Bowling Green combo guard Javontae Campbell quietly finished the 2024-25 season as the biggest warrior in college basketball. He played the last two weeks without either of his hands. Kind of.
The 6-foot-2 junior still did not miss a single game.
Campbell, a first-year player for the Falcons, transferred up to the Division-I level after a well-decorated college basketball career on the JUCO level at Northern Oklahoma. It quickly proved to be a good decision.
Not only did Campbell receive Third-Team All-Mid American Conference honors, he was twice named as MAC Player of the Week and made the All-Defensive team for the MAC. He averaged 14.9 points on 49.5% shooting and 4.1 rebounds per game. His 90 total were also the most in the conference as well as a school record.
For the second time this season, @BGSUMBB gaurd Javontae Campbell has been named the @MACSports Player of the Week. 🏀 Campbell set the Falcons' single-season steals record last week. 🟠 🟤 pic.twitter.com/TnCT1bExS6
— BCSN (@BCSNsports) March 4, 2025
Here’s why those numbers are even more impressive than they look. To play point guard, the ball must be in your hands on every possession. To pick a defender’s pocket also requires quick and strong hands.
Javontae Campbell had neither of those two things during the last 65 days of the season.
It was formally announced that he broke his right hand on Jan. 7, 19 games ago. At no point did Bowling Green keep him out of the lineup. In fact, its primary ball-handler was lost to a season-ending leg injury so Campbell picked up an even bigger role. His hand was always taped but he never missed a game.
If that wasn’t hard enough, head coach Todd Simon revealed on Thursday that Campbell actually broke his left hand during a win over Ball State on March 1. Both hands were broken!
Campbell casually finished with a team-high 29 points with three steals and three assists in that game.
And then he did it again two more times. Javontae Campbell played against Northern Illinois and Western Michigan with two broken hands, as well as the MAC Tournament game against Akron.
What a warrior! Although the Falcons were unable to snap the third-longest March Madness drought in college basketball, Campbell’s unbelievable run will not soon be forgotten. I could not imagine trying to play high-level hoops with a single broken hand, let alone two. He played with two broken hands for two weeks after playing with one broken hand for more than two months. That’s insane.