It's been almost 35 years since the lights shown brightest on the Campbell Basketball team when the Fighting Camels squared off against defending national champ and top-ranked Duke in the NCAA tournament opening round at the Greensboro Coliseum.
 
And make no mistake about it, the young man who led Campbell to its first Division I conference title and trip to the "Big Dance" was definitely Joe Spinks of Asheboro, North Carolina.
 
A four-time all-conference performer, Joe was named Big South rookie of the year in 1991 and the league's player of the year in 1994.  While his name still dots the Camel record books in nearly every statistical category, Spinks would tell you that his greatest accomplishments came within the team aspect, not individual recognition.
 
Joe not only led Campbell to a convincing win over Charleston Southern as a sophomore in the 1992 Big South final – and as a result – a defensive assignment against national player of the year Christian Laettner, but two seasons later, led the Camels to the program's first wins ever over opponents from the ACC and SEC.
 
Joe went on to play professionally in Europe for a dozen years before entering the coaching ranks.  He was inducted into the Big South Conference Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Campbell Hall of Fame in 2010.
 
In 2011, Joe was named head coach at Eastern Guilford High School – a position he still holds.
 
In the next episode of Tales from the Creek, Joe Spinks talks with Stan Cole about growing up in Asheboro, his path to Campbell, playing and later coaching in the North Carolina East-West All-Star Game, and more.
 
Suggestions for future Tales from the Creek interview subjects are always welcome and may be sent to Stan Cole at cole@campbell.edu.