Observations: What Can New Commit Dom Campbell Bring To Notre Dame?
Notre Dame basketball commit Dom Campbell and his AAU team, Middlesex Magic, played at the Prep Hoops 2k21 tournament in Indianapolis last weekend to wrap up the July live evaluation periods. It was the first action for the 2022 forward from Phillips Exeter Academy (N.H.) since he picked the Irish on July 21 – the result of a rapid rise this spring and summer.
I was there to watch, as was Notre Dame’s basketball coaching staff. Here are some observations after seeing four of his games.
Post-Up Game
• Campbell’s offensive arsenal is built around his ability to score in the post, where he’s a load to handle. He’s 6-8 and probably somewhere around 270 pounds, though he has slimmed down from over 300 earlier in high school. Even as he continues to transform his body, he’s a center all the way in college.
• He’s a crafty post scorer who controls space and finds ways to get to his right hand (his dominant hand). He has a spin move that’s not associated with many players at his size. His drop-step is dependable. He attacks the basket and despite not being an explosive leaper, can play above the rim. He competes for rebounds and boxes out every time. Like a lot of post players, his off hand could use more development.
• Even at his size and with his sturdy base, he still could benefit from adding strength. For as big as he is, you want to see him bury his defender in the post more often and catch the ball deeper. His craftiness, spin move and ability to hit short face-up jumpers makes him effective when he does catch it further out, though. His hands are soft when he catches entry passes, but gets stripped of the ball a bit too often.
Other Offensive Skills
• It’s rare to see inside-out centers built like Campbell, but he’s absolutely one. He can shoot three-pointers and made at least one in each game I saw him. He can pick-and-pop and come off screens. His team runs plays for him to shoot. He has a clean and repeatable stroke with a high release and little wasted effort.
• Campbell had a few layups on set plays for him where he catches a pass mid-post and drives, or gets a screen to free him for a layup. He even scored off a give-and-go once.
• Campbell also has good feel as a passer. He’s not a possession-ender when he catches the ball in the post. He passes out of double-teams to open shooters and can make dump-off passes to cutters when a defender helps on him. He’s a sound decision-maker.
• He’s a weapon as a screener. He clear space for shooters. He stops guards in their tracks in pick-and-rolls and pin-downs. At his size, he’s difficult to get around and seems to genuinely enjoy freeing up his teammates to score.
Defense
• This is where big centers can get exposed, especially if a team tries to make them play away from the basket. Campbell isn’t going to switch screens. Guarding on the perimeter isn’t his ideal role.
But Campbell plays hard on defense. He held his own in ball screen coverage, where he hedged on the perimeter and recovered to the paint. That will be how college teams use him on defense. He’s disciplined and assignment-sound. The focus for translating to college on that end should be improving his lateral quickness.
• As an interior defender, Campbell is difficult to back down. He has active hands and gets a lot of pokes and deflections. He’s not a true rim protector who will block many shots on his own man. He doesn’t hunt them as a help defender, but that’s not a knock because he boxes out instead and doesn’t give up easy offensive rebounds. His team doesn’t play a lot of aggressive help defense either.
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