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CoSIDA.com/CoSIDA360 Magazine Archive
Note: This story appeared in the Fall 2019 November edition of CoSIDA 360 Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.
The Value of Adding Value
by Will Roleson – CoSIDA Associate Executive Director
J.D. Campbell has worked in athletics communications at nearly every collegiate level. So he understands the importance of adding value to an athletics department and the coaches with which he works.
And that’s why he makes it a point to make himself and his staff more valuable, even in ways that may be considered beyond traditional sports information duties.
Campbell is in his 13th year at Indiana University and currently serves as Senior Assistant Athletic Director for Men’s Basketball Communications and Special Projects. But his desire to add value to his role goes back to his previous positions, including his prior job as assistant athletic director for communications at Bowling Green State University.
“Very early on at Bowling Green, I handled pre-travel, night-before-a-game and post-game meals for most of our men’s basketball road trips. I was responsible for turning in receipts, filling out forms to request cash for trips and anything the staff needed last minute became my responsibility,” Campbell said. “I think any time you are part of the regular traveling party with a team, it’s quite possible that you can end up picking up some duties outside of what some might think to be within your job description.”
At Indiana, he started using STATSPASS (a 24/7 online statistics, scouting reports and historical research tool), “because I found it was much quicker than trying to go through boxscores in old media guides to try and come up with a nugget the media would use if there was a superlative that might be of interest. Once I figured out there was a scouting benefit to it for our coaches, my staff and I kind went all in providing stuff like stats against top 150 teams, last five, road, road and neutral, opponent career stats vs. specific teams.”
J.D. Campbell is in his 13th year at Indiana working with the men’s basketball program.
Campbell says services such as these have elevated his staff’s value in the minds of Indiana’s coaches and has allowed him to bring a second person on the road for men’s basketball when warranted.
Prior to Bowling Green, Campbell was at Division II Emporia State University in Kansas where he was the SID for six years and then the Director of University Public Affairs and Marketing (2000) for one. He began his career as the SID at Johnson County (Kan.) Community College from 1986-89 and was the sports information and promotions coordinator at Northern Kentucky University from 1989-93.
No matter what the school or what his job description may say, he believes being strategic in going above and beyond are the keys to adding value to his role.
“I was always taught that whatever you do make yourself invaluable to those you support. Sometimes I get asked to get large pictures framed for our basketball facilities. I do it. Someone may want a replica of a jersey for Victor Oladipo or Cody Zeller or any of the other nine guys we have in the NBA. I know where to get them quickly. Statistics are easy. Everything is computerized and we are not updating by hand as we did when I started in the profession in the mid-80’s.
“I still get everything done I am expected to. I just want to be someone the coaching staff counts on.”
Fueling the next generation
In addition to his role as senior assistant athletic director at Indiana, Campbell also teaches a class in College Sport Media Relations as part of the university’s Sport Industry Studies curriculum. Instead of a traditional textbook, Campbell has required his 50-plus students to purchase a CoSIDA student membership for the 2019-20 academic year.
“I did this in lieu of a book, because I believe the resources that a membership provides are especially timely,” Campbell said. “And, we try to look at examples weekly that hopefully will help them realize the teaching benefits the organization makes available are priceless.”
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