communication, and that’s why she changed her mind.”

With 10 newcomers on this year’s team, the Spartans needed a leader on and off the court. As the oldest player on the roster, Downs took on a “motherly” role for her teammates, providing advice to players that came to her. She also displayed a knack for hard work the moment she arrived on campus, with the NSU coaching staff learning the best methods to instruct her on the court.

“Each person has different ways to be coached; you can’t coach everybody the same,” NSU assistant coach Kevin Harris said. “Camille is one that responds to more informative talking, rather than barking or yelling. Camille needs logic, you just have to talk to Camille, and she understands. She’s real respectful and gets the job done.”

Downs credits the NSU coaching staff for developing her both on and off the court.

“I love them, they help me a lot in life and try to make me a better person than who I am already,” she said. “They encourage me all the time, they talk to me all the time. They just give me confidence. They make my confidence go from zero to 100.”

Downs struggled on the offensive end in the team’s season opener but broke through with a double-double at Campbell a few days later, recording 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and grabbing 11 rebounds. She soon compiled ten consecutive games of double-figure scoring, including a 28-point outing in a win over North Carolina Central. 

But despite her proficiency as a three-level scorer, Downs stands out the most through her defensive prowess. Her length, athleticism, and perception have made Downs one of nation’s most active players in passing lanes. Her 3.35 steals per game ranks fifth in Division I, and first in the MEAC. She recorded a career-high 10 steals against Morgan State and finished one steal shy of a triple-double on Saturday against South Carolina State.

Downs’ efforts have earned her seven in-season MEAC honors, recently becoming the first women’s basketball player this year to earn both MEAC Player and Defensive Player of the Week in the same week.

It didn’t take long for Downs to grow acclimated to her new environment off the court as well. A criminal justice major at UNCW, Downs now follows an interdisciplinary studies path and has found her professors at NSU understanding and accommodating. 

“They don’t try to punish you,” Downs said. “They try to listen and hear you out and help you get the best grades you can.”

After graduating, Downs plans to pursue a master’s degree in media and communications. She gives Ryan Raymond, NSU’s Director of Academics who works with the women’s basketball, the recognition for her improved mentality in the classroom.

“Ryan stays on top of us about our grades,” Downs said. “I appreciate him for that.”

With the regular season winding down and the MEAC Tournament soon approaching, Downs points to one area the team must reel in: emotions. She says the team’s competitiveness can get the best of them in games, resulting in frustrating mistakes and costly fouls. Her suggested fix? A combination of yoga and meditation, two practices that helped clear her head at UNCW.

“I think that would be a good team-bonding activity,” Downs said. “It would calm everyone’s mind down and help us relax.”

If the team can nail down the mental aspect of the game, Downs feels the sky is the limit. She thought the first half of an early-season loss at Indiana gave a glimpse of the team’s potential, when the Spartans trailed by one point, 22-21, midway through the second quarter against one of the best teams in the country.

“We have the talent, we just need to have the mindset,” Downs said. “It just opened my eyes, if we’re only down by one to Indiana, just imagine what we can do.”