Dean Campbell is a youthful-looking 46, and he says his Lonoke Jackrabbit basketball team gets some of the credit.
“I’m excited to get over to the gym, and some of that’s a testament to these guys and who they are and their parents and how they’ve been raised,” Campbell said. “They’re fun to be around. That helps keep this 46-year-old younger than what he appears.”
Lonoke has been a good place for this southeast Kansas native, who grew up in tiny Tyro, population 285. He went to Caney Valley, a consolidated high school in Caney, a town Campbell said was about the size of Lonoke. Campbell was a 5-foot-10 three-sport athlete there, playing the 2 guard in basketball, defensive back/quarterback in football and running middle distance for the track team. As a freshman, he played up on the varsity, starting some, and earned all-state basketball honors as a senior.
“I knew early on in high school that I wanted to coach,” he said. “You know how high school coaches are — some leave lasting impressions, and my high school coach did that for me.”
He played two seasons at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, then earned a scholarship to Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas. But Coffeyville is memorable because of the turn that would eventually bring him to Arkansas.
“After my freshman year, my roommate transferred to UALR, when Jim Platt was head coach, and during my sophomore season, myself and a buddy of mine drove down to see him play at Barton Coliseum,” Campbell remembered.
The former roommate wanted to introduce his friend to a Lady Trojan athlete. DeAnna Lacefield was from Jacksonville; she played volleyball and ran track.
“They all lived in those apartments, and he introduced us at the ball game,” Campbell remembered. “We talked a long time, and when I got back in the car to come back to Kansas, I told my buddy, ‘I know this sounds crazy, but that’s the one.’
“I found out later she actually called home and told her mom the same thing.”
They were married June 6, 1992, and she transferred with him to Wayland Baptist.
As a junior, he helped the Pioneers to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, where they lost the first game to Olivet Nazarene.
Campbell graduated in 1994 with a degree in physical education after staying a year following his eligibility to work as a student assistant.
“That piqued my interest in coaching in college,” he said.
During his three years as a graduate assistant at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., he earned a master’s of education degree before taking his first real job back at Coffeyville, where he served as an assistant coach with the men’s program for three years. From there, he spent two years as an assistant for the women’s program at West Texas A&M in Canyon before he and DeAnna were hired at Central Arkansas Christian.
“We were looking to get back to the state for family reasons,” Campbell said. “We already had Regan (now 17, a rising senior at Cabot). We wanted to be close to home. Her parents were going to Sylvan Hills Church of Christ, and (CAC’s) current administration was there.”
For two years, he coached boys basketball and track at Mustang Mountain; she coached volleyball and girls track. Then they went to Jacksonville Junior High. After a year there, she moved on to Cabot; he took the Northwood Junior High boys basketball job for a year before landing at Lonoke as Wes Swift’s assistant in 2006. By then, they had another daughter, Riley, now 13.
In his three years under Swift, the Jackrabbits won a state title in 2008 and reached the quarterfinals in ‘09. When Swift left for Jonesboro, Campbell replaced him.
“I was interviewing at another place before the Jonesboro stuff came up, and when it did, Wes asked me if I’d like to stay,” Campbell remembered. “I said I’d love to stay because of where it’s at and the tradition.”
He is beginning his eighth season at the helm of the program. The Jackrabbits reached the Class 4A state championship game in 2014.
Nathan Morris, Lonoke’s outgoing athletic director and girls basketball coach, had known Campbell since before his arrival in Arkansas when both worked some Razorback camps.
“Dean’s the consummate professional,” Morris said. “The way he carries himself is always going to be with class. The players that have come through his program carry themselves in that same manner. He runs a very solid program.”
He said all four Lonoke junior and senior high coaches, whether for boys or girls, have had a close basketball relationship.
“We’re always bouncing ideas off each other, how to handle situations,” Morris said. “I know I’ve taken a lot off of him, X’s and O’s-wise, and I hope I’ve done the same for him. We have a mutual respect from 10 years of working together, and we’ve been fortunate to have that.”
He recalled an incident from several years ago when his Lady Jackrabbits reached the state final and he asked Campbell to sit on the bench with him during the championship game.
“He said, ‘Absolutely, but if you win it, I’m not going to be in that picture that goes on the wall,’” Morris remembered. “I said, ‘Yes, you will if you help us win this game.’ That tells you about him. He hadn’t been there with us all year, and he didn’t want to crash that party.”
He said boys coaches would scout for the girls, and vice-versa, during state tournament runs.
“We’ve had a good working relationship and a great working environment that not everybody gets to enjoy,” Morris said. “Dean’s demeanor and professionalism, and his ability to listen, are part of what has kept it that way.”
During his Lonoke tenure, Campbell has taught health and physical education and served as dean of students at the high, middle and primary schools. He is beginning his fourth year at the primary school.
“No doubt the people here have been great and allowed me to grow professionally and given me other opportunities,” he said. “I know someday if it gets down to it and coaching is something I don’t still love doing, I feel like I’ll definitely have opportunities here to continue to grow.”
After 22 years of coaching, though, he remains excited.
“Every year’s different,” he said. “You still have to seek out new and different things to keep you going, different ideas, but every group’s different. I’m still ready to keep going. I enjoy the process. I’ve put myself in position to do some administration stuff later, but I’m not to that point yet.”
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