Thursday afternoon, La Salle Institute senior basketball player Marquis Campbell signed a national letter of intent to play Division II basketball at Concordia College, N.Y.

La Salle Institute senior Marquis Campbell is all smiles while speaking with reporters prior to signing his national letter of intent to play Division II basketball at Concordia College (N.Y.). (Photos by J.S. Carras - The Record).

La Salle Institute head coach Steve Sgambelluri and Marquis Campbell have much in common, believe it or not.

Sgambelluri played Big 10 Conference basketball at Bishop Maginn and later played at the Division II level at The College of Saint Rose. Needless to say, he had a lot of advice for his senior guard Marquis Campbell.

A number of schools came calling for Campbell - he also debated spending a year at prep school - before finally deciding on Concordia College in Bronxville.

For Sgambelluri, he knew Campbell was ready to play at the next level when he took charge during a January 8 Big 10 game against Collar City rival Troy High.

"Against Troy, he looked at the bench and said, "We’re going to pull through," recalled Sgambelluri, whose team trailed by 20 points at the time. "That showed great maturity on his part and it’s a quality that all college coaches look for. He went on to hit the game-winning shot."

Campbell’s three-point basket at the buzzer lifted the Cadets to a 56-53 victory.

"My junior year when I started playing on varsity, I realized I could go far with this and possibly get a free education and do a lot with basketball," Campbell said. "My hard work paid off, but I’m not going to stop there."

La Salle Institute senior Marquis Campbell rejoices with his family after signing a national letter of intent to play Division II basketball at Concordia College.

"From the first time I met him, all he talked about was how he wanted to be a college basketball player," Sgambelluri said. "He’s worked incredibly hard. He studies the game and when he’s not in school, he’s playing basketball. He’s just a gym rat."

"I went down to Concordia and visited and it was a beautiful campus and the coaches were cool and the players accepted me," said Campbell. "I hope that I can make an impact and help out next year. With the education, there are a lot of good opportunities down there as well. Concordia was a good fit for me."

For the full story, be sure to check out Friday's edition of The Record.

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