If she had to do all it over again, West Virginia’s Korinne Campbell would have listened to her sister.
When weighing her prospective colleges during her senior season of high school, Campbell made the decision that, more than any other factor, she was going to choose a school that would allow her to make her own legacy.
She had previously followed in the footsteps of her older sister, Michelle, a former standout at Rutgers and currently a member of the WNBA.
For Korinne, that meant all teams within the Big East Conference were eliminated.
"She said that if you don’t want to follow in my shadow, don’t come to my conference. I told her I wasn’t coming to her conference," Korinne said. "And I didn’t."
Despite being heavily recruited by the Mountaineers, Campbell chose Minnesota. One year later, she realized she made the wrong decision.
It was Michelle who recommended WVU head coach Mike Carey and his program. After taking a visit to West Virginia, Campbell immediately made the choice to transfer to Morgantown.
The decision to transfer was tough for Campbell. She didn’t know what her future at her new school held. After all, she started 19 games and averaged 6.2 points and 6.5 rebounds as a freshman with the Golden Gophers.
But making the decision harder, Campbell also realized she would have to sit out a season due to NCAA transfer rules.
"Sitting out was definitely a factor," Campbell said. "I knew that coming from playing all the time to not playing at all and not even traveling with the team was going to be hard."
One year later, however, Campbell said her choice to transfer was the "best decision of her life."
"I honestly wish I could say I came here as a freshman," she said.
More than anything, Campbell used the extra long offseason as an opportunity to improve on the court and form herself into a guard and a more complete shooter.
Before she came to WVU, she claimed to have never shot a 3-pointer in her life.
"Now, it’s like no big deal," she said.
After every practice last season, she stayed and shot more. She did extra weight training and ball-handling drills.
With all of the injuries, it wasn’t uncommon for her to play with the starters during practice.
Come game time, though, she couldn’t join her team on the court.
"I kept thinking coach was going to pull me off the bench," Campbell said. "He’d give me that look every once in awhile but then he’d be like, ‘oh, you can’t go in.’"
Teammate Liz Repella felt the same way.
Repella, who was forced to lead the team as a sophomore last season, was one of four players who averaged 30 minutes last season due to the team’s lack of depth caused by injuries.
"After practicing with her every day and seeing her abilities as a basketball player, I obviously couldn’t help but look over there and wish she could play," Repella said. "We always used to joke around and tell her we were going to dress her up like someone else."
Restricted to the bench, Campbell felt helpless.
"It was so hard watching my teammates play so much. Usually players don’t play 40 minutes in a game," Campbell said. "We were having three or four players play the whole game.
"But there was nothing I could do to help."
This year, there is.
Campbell is projected to be the first player off the bench for WVU this season and could even crack the starting lineup.
"You just have to play hard," she said. "Doing that helps you make a name for yourself."
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