Parris Campbell's bond with mom defining, from first word to football at St. Vincent-St. Mary and Ohio State
Parris Campbell Jr. says his mother, Shelly Woodruff, is his everything. (Lonnie Timmons III, The Plain Dealer)
By Stephanie Kuzydym, [email protected]
on September 26, 2013
AKRON, Ohio – As one of the best running backs in the region and a future Buckeye, asking a girl to the homecoming dance seems like a simple move.
Yet this week – St. Vincent-St. Mary vs. Archbishop Hoban week no less – deciding on a homecoming invitation for his girlfriend was one of Parris Campbell Jr.’s biggest worries.
The Irish senior sat at his kitchen table in Akron next to his mom, Shelly Woodruff, discussing the possibilities.
“We could make shirts that say ‘Will you go to homecoming with me?” said Woodruff.
“No, it needs some (swag),” Campbell said.
“How about you write it on your car window and go pick her up,” Woodruff said of the white Chevy Impala she surprised her only son with earlier that night.
“No! That’s definitely on the list,” he said.
The list was from Campbell’s girlfriend, a SVSM soccer player, on the ways not to ask her to homecoming. Don’t write it on a car window. Don’t come to her soccer game and write it on a soccer ball.
“Get a dozen roses and walk up to her and ask, ‘Will you go to homecoming with me,” Campbell’s grandmother, Cassie McGowan, suggested from the living room.
He rolled his eyes, folded his arms across his Indians T-shirt and slouched in his chair.
This is the life of the 16-year-old, Ohio State commit. The four-star prospect, who is known for his incredible field vision and speed, has another side. It centers on the women in his family. It’s been that way all his life.
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Parris Campbell, Jr. leads No. 2 St. Vincent-St. Mary football over Thurgood Marshall
By cleveland.com staff
on October 12, 2013
Parris Campbell Jr. had a 98-yard touchdown run in a 41-12 win against Dayton Thurgood Marshall. ( (Kyle Lanzer/Special to The Plain Dealer)
DAYTON, Ohio — Parris Campbell, Jr. ran for rushing for 203 yards and scored three touchdowns on seven carries to lead the Fighting Irish Thurgood Marshall, 41-12.
Campbell scored two of his three touchdowns in the second half as the Irish, ranked No. 2 in the cleveland.com Top 25 poll, scored the game's final 34 points after halftime. The Ohio State recruit had touchdown runs of 44, 50 and 98 yards in the game.
Parris Campbell sizing up to be running back
David Richard | Associated Press
Speedy Paris Campbell of Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary currently is 6 feet 1 and 185 pounds, and he says he's not done growing yet.
ByTim May
The Columbus DispatchFRIDAY OCTOBER 18, 2013
Too young. Too small. Parris Campbell has heard that most of his life. He also has been in a hurry to prove people wrong on both counts.
The running back at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary couldn’t wait to become one of the initial commitments to Ohio State’s 2014 football recruiting class, announcing his intentions in February 2013, even though national letter of intent signing day was almost a year away. Call it the impetuousness of youth — he was 15 when he made that decision
And at the time, he was 5 feet 11 and 175 pounds. He already had established himself as one of the faster athletes in the state, but a running back at Ohio State that small? Turns out, he knew something many recruiting experts didn’t when they were projecting him, based on his size and speed, as a receiver or slotback at the next level.
Years before, his mother had asked doctors for a projection of another sort.
“They told her I eventually was going to be 6-3, and that my weight would be around 210, 215,” Campbell said.
Look now. He’s 6-1, about 185 pounds, and a major reason why St. Vincent-St. Mary was 7-0 heading into the weekend. Campbell has grown from scatback to power back, and he is still projecting himself to be a bona fide running back in Ohio State’s spread offense in a few years, and not necessarily the hybrid position of receiver/slotback.
“I think a lot of people are looking at me and talking about what I might play based on where my body is at right now,” Campbell said. “I honestly feel like I will be a running back eventually.
“I feel like that’s where I should be, I feel like that is what God wants me to be, a running back. I wouldn’t have a problem being a receiver the first year or whatever, but I definitely feel like my body is going to pan out to be a running back.”
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