On Friday, April 7, 2017, Harry S Truman seniors Jayda Campbell and Daeja Moore signed letters of intent to continue their basketball careers at Rowan College at Burlington County. Check back for a gallery of photos of the event.
Coach Collette Munford says: “I’ve been coaching them since fourth grade. It started my first year at Truman – we decided to start an AAU team, and we had tryouts. All the girls that tried out were girls that didn’t make it for other teams because they couldn’t play, they couldn’t do any of the basics.
“But when little girls come up to me and ask me to teach them how to play, my heart says, ‘Okay.’ Nobody on the team knew how to play. Jayda and Daeja were two of them, and we started from there. We started from the bottom when they were in fourth grade, which developed their becoming best friends and now going to the same college together.
“They both were eager to learn the game. Jayda can shoot very well, and Daeja was the same way. She’s very quick and has speed, and just developing and building on those strengths and applying everything else, each year they got better and better. I told them by the time they were seniors they would be the turning point of our program. They believed it, and look at our season this year. It’s the best season we ever had, and they’re seniors, so I spoke it into existence.
“Daeja is a point guard/guard and Jayda is a guard/forward. If you asked them who taught them to play the game, they’ll say me, but they wanted to learn, and they put in the work, so it was a joint effort. It’s very exciting. I’m hoping we can do this every year with my seniors, but this is the starting point.”
RCBC coach Carolyn Jones says: “I always like speed in my point guards, and I look at their defense. These girls are both tenacious defenders. I like the fact that they’re nice kids, I like the fact that they come from good families, and I like the fact that they are academically sound. My program looks for those types of kids because our reputation is not just built on winning basketball games, but we have a tradition of graduating our kids with associate’s degrees, retaining them for the two years and placing them into four-year schools. That’s really our main objective.”
Jayda Campbell – Rowan College at Burlington County (Basketball)
Major: Undecided
Final list of colleges: Rowan, Alfred University
Reasons for choosing Rowan: “I chose Rowan because I like the coaching staff, and I just thought that would be a better choice for me.”
What was the progression that led you to playing basketball at the collegiate level? “I wasn’t really good at basketball at all. I didn’t know how to play, and (coach Munford) taught me everything. That’s how me and Daeja met in fourth grade. We just kept playing and kept playing, and we got better. In eighth grade, I was like, ‘I think I could play in college.’ This is incredibly exciting.
“Since Daeja and I have been so close, I didn’t think we would go to the same school, so I thought it was going to be hard not seeing my best friend all the time, but now that we’re going to college and we’re playing together, I’m very happy. She pushes me in basketball a lot. In practices, it’s always us two going at each other, and running – we’re always together, trying to push one another.”
About Jayda:
Favorite food: Pancakes
Favorite movie: Love and Basketball
Favorite music: Kehlani
Daeja Moore – Rowan College at Burlington County (Basketball)
Major: Undecided
Reasons for choosing Rowan: “I was looking at schools, and (coach Carolyn Jones) contacted me. The way she comes off as a coach, I know she’s going to be a real good coach to play for, and she’s going to teach me a lot. She’s like my high school coach – they’re almost the same.”
What was the progression that led you to playing basketball at the collegiate level? “When I first started basketball, I was in fourth grade, and I thought it was so fun, and I wanted to keep going. Once I got to middle school, I wanted to keep playing. I didn’t want to stop, so I wanted to go to college for basketball. Playing with my friends and I love my coach - Jayda and I have a bond. I know when she wants to shoot, I know everything. I love playing with my best friend, and going to school with someone I know and am close with is going to be fun. It’s very exciting.”
About Jayda:
Favorite food: Cheesesteaks
Favorite movie: Love and Basketball
Favorite music: Everything
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