Wake Forest Athletics
Deacon Sports Xtra: Collier Left Her Mark On and Off the Court
8/12/2022 12:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball
“I loved being a part of the program and loved representing the school.” - Camille Collier
Guard Camille Collier made her mark in the Wake Forest Women's Basketball record books and left with a pair of degrees despite a trio of injuries during her five seasons as a Demon Deacon.
She missed the final month of her freshman season with a stress fracture, then had to redshirt as a senior in the 2010-11 campaign because of a torn ACL. The next season ended a month early because of another torn ACL.
In her third year on the staff at Jacksonville, Collier — you guessed it — suffered another torn ACL.
"It was New Year's Day, and my team lost," Collier explains. "So Coach made them go run suicides. One of the kids was acting like they weren't going to make it. Coach had always said do what you can to help the kids be successful.
"I had been working out, running, all that kind of stuff. So I ran them too. Ran the long way first, was fine and I was like all right, I'm going to go a little faster because I've got to make sure we make it, I can't roll with her, and I'm not going to let her beat me. I got to half court and it was like I got shot, just went down."
Collier said she finished the drill and even ran the scout team after, but the knee swelled and gave her problems for several months until she got an MRI in May and then surgery in August.
Tearing her ACL before her senior season presented a bit of a silver lining for Collier at Wake Forest.
"It was unfortunate but it's just one of those things where you don't question it," she said. "Everything happens for a reason. It did allow me to stay for a fifth year, so I was able to get a Master's. That was definitely a blessing in disguise out of that.
"I continued to be part of something that represented Wake. To continue to represent it in that capacity as a player was important to me because I loved being a part of the program and loved representing the school. Getting the opportunity to do that one more year definitely was very fortunate."
Her recruitment to Wake Forest as a highly-rated point guard from Sidwell Friends Schools in Washington, D.C. started a little later than other players in the 2007 class.
"My recruitment in general started a little bit later because I didn't really get out of the youth circuit until my sophomore year," Collier said. "I only played on the circuit two years so it was like the summer of my junior year. A lot of schools started recruiting me that following summer of my senior year, and it became all about relationships.
"The whole Wake Forest staff was awesome. And then Coach (Mike) Pete (Petersen) had a great vision and basketball mind. Those were things that were important to me, especially being a point guard."
The renowned academic rigor weighed as a positive for Collier as well, and obviously paid dividends as she was able to nab a pair of degrees before departing Wake Forest.
"I went to a really good academic high school and academics were always really important to me," Collier said. "I wanted to go to a place that was challenging academically as well. So Wake Forest fit that where you had that relationship with your professors and all that. That's what I was used to.
"So being in that type of environment was important to me as far as being challenged. I definitely got the better end of the deal because there was so much more once I got there just in terms of, with Miss Caldwell with academic advising, being part of SAAC, leadership academies, all the different initiatives and having an opportunity to go to the NCAA forums. There were just so many opportunities that Wake Forest offered."
Since her four years at Jacksonville, Collier spent a pair of seasons at both Radford and Hofstra. She was on the staff at Virginia Tech last season, and visited Joel Coliseum with the Hokies as they squared off against the Demon Deacons in January.
"It was funny to walk back into The Joel," she said. "When I was at Jacksonville, we actually played at Wake Forest and lost the game. It was cool because the visitor's locker room, in that hallway, actually was a picture of our team.
"It was cool to see the huddle picture of the team. Also to see all the renovations and stuff, how nice it is. But yeah, it's always fun to be back, any time I get to go back on campus and stuff it's nice."
Collier was announced as a new assistant coach at Arizona State in May.
"Moving absolutely sucks," Collier said. "But everybody's journey is different. For me, every move has been for a reason, to help me get to where I want to go. Trying to get the experiences that are valuable for me in this journey.
"One thing I loved about being a point guard is the responsibility, being able to help your team succeed and having that on your shoulders, and I've kind of always been in that capacity in some respects. It's something I enjoy. It's definitely something I embrace while at Wake Forest, from being the president of the Black Student Union or with SAAC — it's definitely something I enjoy doing."
She missed the final month of her freshman season with a stress fracture, then had to redshirt as a senior in the 2010-11 campaign because of a torn ACL. The next season ended a month early because of another torn ACL.
In her third year on the staff at Jacksonville, Collier — you guessed it — suffered another torn ACL.
"It was New Year's Day, and my team lost," Collier explains. "So Coach made them go run suicides. One of the kids was acting like they weren't going to make it. Coach had always said do what you can to help the kids be successful.
"I had been working out, running, all that kind of stuff. So I ran them too. Ran the long way first, was fine and I was like all right, I'm going to go a little faster because I've got to make sure we make it, I can't roll with her, and I'm not going to let her beat me. I got to half court and it was like I got shot, just went down."
Collier said she finished the drill and even ran the scout team after, but the knee swelled and gave her problems for several months until she got an MRI in May and then surgery in August.
Tearing her ACL before her senior season presented a bit of a silver lining for Collier at Wake Forest.
"It was unfortunate but it's just one of those things where you don't question it," she said. "Everything happens for a reason. It did allow me to stay for a fifth year, so I was able to get a Master's. That was definitely a blessing in disguise out of that.
"I continued to be part of something that represented Wake. To continue to represent it in that capacity as a player was important to me because I loved being a part of the program and loved representing the school. Getting the opportunity to do that one more year definitely was very fortunate."
Her recruitment to Wake Forest as a highly-rated point guard from Sidwell Friends Schools in Washington, D.C. started a little later than other players in the 2007 class.
"My recruitment in general started a little bit later because I didn't really get out of the youth circuit until my sophomore year," Collier said. "I only played on the circuit two years so it was like the summer of my junior year. A lot of schools started recruiting me that following summer of my senior year, and it became all about relationships.
"The whole Wake Forest staff was awesome. And then Coach (Mike) Pete (Petersen) had a great vision and basketball mind. Those were things that were important to me, especially being a point guard."
The renowned academic rigor weighed as a positive for Collier as well, and obviously paid dividends as she was able to nab a pair of degrees before departing Wake Forest.
"I went to a really good academic high school and academics were always really important to me," Collier said. "I wanted to go to a place that was challenging academically as well. So Wake Forest fit that where you had that relationship with your professors and all that. That's what I was used to.
"So being in that type of environment was important to me as far as being challenged. I definitely got the better end of the deal because there was so much more once I got there just in terms of, with Miss Caldwell with academic advising, being part of SAAC, leadership academies, all the different initiatives and having an opportunity to go to the NCAA forums. There were just so many opportunities that Wake Forest offered."
Since her four years at Jacksonville, Collier spent a pair of seasons at both Radford and Hofstra. She was on the staff at Virginia Tech last season, and visited Joel Coliseum with the Hokies as they squared off against the Demon Deacons in January.
"It was funny to walk back into The Joel," she said. "When I was at Jacksonville, we actually played at Wake Forest and lost the game. It was cool because the visitor's locker room, in that hallway, actually was a picture of our team.
"It was cool to see the huddle picture of the team. Also to see all the renovations and stuff, how nice it is. But yeah, it's always fun to be back, any time I get to go back on campus and stuff it's nice."
Collier was announced as a new assistant coach at Arizona State in May.
"Moving absolutely sucks," Collier said. "But everybody's journey is different. For me, every move has been for a reason, to help me get to where I want to go. Trying to get the experiences that are valuable for me in this journey.
"One thing I loved about being a point guard is the responsibility, being able to help your team succeed and having that on your shoulders, and I've kind of always been in that capacity in some respects. It's something I enjoy. It's definitely something I embrace while at Wake Forest, from being the president of the Black Student Union or with SAAC — it's definitely something I enjoy doing."
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