Friday Features: Union's youngsters spark surge to top of GSC women's hoops
By Maurice Patton
In 16 seasons as women’s basketball coach at
Union,
Mark Campbell has won more than 500 games and four national championships. One thing he hadn’t done, though, is start two freshmen.
Until this year.
First-year guards
Jada Perkins and
Jada Smith have been fixtures in the Lady Bulldogs’ opening five from the season opener, and the youngsters have helped key Union’s early success – including a 15-2 start (9-2 Gulf South Conference) and a No. 18 NCAA Division II national ranking.
“They’re learning on the run. I’m proud of how they’ve come through,” Campbell said. “They’ve put in a lot of work on their own. They’ve fit in really well. It’s just a matter of getting experience.”
The lack of seasoning has hardly slowed the pair. Smith is Union’s second-leading scorer (11.9 points per game) while logging 31.4 minutes per game, also second on the team. Additionally, she’s averaging a team-high 5.7 assists – just ahead of Perkins, with 5.2 feeds per contest. Perkins also averages 8.3 points and 25.8 minutes per night.
Between them, Smith (three) and Perkins have claimed four of the nine
GSC Freshman of the Week honors this season.
“It’s a lot of responsibility,” Smith said of stepping into the starting lineup for Campbell and the Lady Bulldogs. “It’s a tough task, but it’s a lot of fun. It definitely wasn’t an easy transition as far as the speed of the game.”
With eight newcomers on this season’s roster, Campbell had an idea that youth would be a factor – and he had identified Smith and Perkins as rookies who would have to rise to the occasion.
“We counted on it,” he said. “We knew who we were getting, character-wise and ability-wise. The unknowns were, how are they going to handle me during the two hours (of practice)? Are they going to react well to someone pulling out every deficiency that first two months (of preseason) and really challenging them? How quickly are they going to get comfortable feeling uncomfortable.
“We’re still in that process.”
Helping speed the process is Union second-year assistant
Lauren Avant Sumski, a former Memphis prep standout guard who played at the University of Tennessee as a freshman before finishing at Rhodes College.
“She knows how to play through it and she’s been able to show them,” Campbell said. “She’s been a big part of their maturity.”
While the process has been successful thus far, the coach and the freshmen agree that the process is ongoing – as is the season.
“I feel like it’s gone well,” Perkins said. “I think we’re coming together well.”
Most pleasing to Campbell is that the two have combined for just 62 turnovers – less than four per game – while serving as the team’s primary ballhandlers.
“We’re tops in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio, and they’re the reason why,” he said. “We’re a long way from where we need to be, but am I pleased with the maturity? No question. There’s been a calm in how they’ve handled the basketball. Their decision making puts us in position that we can fight through and I think that’s what we’ve done.
“I’m pleased with their maturity and the direction we’re going. We’re getting better and better.”
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mopattonsports@gmail.com.
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2015-16 GSC Friday Features
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9/11/2015 - Veteran UNA Coach Bobby Wallace Enjoys His Time With Young Lions.
9/18/2015 - Mississippi College Looks to Sustain Quick Start.
9/25/2015 - UAH's Winslow Races Way Back to Top After Injury.
10/02/2015 - Union's Morris Not Ready for Rocking Chair.
10/09/2015 - UWA's Mark Grant Learning Lessons From Both His College Sports.
10/16/2015 - Perez Sets Tone for Nationally-Ranked Lee.
10/23/2015 - Jessica Codato Finds Friends, Volleyball Success at Valdosta State.
10/30/2015 - Delta State Safety Looks to Avoide School of Hard 'Knox'.
11/06/2015 - Shorter's B.J. McCoy Runs Hard, Is Thankful for Every Snap.
11/13/2015 - Consistency Leads Union to XC Nationals Again.
11/20/2015 - Will Hall Making Waves at West Georgia, Throughout GSC.
11/27/2015 - National Tourney Awaits MC After Month-Long Hiatus.
12/04/2015 - Harlon Hill Finalist Wingo Leaves UNA with Pocket Full of Records.
12/11/2015 - Stramaglia Waits Long Time to Do Long-Range Damage for UWF.
12/18/2015 - UAH Women's Basketball Senior Class Shares More Than Most.
1/08/2016 - Christmas Trip a 'Life-Changing' Experience for Lee Baseball.
1/15/2016 - VSU's Thomas Macera Preaches (And Shows) Toughness.