‘It’s not just the athletic aspect of where he’s at now. He’s a young adult that’s been going to school for 18 years of his life. If nothing else, he’s a professional student. Whatever else comes beyond that, it’s great. It’s just, are you happy with who you are?’
– Tony Campbell, Malik Campbell’s father

No one would blame Malik Campbell if he wasn’t.

Not after a six-year stretch that sent him off to Maryland, back to high school and then off to Syracuse, where he played both basketball and football but never quite lived up to his potential in either sport.

Not as he watches his former basketball teammates win their first exhibition game this season, his arms tugging at a blue jacket, his eyes diverted to the Carrier Dome cement under his feet as he talks about what could have been.

And certainly not when Syracuse football is back in a bowl game, but Campbell — a high school quarterback touted by many in the Buffalo area as the city’s best ever two-sport athlete — finds himself relegated to a receiving role on a passing offense that produced inconsistent results at best in his senior season.

Malik Campbell has every reason in the athletic world to be angry, to hate a system that set him up for failure, and to wonder, ‘Why did this happen to me?’

But he doesn’t. Campbell can recall every detail about a journey rivaled only by two guys named Lewis and Clark and say without an ounce of regret that he wouldn’t change a single decision. Not one.

‘I’m quite happy for every decision I made,’ Campbell said. ‘It was the best decision for me. If things don’t work in my favor, I made the right decisions. And I’m willing to accept the consequences of every decision that I make.’

‘That was the worse feeling that I could ever go through in my life. I wouldn’t wish anybody to go through that. A lot of people, they didn’t know me personally, they didn’t know what happened. Everybody was talking about it. It just sucked. A lot of people turned their back on me. A lot of people stopped talking to me for a while, like I did something wrong. And it wasn’t even my fault. I mean, I’m looking at my diploma, right here in front of my face, and I’ve got to go back to high school. ‘
– Malik Campbell

Jack and Pam Dooling hang the ‘Malik is Unique’ sign in the 200 level of the Carrier Dome before every Syracuse home football game. Students give it only puzzled glances, but SU teammate Kwazi Leverette believes it describes Campbell perfectly.

Campbell, after all, is unique enough to play both football and basketball at the Division I level. And he was unique enough to sport sneakers and gym shorts under a black cap and gown at his high school graduation. The first time, at least.

That’s why Tony Cambpell, Malik’s father, calls him a ‘professional student.’ He will earn a degree in social work from Syracuse. He attended two different colleges. And he did indeed graduate from high school. Twice.

Campbell had signed on to play quarterback at Maryland, and he had planned to walk onto the basketball team. He left for College Park, Md., the night of his first high school graduation, but the day before practice began, the NCAA Clearinghouse ruled three of Campbell’s religion classes invalid, leaving him half a credit short of graduating.

Maryland felt like the perfect fit, one where Campbell would have a chance to play immediately. But he could only watch the Terrapins begin practicing for a season in which all three quarterbacks in front of him got injured. For Campbell, it was back to Buffalo and Turner/Carroll high school for the longest year of his young life.

‘It’s hard mentally,’ said Buffalo’s head basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon, who has known Campbell since he was in ninth grade. ‘To be so close to something and visualize it and then have it stripped away from you. Rust sets in. Sting sets in.

‘It might have interrupted his progress, his development as a student-athlete. Being so close, being at the university, then having to go back to the point where you started, that had to be tough. It speaks to his resolve.’

‘Killer. Just killer. He could play here. But it’s extremely difficult. Very few have done it successfully. It’s just tough for a football player when he comes out in January, he almost has to be that much better than everybody else because how do you validate guys busting their ass since September and all of a sudden, a football player comes out there and takes his spot.’
– Mike Hopkins, Syracuse assistant basketball coach

Basketball skill landed Campbell at Syracuse in the first place. When he returned to high school, he played in AAU basketball tournaments with future Orangeman Damone Brown and quickly garnered interest from Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. During his extra year in high school, though, Campbell couldn’t hone any type of football skill.

SU football coach Paul Pasqualoni redshirted Campbell his first year in 1997, and he rarely left Boeheim’s bench. In 1998, Campbell didn’t play a single down of football, and he played a limited role in 16 basketball games.

Three years removed from serious competition as quarterback, Campbell’s throwing arm compiled enough rust to render it ineffective. He had two decisions to make before entering his sophomore year of eligibility.

‘When I came back, it was almost impossible for me to play quarterback,’ Campbell said. ‘I looked horrible out there. It looked like I’d never played the position. I was so tired and exhausted. I just knew I couldn’t do it for four years. I had to make a decision and stick with that one sport.’

‘Anyone who can play football and basketball at this level, in particular at Syracuse, something’s got to be said for that young man’s athletic ability. He’s competing at the highest level possible. Sure, there a bunch of guys that can do it. But you don’t see them do it. He did it.’
– Dennis Goldman, SU’s wide receiver coach

No one – not Hopkins, not Goldman, not Boeheim, not Pasqualoni – questions Campbell’s athletic ability. His father was a champion amateur boxer. Pam Dooling even remembers Boeheim calling Campbell one of the finest athletes ever to come to Syracuse.

With so much athletic ability, the logical choice was wide receiver, and Campbell switched during spring football in 1999. He also quit the basketball team to concentrate on one sport, hoping for the chance to shine.

It never materialized. Campbell made an impact in three seasons, but came nowhere near fulfilling the seemingly limitless athletic potential.

In his sophomore season, Campbell finished fourth on the team in receiving. In his junior year, he took over the punt returning duties, where he set the single season record with 32 and finished sixth all-time in punt-return yards. He also caught 26 passes, including the game-winning touchdown against West Virginia.

This year, as SU’s passing offense struggled, Campbell has only 14 receptions for 184 yards. He no longer returns punts, but contributes in other ways, Leverette said.

‘He’s like the granddad of the program,’ Leverette said. ‘He’s the wise, old man of the offensive team. Even though I’m the oldest, he still comes across like the wise, old man. If you need to know what you’re doing on a play or something, most of the time Malik is your man.’

But Campbell can’t help but think about the long and tortuous path he’s taken. The questions abound: What if he’d never had to go back to high school? What if he hadn’t redshirted? What if he’d picked one sport from the beginning? Just how good he could have been?

Then, Campbell reverses the line of questioning. What if, like many of his friends from East Buffalo, he’d turned to a life filled with drugs and crime? What if he’d gone back there and never left? What if he threw his abnormally large hands into the air and just gave up?

‘I thought about all of it,’ Campbell said, his smile reflecting his contentment. ‘I always think about that. Things could have turned out a lot differently. I could be at home right now, stuck, not doing anything, working everyday. I got a chance to do great things with my life. I’m happy about it.’

Next question, please.