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In his first collegiate season, Chris Clemons was named the Big South Conference freshman of the year after ranking seventh among all Division I frosh in scoring. Halfway through his sophomore year, the 2015 graduate of Raleigh's Millbrook High School was the nation's fourth-leading scorer at 23.3 points per game. The 5-foot-9 guard set a Campbell Gore Arena record with a career-high 37 points in a Jan. 4 win over Charleston Southern. In addition to leading the league in scoring and 3-point field goals per game, he ranked among Big South leaders in free throw shooting, assists and steals through six conference games.
What have you done to improve over last season when you were named Big South freshman of the year?
"Keep improving my shot, driving and being a little more explosive, a little more aggressive. Getting my teammates involved more has helped me a lot."
What was your summer workout routine?
"I have some people who work me out regularly. I get some pull-ups (jump shots) in, some threes, free throws and all the good stuff I do. That equals about 500 to 1,000 shots a day."
When did you first dunk the basketball?
I think I was 16, the start of my junior year of high school. You can ask Austin (Burnette) in AAU days, I could always jump pretty high. When I was maybe 5 feet tall, I was touching the backboard. I always had some bounce. I grew a little bit and it stayed with me.
What do you do to maintain or improve that explosiveness?
"Not anything specific. It runs in the family a little bit. My brother has the same athletic ability that I have. As far as working out, anything Shin (Tahara, Campbell's associate director of strength and conditioning) does, that's what I do."
What's it like to be able to attend school and play basketball so close to home?
"It's great. I always wanted my family and friends to be able to see me at that next level. Hopefully they'll be able to see me at the next level again. It's great for my dad and mom to be proud parents. I'm glad they are able to come and see me."
What's the best thing about Campbell University?
"It's a small school, everybody knows everybody, everybody's friendly. It's great to be able to interact with everybody. The athletes support each other and it's great to go to the other teams' games."
What's different about this year's team from last season?
"We switched our defense, everybody's happy about that, and that's helping out. We have a lot more heart, more talent; a few more weapons. We just fight harder than we ever did last year. With our depth, being a little bit fresher, more bodies to sub in and sub out, to get us off our feet a little more definitely helps."
What is your best memory so far in your time at Campbell?
"The Europe trip (in August 2015). Just walking down the streets, interacting with people from another place. Going a different place with your teammates, building that bond with them."
How far can this year's team go?
"I think we're just as good as anybody in the Big South, just as good as we want to be. Hopefully we can take that to the next level and make it to the NCAA tournament."
What is something about you that most people don't know?
"I like to draw and paint. I sing a little bit too. I had painting class, and we just painted objects, but I like to paint pictures of myself or somebody else playing basketball."
