Camper is learning on fly
He’s trying to catch up despite injuries, 2-sport focus in high school
With the NFL playoffs in full swing, it’s a good time to remind people Siena men’s basketball sophomore Manny Camper was once a pretty talented football player, too.
He lettered as a quarterback and wide receiver at Kent County High School in Maryland. But Saints head coach Jamion Christian suspects Camper’s two-sport focus back then is a reason why he is still a fairly raw prospect on the court.
“He hasn’t played a lot of basketball,” Christian said. “He’s just learning the game and learning at a high rate right now.”
Injuries haven’t helped. A knee injury delayed the start of his Siena career last year and a stress reaction in his left foot cost Camper four straight games until his return against Marist on Friday night.
He helped spark the Saints to a 71-66 victory in Poughkeepsie in which the 6-foot-6, 208-pound Camper showcased the versatility and athleticism that has the coaching staff high on him.
“Just continuing to be an energizer guy,” Camper said. “Guarding the other team’s best player and making it hard for them to run their offense. Just finishing plays when the opportunity
presents itself.”
He finished them against the Red Foxes with three conventional three-point plays, including an emphatic slam on a pass from Jalen Pickett.
He’ll play his second game back on Monday night when Siena (6-10 overall, 1-2 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) faces Monmouth (3-14, 2-2) at Times Union Center.
Though Camper began the year as Siena’s starting shooting guard, Christian is finding time for him at small forward and power forward, as well. Freshman Georges Darwiche has moved into the starting backcourt along with Pickett, putting Camper in a jack-of-all-trades role off the bench.
“Georges has been playing well so (Christian) is trying to get multiple ball-handlers and guards on the floor at once,” Camper said. “He’s switching it up. I’ll play the 3, the 4, whatever.”
Camper reported Saturday he was feeling well a day after coming back from the injury that had him in a walking boot. He’s averaging 6.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
Able to attack the rim on backdoor cuts, Camper adds an element to a Siena offense that loves to shoot the 3-pointer. He’s made only 3 of 15 shots from 3-point range this season, but Christian said his game is coming along.
“He’s been special for us all year and he’s a guy that’s been reliable for us offensively and defensively, making some plays,” Christian said. “We’re just trying to do a great job of helping him learn things he doesn’t know and just trying to get him to use the gifts he has to perform.”
Christian saw those gifts when he was the head coach at Mount St. Mary’s and Camper was at Kent County, where he scored 1,951 points on the basketball court.
But Christian didn’t recruit Camper even though they were in the same state.
“He was a junior and hadn’t played a lot of basketball,” Christian said. “I tend to stay away from more raw guys but over the last three years, he’s grown a lot as a player. And his game, his rawness, was much more about how much football he played.”
When Christian was hired in May, Camper said he felt it would be a good fit, even though Siena is playing at a much slower tempo than originally planned. Christian said Camper has grasped his offense quickly, which allows him to play multiple positions.
“He takes pride on defense and he likes to run,” Camper said. “I mean, we haven’t been running this year because we had injuries and things like that, but I think it’ll open up more next year when we have more guards and things like that. You’ll see more ‘Mayhem.’”
Monmouth, Monday’s opponent, has won three of its past five games after starting 0-12. The Hawks are led in scoring by 6-3 sophomore guard Ray Salnave (12.4 ppg) and 6-4 sophomore guard Deion Hammond.
“They’re physical and they’re playing really good basketball,” Christian said. “Their record’s really deceptive of how good they’re playing.”