Bishop McGuinness Head Coach Josh Thompson presents senior John Campbell with a special basketball commemorating his 1,000th point. (Photo by Shaun Kilgariff)KERNERSVILLE — The Bishop McGuinness High School community rallied around senior John Campbell Feb. 2 to honor him with a commemorative basketball during their home game against Jamestown's College Prep and Leadership Academy. What did he accomplish? Scoring 1,000 points – and counting – during his high school career.
“John Campbell is a terrific high school basketball player, and I can't wait to see how he excels at the next level,” says Josh Thompson, head coach for varsity boys basketball at Bishop McGuinness. “Even though he's been terrific in our program for three seasons, his best basketball is still in front of him.”
The ball featured Campbell’s name, point total and an image of him in action on the court. As of Feb. 15, he has scored an impressive 1,074 points in 66 games.
“It was amazing to feel the love and support from my teammates and the Bishop McGuinness community,” Campbell says. “My experience at Bishop has been nothing but great, and I feel I have been prepared to succeed not only in athletics, but in life after basketball.”
His coach agrees.
“As good as John is on the court, he's an even better person off the court,” says Thompson. “His work ethic, high character and drive to be his best have propelled him to this 1,000-point milestone, and I know those qualities will allow him to reach great heights in the future as well.”
Campbell and fellow senior Cal Barrett are two of 12 players in North Carolina to be nominated for the boys’ McDonald’s All-American game. Both have said that they were surprised to receive this top accolade in high school basketball, agreeing that sharing the honor with the other made it even sweeter.
Campbell has signed on to play basketball for Hampden-Sydney College in Hampden-Sydney, Va., while Barrett is drawing recruiting interest from multiple colleges but has not yet decided on one. The Bishop McGuinness Villains (21-3) remain undefeated (18-0) in the Northwest Piedmont 1A conference as they head into the conference tournament Feb. 16.
They are looking to win the state title after a disappointing loss in the regional finals in 2023 when Eastern Randolph overtook the Villains’ lead in the last minutes of the game. With that motivation along with their skill and determination, the Villains have an excellent shot at bringing the title home once again. It would be the program's seventh state title and its first since 2019.
For more about Bishop McGuinness varsity boys basketball, visit www.bishopbasketball.org.
—Annie Ferguson. Photos by Shaun Kilgariff
