ORONO – He doesn’t have an egotistical bone in his body. Glamour and fame don’t really appeal to him. He’s not controversial … Outspoken? Nah.

So how is it a guy who prefers to avoid the limelight may arguably be the most popular student-athlete wearing a University of Maine jersey today?

Maybe it’s the simple fact he’s easygoing, calm, affable and virtually impossible to dislike.

Perhaps it’s the fact that because of these things he is and is not, he is most assuredly not your average Joe.

If you haven’t already had the pleasure, meet Joe Campbell: son, brother, friend, student, athlete, and prototypical, all-around nice guy.

“He’s just Joe. He’s an unflappable, good kid. He’s very likable and he likes everyone else,” UMaine men’s basketball head coach Ted Woodward says of his senior swingman. “He’s just one of those guys everybody tries to gravitate toward.”

“He’s really genuine and he wants to make a difference,” adds fellow senior and roommate David Dubois. “He’s just a guy that has no fears and has a lot of confidence. He’s nice to anyone, even to people he knows don’t like him.”

Maybe it’s in the genes.

“My mom says I’ve been like that since I was a baby. I never cried … I never did anything,” Campbell said with a laugh and his ever-present smile. “I was just easygoing and I guess it just carried over.”

The 21-year-old son of Julie Lebowitz and Norman Campbell can no longer say he never did anything. He’s done a lot of things, from helping lead Bangor High to a Class A state basketball championship as a sophomore still growing into his lanky frame, almost single-handedly winning another state title as a senior with an improbable and astoundingly heady rebound and tip-in at the buzzer against a heavily-favored opponent, playing himself into a full basketball scholarship at the school he dreamed about playing for, and now attaining a leadership position as a tri-captain of a talented, senior-laden group that could become the first Bears team to go to the NCAA Tournament.

Not bad for an ungainly kid some people openly called “overrated” in high school and who many thought would be overmatched at UMaine, overcome by the rigors of Division I basketball, and eventually overlooked.

Seems former Big League manager Leo Durocher wasn’t quite right when he made his pronouncement that nice guys finish last. Not all of them do.

“He’s a great representative for the University. He’s very proud to be here and it shows,” Woodward said. “I know he’s on a mission this year to try and make history and put us where we’ve never been before. I think he’s accomplished almost everything he wanted to do in college and I feel really good for him.”

From the driveway to Division I

Looking for the origins of Joe Campbell’s hoops odyssey? You only have to go back about 15 years to the house he grew up in on Laurel Circle in Bangor.

“Right around fifth or sixth grade, my friends and I used to get together every day – it seems kind of silly now to think this is where I really started to enjoy the game – but we lowered the hoop to about seven feet and play two-on-two with a mini basketball and be dunking and shooting broadside,” Campbell recalled with a grin. “We played all summer from morning until night. My dad put a light outside the house so we could see. It was such a great experience.

“We’d play in the morning, go inside and cook up some Kraft macaroni and cheese, come back outside, and play some more. We used to play baseball with a tennis ball and sponge bat out in the backyard to, but I had such a good time playing basketball with those guys.”

From those humble beginnings, Campbell progressed to YMCA leagues, middle school, and so on. It wasn’t until high school dawned that the average-sized kid whose family moved to Maine from Dallas shortly after he was born in the Lone Star State started growing an above-average frame.

“I grew six inches my freshman year. I was average until then,” Campbell said. “My mom says I went into a cocoon and came out in the spring … tall.”

Campbell also grew his mental game around the same time.

“I think freshman year of high school was a really big year for me. [Bangor High assistant coach] Mark Hackett does such an incredible job developing players and I think that’s where a lot of my work ethic comes from,” Campbell said. “He teaches you to be tough, not give in, and to go out and outwork people. With that type of mindset, you can really accomplish so many things. He knows his game and on top of that, he knows how to get the most out of his players.

“Coach [Roger] Reed developed me a lot in varsity ball, but the foundation from which I’ve built on came from Coach Hackett’s program.”

Going from 5-foot-9 to 6-3 certainly has its advantages on a basketball court, but Campbell wasn’t done yet. He was up to 6-5 his senior year and has finally leveled out at 6-7. Unfortunately, his weight hasn’t kept pace.

“He was 180 pounds when he came in as a freshman,” Woodward recalled. “We kind of planned to redshirt him that first year and give him a chance to bulk up a little.”

Despite trying to reach a target weight of 210 for the last three seasons, Campbell currently weighs just 185.

“I’ve tried everything to put on weight and nothing seems to work. One day I’ll be 185 and a few days later I’ll be 193 and then right back down again. It’s crazy,” Campbell said. “I was supposed to just eat, lift weights and sleep my first year, but things happened and I had to play sooner than I thought.”

“Definitely his freshman year we were very surprised,” Woodward said. “He was pressed into a role we didn’t expect for him and he was highly productive.”

The low-key kid from Bangor averaged a solid 6.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game while playing in 28 of the team’s 30 games. He scored 24 points in one game and made seven steals in another.

His numbers have increased each of the last two seasons and he expects that trend to continue.

A storybook ending

Campbell has learned how to compensate for physical shortcomings (lack of bulk and physical power) and use his body type to his advantage by relying on court sense, savvy, quickness and body control to flourish as a “tweener” who alternates between small forward and guard.

“I love having him on my team,” said senior guard Chris Markwood. “He’s not going to fill the stat sheet with a ton of points and it’s hard to define what he does, but if you ask everyone else on our team, he brings things in so many ways, he’s just a guy you can’t replace.”

Campbell hopes to lend his intangibles and talent to a history-making season.

“I’d have to say getting into the NCAA Tournament for the first time would be up there. It would be Maine history,” he said. “Those state championship seasons will always be special to me, but winning this conference would be incredible. I think that would top them all. That would be … That would be something.”

Even if he accomplishes that goal, the second-oldest of five siblings (brothers Norm, 24; Paul, 14 and Max, 13; and sister Abby, 11) has modest hopes when asked how he’d like to be remembered by Maine hoop fans.

“Just as a guy who came out and played hard and never gave up,” he said after thinking about it. “Right now, it’s ‘Isn’t that the guy who hit that shot?’ but I want to be remembered as a guy who played the game well, played hard every minute he was out there, played hard because he loved the game, enjoyed where he was, and was a part of the community.”

Judging from the reaction and adulation he receives from family, friends and fans alike, he’s already thought of as that guy.