BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Union University head women’s basketball coach Mark Campbell, a three-time GSC Coach of the Year since joining the league officially in 2015, has been named the league’s Coach of the Decade.
He has made the GSC Tournament all six years of postseason eligibility, with three GSC Tournament Titles, four finals appearances, and five semifinal appearances.
His teams have made five NCAA National Tournaments in six years, with a region title and a trip to the NCAA National Semifinals.
He has a winning percentage of .805 in GSC games and has 205 wins since joining the GSC. in 2019, he became the fastest coach in all of college basketball, men or women, at any level to reach 600 wins.
The Union University women’s basketball program was also represented on the Gulf South Conference Women’s Basketball All-Decade Team by Jada Smith, who was named 1st Team GSC All-Decade, while Amy Philamlee and Chelsey Shumpert were named all-decade honorable mentioned.
Smith, from Hover, Alabama, is coming off her best year as a Lady Bulldog, leading Union to the 2020 GSC Regular Season and Tournament Titles.
She was named WBCA All-America, D2CCA All-America, GSC Player of the Year, GSC Tournament MVP. She averaged 18.8 points per game and led the GSC with 5.4 assists per game.
She was a WBCA and D2CCA All-Region player. Smith was only the second player in Union women’s basketball history to accumulate 1,500 career points, 500 career rebounds, and 500 career assists.
In her career, she was first-team All-GSC twice, GSC Freshman of the Week three times, GSC All-Tournament three times, GSC Player of the Week five times, TSWA Player of the Week twice, GSC Honor Roll four times, GSC All-Academic twice, and GSC All-Preseason twice. She averaged double figures all four years of her career.
Philamlee, from Jonesboro, Arkansas, was 1st team WBCA and D2CCA All-America, while also being an NCAA D2 National Player of the Year finalist. She led D2 in scoring as a senior with 24.7 points per game and was second in the nation that year with 7.9 assists per game.
As a senior, Philamlee was the GSC Player of the Year, GSC Tournament MVP, 1st team All-GSC, D2CCA Region Player of the Year. She also broke a 10-year old GSC scoring record for points in a season with 790. It was broken three years later by another Union player and all-decade member (Chelsey Shumpert).
Philamlee played four years at Union, including three years versus GSC competition. However, by GSC Rule, her first two years during Union’s membership move did not count, allowing her only to be eligible for honorable mentioned. In her three years versus GSC competition, Philamlee averaged 18.9 points per game and led Union to two regular season titles and one tournament title. She was a GSC Top-10 selection in 2015.
Shumpert, from Paducah, Kentucky, was a one year player for Union, thus only eligible for honorable mentioned by GSC rule.
In her one season, she broke fellow Union alum and all-decade member Amy Philamlee’s GSC record for points in a season with 856.
She was named GSC Player of the Year, GSC Tournament MVP, 1st team All-GSC, region player of the year, and averaged 23.8 points per game. She led Union to the GSC regular season and tournament titles, an NCAA South Region Title, and Union’s first-ever trip to the NCAA D2 National Semifinals.
