BELLINGHAM, Wash. (02/08/2003) -- For most basketball players, a "pressure situation" is shooting free throws in an enemy gym or playing in a national semifinal game as a sophomore or maybe guarding an All-American who averages 20 points a game.

Not for Nehemiah Campbell.

The Western Washington University senior has done all of the above, and he knows they do not compare to other rough spots he has been in.

Like having someone come up to him with a pistol at a pickup game.

"I was just playing, and a guy came up, pulled out a gun and shot the guy standing next to me," Campbell said with a shrug. "That's just where I came from. A gunshot doesn't freak me out."

Gunshots are a way of life where Campbell comes from -- the South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles, where crime, unemployment, drugs and gangs make even day-to-day living a difficult task.

As Campbell said, "A lot of people I know are in jail, dead or having babies."

Yet Campbell proved he was not like most of the people he grew up with.

For one, he was a talented basketball player, being named all-city after averaging 17 points as a senior and helping Washington High School go to the city playoffs.

But other players with as much talent have not escaped the difficult neighborhood.

"In L.A. there's quite a few players as good as Nehemiah who want to move away," said Western assistant Tony Dominguez, who recruited Campbell. "But there's not many with Nehemiah's intelligence. That area is high intensity with drugs and gangs. But he wasn't a part of that. He's a rarity."

Campbell's talent and intelligence were matched by his desire. Anyone who has watched him play at Carver Gym the past four years could see that.

The 6-foot-4 forward made his mark as a freshman, playing in every game, mainly on the strength of his defense. Ever since, his quickness, strength, and, most importantly, his willpower have made him the team's defensive stopper.

"I hate it when people score on me," he said. "I take it personally. I get mad even when my guy scores and I'm on the bench. Defense is all desire and willingness to put out your best. I'll do anything for the team."

It didn't take long for Western head coach Brad Jackson to notice Campbell's unselfish commitment to making the Vikings better.

"Nehemiah is solid all the time, but he really rises to the occasion and accepts the challenge," Jackson said. "His tenacity is what sets him apart. We lean on him for his fire."

Campbell's defensive prowess and intensity make it easy to overlook the other parts of his game. Although he averages just 8.1 points per game, he is third on the team in 3-pointers made and averages 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists a game.

"He's a very complete player," Jackson said. "He's a good offensive player, who makes good decisions and good passes. He's also got a good work ethic and an effervescent personality. He gets a lot of respect from his teammates."

"Looking back at his four years, we're really pleased with what he's accomplished."

Not surprisingly, the accomplishments have not come easily.

First there was getting out of the `hood.

Although he played basketball all his life, Campbell grew up with a father and mother who stressed education, not athletics, as the way to better himself.

"Growing up in that area, athletics and academics were the only way out," Campbell said. "But they (his parents) didn't care if I played basketball at all. They just wanted me to go to college."

The youngest of three children, Campbell stayed out of the trouble some of his friends got in. In fact, it was his friends who wanted to see him succeed.

"Everybody in our neighborhood knew I was a basketball player," he said. "They wanted me to get out."

Unfortunately, avoiding trouble was not easy. Gangs and guns were common place. Murders in Whatcom County are page one material, in Los Angeles they are statistics.

"L.A. has the highest crime rate in the nation," Campbell said. "I remember seeing that in two weeks 30 people were killed. It's just like what you see in the movies. When we heard a gunshot, we'd just go on playing."

Campbell remembered playing at rival Crenshaw and Dorsey high schools where his team needed a police escort to get into and out of the game safely.

"I liked going there," said Campbell. "It was dangerous, but we would be laughing on the bus. It really desensitizes you."

Yet even Campbell was hit hard by one shooting. One of his best friends and high school teammates, Rodney Anderson, a player at Cal State Fullerton, came back to the neighborhood to visit his parents and on March 2, 2000, was caught in a drive-by and shot three times. Paralyzed from the waist down, his basketball career was over.

"He's still in school," Campbell said, "but it changed his life. It changed my life."

It was that lifestyle, where even walking down the street at the wrong time could be fatal, that Campbell was intent on leaving behind. When he had his chance to shine in all-star games after his senior season, he came through again.

Dominguez, who does much of Western's recruiting, vividly remembered the game.

"The first game I watched him play, I think he had 10 dunks," Dominguez said.

Although he never was the "star," Campbell was an important reserve his first two seasons, helping the Vikings reach the NCAA Division II Final Four his sophomore year. Last season he started half the games. This year, he was named one of the team's co-captains and, after coming back from an eight-game suspension, he has started every game for a team battling for a playoff berth.

Just as important, he's on track to graduate on schedule and is hoping to use his degree to possibly work with youngsters in his old neighborhood. Like his biblical namesake, Nehemiah is willing to face danger in order to rebuild his home.

"When I was younger, there were people who helped me out," he said. "I want to do something positive, to give something back.

"You never forget where you came from," Campbell said. "You want to get out of the `hood. It's negative, but I learned a lot from being there. It builds strong character."

Nehemiah Now

Nehemiah Campbell did return to south Los Angeles and is completing his eighth year there as a Mental Health Therapist. Campbell graduated from Western in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in general studies. He completed a master's degree in counseling at the University of Phoenix in 2011. Campbell worked six years at a non-profit named Children's Institute located in L.A., and the last two years at Kaiser Permanente in a clinic located in Norwalk, Calif. Licensed in family counseling, he works one-on-one with at-risk children as well as families. Married to the former Trichelle Price, a high school classmate, they have two children: daughter Leah 5 and son Nehemiah II 3.

"It's my way of giving back," said Campbell. "Basketball gave me opportunities that I may have not otherwise been afforded and people were placed in my life who kept me from going different routes. I got into the area of mental health as a way to pay back and to help people from the area where I grew up who are suffering from various mental issues such as anxiety and depression. I've found my time very rewarding and I feel very blessed."

Jim Carberry is a freelance writer and author with 20 years of journalism experience that includes national awards for writing and being part of the original USA Today startup team. He has authored four sports history books. Jim pastors a church in Birch Bay, Wash., and lives in nearby Lynden with his wife.

Presented by Paul Madison who served 48 years as sports information director at WWU from 1966 to 2015. He is now in his third year as the school's Athletics Historian.