Dejaylen Campbell signs to play basketball at Minnesota North College – Vermilion
Published 1:45 pm Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Troup High alum Dejaylen Campbell (class of ‘25) has signed to play basketball at the next level. After a long and somewhat difficult recruiting process, Campbell has found a new home to play basketball at Minnesota North College – Vermilion.
“It was all about finding the right place that fits me,” Campbell said. “It was very difficult with everybody transferring and the portal and more eligibility and stuff, but I’ve found the right fit for me.”
“I had a friend who went to Callaway that attended that school and told me it would be a great fit,” he added.
Campbell, who served as Troup’s starting point guard, has never been the biggest player on the court. His perceived lack of size made the recruiting process extra difficult, but eventually, schools realized what Campbell had to offer.
“To get a scholarship at six feet or below is extremely hard to do,” Troup principal Stewart Smith said. “It’s just such a hard thing to do that it’s a tribute to his hard work. He’s put in a lot of hard work to be here.”
“Being the smallest man on the court can take its toll, but I feel like I’ve played up to my ability,” Campbell said.
The first two seasons at Troup High were rough. The Tigers had two different coaches across those two seasons and missed the playoffs in both. Campbell would help lead the program’s turnaround during his junior season, in which he helped the team finish as the region runner-up and earn a home playoff game.
“I give all the credit to my coaches and teammates,” he said. “We all came together and said that we were tired of losing and we were ready to make a run.”
Campbell would go on and lead the team back to the playoffs as a senior.
As a point guard, Campbell has always been a natural leader on the court, but he elevated his abilities to command the floor to new heights as a senior.
“I felt like I became a leader pretty young with me playing point guard since I was like five,” he said. “I had to be a lot more vocal this year, but I appreciated that Coach trusted me in that role.”
Coach Vacher Hammett gave Campbell all the trust he needed to operate on his system. The Troup High boys basketball coach for the last two seasons also coached him back in middle school at Long Cane, where Campbell says Hammett took it a little bit easier on him than at the high school level.
“I’ve seen him grow so much as a human being and a teammate,” Hammett said. “I could always depend on him to be on time to practice, set the tone at practice and always work hard. He’s like a coach on the floor.”
No matter how far from Troup High School his basketball career takes him, it will always be home.
“It has meant a lot to me,” Campbell said of putting on the Troup jersey for the last four years. “There have been a lot of great people that have come through here, so to be able to put that jersey on and represent feels good.”