Mark Campbell became the sixth head women’s basketball coach in Sacramento State’s Div. I era on April 16, 2021.
Prior to joining the Hornets, Campbell spent seven seasons at Oregon, most recently as the team’s associate head coach. In his seven seasons with the Ducks, Campbell helped lead Oregon to three straight Pac-12 regular season titles, two Pac-12 Tournament championships, and five NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the Final Four in 2019.
He worked with Oregon’s guards, created the Ducks’ defensive game plan, and was the team’s lead recruiter, working relentlessly to bring top talent to the Ducks.
Campbell was responsible for recruiting Sabrina Ionescu, one of the most decorated student-athletes in the sport’s history and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft. Ionescu was joined in the top 10 of the 2020 draft by teammates Satou Sabally (No. 2) and Ruthy Hebard (No. 8), both of whom Campbell also played a huge role in bringing to Eugene.
Under Campbell’s guidance, Oregon landed its first ever No. 1 ranked recruiting class in 2020, just two years after netting the nation’s No. 3 ranked class in 2016.
Prior to joining Oregon, Campbell served on staff at Oregon State, beginning as an assistant before being promoted to associate head coach for the 2013-14 season. Campbell proved instrumental in the recruiting efforts of the Beavers. He was an integral part of turning around a program that went from 9-21 in 2010-11 to an NCAA Second Round appearance in 2014.
Before heading to Corvallis, Campbell spent two seasons with the men’s program at Saint Mary’s serving first as the team’s director of operations before becoming an assistant coach under Randy Bennett. Preceding his stint at Saint Mary’s, Campbell spent the 2007-08 season as an assistant coach for the Pepperdine men’s program under Vance Walberg.
From 2005-07, Campbell coached at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City, Ore., helping the Cougars to the 2007 Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) Championship.
During his playing days, Campbell played at Cal Poly and Clackamas CC before transferring to Hawai`i for his final two seasons, guiding the Warriors to an NCAA Tournament bid in 2002 and NIT appearance in 2003. Starting all but one game, he is the winningest two-year player in Hawai`i’s history and led the team to a school-record 27 wins in 2001-02. He was a WAC all-defensive team pick as a senior and was a two-time WAC all-academic selection. In June of 2016, Campbell was inducted into the Clackamas CC Hall of Fame. In 2012 and 2013, Campbell was selected to attend Nike’s renowned Villa 7 Consortium, which brings together university athletics directors and the country’s elite assistant coaches in an effort to prepare the next generation of college basketball head coaches.
Campbell earned a degree in liberal studies from Hawai`i in 2004, adding a master’s degree in education from George Fox in 2006. A native of Mt. Vernon, Wash., he is married to the former Ashley Smith, who played basketball at Vanderbilt and is from Oregon City, and the couple has two daughters, Maley and Makay.
