Billy Campbell does not usually get a lot of minutes, but when he does, he makes them count. In Tuesday night's win over Northwestern, he provided the Cavaliers with a spark off the bench as his clutch three-pointer allowed Virginia to regain momentum and take control of the game. It has been these types of big plays that have earned the senior from Atlanta not only the respect of his teammates but also more playing time.
"He gave us a spark," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said in reference to Campbell's shot. "That three was huge because it cut the deficit in half. It was an energy lift."
Despite coming up big in the clutch, Campbell is most recognized by his teammates for his hard work in practice. As the team's primary scout player, Campbell gives the starters a good model of how the upcoming opponents will play.
"He helps the guards out a lot in practice because he puts a lot of pressure on us," junior guard J.R. Reynolds said. "He does a tremendous job."
The most unique part of Campbell's situation, however, is not how he has managed to find success as a walk-on, but rather his consistent success as a student. Campbell turned down admission to Harvard in favor of Virginia. While at Virginia, he has continued to succeed in the classroom and has been named to the ACC Honor Roll in both his freshman and junior years.
"The only thing that he's not real smart about is that he turned down going to Harvard, but he ended up in a pretty good place," Leitao said with a smile. "He plays and practices with passion, and I think he does a really good job at living with a passion."
Campbell's intelligence is recognized by his teammates as well.
"Billy is definitely the smart guy on the team," Reynolds said.
The Cavaliers, however, will need more than just Campbell's smarts this Sunday when they face Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are coming off of a two-point loss to No. 13 Michigan State and will be looking for their first win in conference play.
Georgia Tech is led by sophomore guard Anthony Morrow and sophomore center Ra'sean Dickey. It will be Dickey, however, who the Cavaliers will have to worry about containing. With a 6-foot-9, 225-pound frame, Dickey will create a mismatch for the smaller Virginia frontcourt.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers will continue to rely on the consistent play of sophomore co-captain Sean Singletary and freshman Mamadi Diane, and perhaps look for Campbell's spark off the bench.
As seen in the Northwestern game, just one shot can shift the momentum from one team to another.
"Billy plays real hard," Reynolds said. "He gets hyped [when he hits a shot], and that gets everybody going"
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