Ready to Return -- Camper Pushes to Regain Receiving Form
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Cam Camper isn’t there yet. The Indiana receiver isn’t ready to run past, around or through any defender who tries to cover him.
But he’s close.
And when full health returns, when the surgically repaired knee can again handle full-throttle action, imagine the possibilities.
Camper does.
“I’m making strides every week,” the 6-2, 194-pound senior says. “It’s been a challenging, fun experience to go through.”
Fun? Could that be right? Is tearing up your knee ligament, going through surgery and enduring months of rehabilitation, work and discomfort really something to enjoy?
It’s all about perspective.
“It’s something new,” Camper says about the injury. “I never went through this before. I have to deal with it. Try to make it fun so I can get through it.”
How do you do that?
“I come in with the right mindset. I know I’m trying to get it better.”
A fully healthy Camper is a game breaker. He arrived in Bloomington last year after transferring from Texas’s Trinity Valley Community College and, thanks to a ferocious work ethic, quickly became IU’s best receiver. In seven games, he totaled 46 catches for 569 yards and two touchdowns before the knee injury sidelined him for the final five games. Still, he led the team in catches and receiving yards.
He pushes to regain that form. He missed spring practice, but not his workouts.
“With this, you’ll have good days and bad days,” he says. “Some days, you’ll get up and think, I don’t want to do anything on this leg today. You have to push through it.”
Pushing is hard, reward often painfully slow.
“It gets frustrating,” Camper says. “You want to be ahead of where you are, but you have to take it one day at a time.”
Camper’s progress impresses offensive lineman Matthew Bedford, who basically missed all of last season because of his own knee injury.
“He’s been working hard,” Bedford says. “He’s trying to get the cuts. He’s looking athletic. He’s running faster than me right now.”
Yes, you’d expect a receiver to out-run a 314-pound lineman, but that misses the point -- Bedford had a couple month head start on his surgery and rehab, and Camper is doing everything he can to return.
Camper is part of a talented group of receivers that includes Andison Coby, Donaven McCulley, Omar Cooper Jr., and Kamryn Perry.
The group got a boost from Clemson transfer E.J. Williams. The 6-3, 195-pounder totaled 40 catches for 442 yards and two touchdowns as a Tiger. His best season came as a freshman, when he caught 24 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns. He was once a four-star high school prospect.
“He picks up everything quick,” Camper says. “He stretches the field. He makes contested catches. Everything you look for in an outside receiver, he has.”
Adds McCulley: “We’re the same size. I think of him as my twin on the other side.
“We have some big receivers. We’ll have a lot of mismatches.”
New receivers coach Anthony Tucker pushes to make sure his guys are ready to exploit those mismatches.
“He makes sure you do everything right and correct,” McCulley says. “He’ll coach you extremely hard. He won’t let you be lazy or loaf. I like that. He pushes you to the max.”
Adds Camper: “He wants to give us everything he has every day. He’s the same person every day. That’s what you want out of a coach.”
IU opens its season Sept. 2 at home against Ohio State. Having its best players available against a perennial national title contender is crucial. Camper expects to be ready.
“That’s the plan. We’ll see.”
For now, Camper works, waits, and wonders.
“I’ve got to be better than last year. That’s it. I’ve got to be better.”