Marcus Camby
At UMass
One of the most decorated athletes UMass has ever produced.
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First unanimous first team All-American in UMass history (1996).
Led UMass to their only NCAA Tournament Final Four appearance in 1996.
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Atlantic 10 Player of the Week selection 9 times, at the time the highest ever.
During each of his three seasons at UMass, the team won the A-10 Regular Season Championship and the A-10 Tournament.
Two-time selections to A-10 First Team, and
NABC All-District.
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First UMass player to top 100 blocks in three consecutive seasons.
At the time, held UMass records for single-game (9), single-season (128) and career (336) blocks. (All since surpassed by
Stephane Lasme.)
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Atlantic 10 Freshman of the Year for the 1993-94 season.
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Selected to ESPN's Atlantic 10 Silver Anniversary team (2004).
Inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.
Named to the Atlantic 10's Legends Class of 2016
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Returned to school and graduated in 2017. Majored in Urban Studies with a minor in African American studies.
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1995-96 Junior year
Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, Naismith National Player of the Year.
A-10 First Team selection.
Led A-10 in scoring at 20.5 ppg.
Sixth in A-10 in rebounding at 8.1 rpg.
3.9 blocks per game average
All-Championship Team selection for the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
Six-time honoree in the A-10's Player of the Week Honor Roll.
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Scored 22 to help UMass earn a trip to the Final Four,
beating Georgetown 86-62 in the lopsided East Regional Final (3/23). Named the East Region's Most Valuable Player.
Played just 18 minutes off the bench (missed team bus), scored 15 and rebounded 7, as UMass
beat Arkansas 79-63 in the Sweet Sixteen (3/21).
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Scored 14 points, but snared 17 rebounds in just 27 minutes of action as UMass
handled Central Florida, 92-70, in the NCAA Tournament First Round (3/14).
Tallies just 12 & 6, but UMass still
beats Temple, 75-61 (3/9), to secure their fifth straight Atlantic 10 Tournament title.
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Scored 23, rebounded 8, and blocked 5 as UMass closes out their regular season at 28-1, with a
62-59 non-conference win at Louisville (3/2). Hit two foul shots with just seven seconds left to help secure the win.
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Temple's defense keeps Camby in check, holding him to just 10 & 7, but teammates pick up the slack as UMass
dominates Temple, 84-55 in Amherst (2/11).
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Blocked a career-high 9 shots as UMass holds host Temple to just 35 points. UMass
prevails 59-35 (2/1). Camby scored 15 and rebounded 5. 35 points were Temple's lowest in their 26+ years at
McGonigle Hall.
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Gave an unfriendly “welcome to the A-10” to Dayton by scoring 38 points (career high) and rebounding 11, as UMass
prevails 78-58 (1/6).
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Recovering from the bruised knee from the USC game, Camby comes off the bench, but still goes for 20 and 11 to help UMass
win 65-47 over Syracuse in the Rainbow Classic final (12/30).
Suffers a knee injury just two minutes into the game versus USC (12/29). Scores 2 points in the limited action, but UMass still
goes on to win, 78-63.
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Pulled a groin muscle and sat out the second half
versus UNC-Wilmington (12/12). UMass still won 77-51. Camby finished with 6 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
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Squared off against
Tim Duncan in a prime-time matchup on ESPN. Camby finished with 17 & 9 to Duncan's 9 & 12. UMass went on to
win 60-46 (12/6).
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Full list of 1996 Player of the Year awards
Source: Atlantic 10 Media Guide
Full list of 1996 All-American selections
Source: Atlantic 10 Media Guide
Associated Press
U.S. Basketball Writers Association
John R. Wooden Award
Basketball Times
United Press International
National Association of Basketball Coaches
Basketball Weekly
1994-95 Sophomore year
Averaged 13.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.4 blocks per game.
8th in the country in blocked shots (103).
A-10 First Team selection.
Ninth in A-10 in rebounding at 6.2 rpg.
Named to the A-10 Tournament's All-Championship.
Named A-10 Player of the Week three times.
1993-94 Freshman year
Averaged 10.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.6 blocks per game.
105 blocks in the season set a new A-10 record for blocks by a freshman.
A-10 Third Team selection.
A-10 Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.
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A-10 Freshman Team selection.
Five-time honoree in the A-10's Rookie of the Week Honor Roll.
Statistics
Season | G | GS | MP | MPG | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | PTS | PPG | ORB | DRB | TRB | RPG | AST | STL | BLK | BPG | TOV | PF | FO |
1993-94 | 29 | 12 | 635 | 21.9 | 117 | 237 | .494 | 117 | 233 | .502 | 0 | 4 | .000 | 62 | 104 | .596 | 296 | 10.2 | 68 | 117 | 185 | 6.4 | 36 | 18 | 105 | 3.6 | 50 | 101 | 0 |
1994-95 | 30 | 21 | 679 | 22.6 | 166 | 302 | .550 | 165 | 301 | .548 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 83 | 129 | .643 | 416 | 13.9 | 69 | 117 | 186 | 6.2 | 37 | 24 | 103 | 3.4 | 54 | 74 | 4 |
1995-96 | 33 | 30 | 1011 | 30.6 | 256 | 537 | .477 | 256 | 529 | .484 | 0 | 8 | .000 | 163 | 233 | .700 | 675 | 20.5 | 81 | 190 | 271 | 8.2 | 58 | 32 | 128 | 3.9 | 83 | 87 | 0 |
Career | 92 | 63 | 2324 | 25.3 | 539 | 1076 | .501 | 538 | 1063 | .506 | 1 | 13 | .077 | 308 | 466 | .661 | 1387 | 15.1 | 218 | 424 | 642 | 7.0 | 131 | 74 | 336 | 3.7 | 187 | 262 | 4 |
Game high in points: 38 vs Dayton (1/6/96)
Game high in rebounds: 17 vs Central Florida (3/14/96)
Agent scandal
Realizing Camby's earning potential in professional basketball, sports agents began dealing with Camby during his time at UMass. The NCAA later determined that Camby accepted agents' gifts in violation of rules, and vacated the Minutemen's 1996 NCAA Tournament appearance.
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9/15/1997: Sports Illustrated publishes their
"Tangled Web" article, detailing Camby's involvement with agents.
5/8/1997: The NCAA Executive Committee voted to negate the Minutemen's 1996 NCAA Tournament record, for Marcus Camby's acceptance of agents' improper gifts. The 35-2 record was reduced to 31-1, and the UMass slot in the Final Four is officially marked as “vacated.” The Final Four trophy, banner and 45% of tournament revenue were returned to the NCAA. Camby later reimbursed the school for the $151,617 in lost revenue.
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In a 2020 interview with the Hartford Courant, Camby said: “I was a poor kid who grew up in the inner city and made bad choices. I’m not the first and I wasn’t the last. But I take it. I own it. And I was able to persevere.”18)
2024 column: It’s time for NCAA to restore UMass’ Final Four, Marcus Camby’s good name
Post-UMass
Settled in Houston after his NBA career. Has business interests in real estate and owns a barbershop and a landscaping company.
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NBA, 1996-2013
Camby is in unique company in NBA stats, as he is one of only five players to have games with 20+ rebounds but zero points.25) Camby had two of those nights. Dennis Rodman had seven.26)
Final stops, 2012-13
2013 pre-season: Signed with HOU, but was waived before the season opener.
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7/10/13: Traded from NYK to TOR, but contract was bought out shortly after, making him a free agent.
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7/11/12: Traded from HOU to NYK.
32) Played in only 24 games with NYK in the 2012-13 season.
3/15/12: Trade deadline move from POR to HOU
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Portland Trail Blazers, 2008-10
Los Angeles Clippers, 2008-10
In his 1½ seasons with LAC, Basketball-Reference.com rated Camby as their highest Win Share generator.
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Traded from Denver to LAC in the 2008 off-season.
37) Camby felt “blindsided, distraught, disrespected” by the trade.
Denver Nuggets, 2002-08
New York Knicks, 1998-2002
1999 NBA Playoffs
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Numbers got better with each Eastern series: 7.4 points / 5.2 rebounds vs Miami, 9.0 points / 6.0 rebounds vs Atlanta, 14.3 points / 10.7 points vs Indiana.
Ran into Tim Duncan, David Robinson, and the Spurs in the Finals, and the Knicks lost 4-1. Camby averaged 9.6 points / 7.8 rebounds in the Finals.
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Toronto Raptors, 1996-98
Led the NBA in blocks per game (3.65) in 1997-98. Also averaged 12.1 points and 7.4 rebounds.
NBA All-Rookie team in 1996-97.
Finished 10th in the NBA in 1996-97 in blocks per game (2.06). Also scored 14.8 points per game, which would stand as his high mark for an NBA season. Averaged 6.3 rebounds.
NBA Rookie of the Month in March 1997, averaging 21.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game
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Pre-UMass
External Links