From 0 to 1,000: Cambronne's path to milestone

With 8 minutes, 21 seconds remaining in the first half during a Northeast-10 Conference game last week, St. Michael's College men's basketball forward James Cambronne hit a key 3-pointer as the Purple Knights battled with nationally-ranked Southern Connecticut State.

It wasn't until after the game, with a random 'Congrats,' that Cambronne realized how important that 3-pointer really was.

The shot from beyond the arc — part of a 10-point effort for the 6-foot-7 senior in the 88-84 win — made Cambronne the 43rd player in program history to hit the 1,000 point milestone.

"I forgot about it completely, I was just happy we won the game," Cambronne said. "I got text messages and notifications just letting me know congrats. It was a good feeling after."

Eight years ago, being a college player, much less a 1,000-point scorer, was not on the radar for Cambronne. Riding the pine for his high school team, the avid tennis player's future did not seem to reside on a basketball court.

Cambronne went from 5-foot-10 before the start of his freshman year to 6-foot-6 as a sophomore, and the growth spurt had him rethinking his plans. He made the team, mostly because of his height, but spent his time on the bench.

"I used to always play for fun, just with friends, so I tried out for the team because my friends were on there," the forward said. "Being my height, coach let me be on the team so I was just on the bench, just with friends, watching and traveling with the team."

But the summer between his sophomore and junior year of high school, the Florida native dedicated himself to improving his game. As a junior, Cambronne averaged 12 points a game The next winter, his senior season, that average soared to 17.

"You do see people who grow late, are late bloomers," St. Michael's coach Josh Meyer said. "They are definitely the exception to the norm."

With two years of quick improvement under his belt, an unlikely encounter had Cambronne and his family thinking beyond the high school ranks.

"I remember this because my dad never forgets it, I had one game in Orlando, Florida and somebody came up to my dad and said, 'Is that your son?,'" Cambronne said. "My dad says yes and the guy explains, 'your son has a lot of potential but it seems like he hasn't been playing for a long time.'

"He said, 'you should look into something called prep school.' We didn't know anything about it, we were just thinking college because that's how my parents were raised. My dad, not letting that go, researched it."

After a post-graduate year at The Winchendon School in Massachusetts, Cambronne visited the Colchester campus and made the decision to come to St. Michael's.

"I thought he definitely had the potential to have a great career," said Meyer, who was an assistant with the Purple Knights during Cambronne's freshman and sophomore seasons. "I thought he could be very successful at this level."

Just three years after hitting the court as a full-time player, the forward became a college basketball player. His freshman year, Cambronne averaged just over seven points a game. By his sophomore year, that was up to over 11 points a game.

"James (Cambronne) has really hit his stride here at St. Mike's," Meyer said. "He got a late start. He has accomplished a lot and that's a real credit to how hard he has worked. He has really taken advantage of this opportunity."

Last season, which saw the Purple Knights fall just short of an NCAA tournament berth, Cambronne's average was up to 16 points a game.

"Being consistent was something that I lacked coming into college," the political science major said. "I have been talked to a lot about that and I started last year to pick up on that and started to get a lot better with that. I am still working on it now, but it is something that I feel like I have grown a lot with."

Cambronne's diverse skill set has allowed him to continue to improve, both coach and player said. While his height allows him to be a force defensively — the starting big man has led the team in blocks the past three years — he also shoots over 60 percent from the 3-point line.

"He can play inside, outside," Myers said. "He has a very versatile game that you don't see a lot, where guys can score on the post, shoots the three very well, he is very difficult to defend."

Hard work is another part of Cambronne's success. During the summer he spends most of the time in the gym or playing basketball.

"Dedication is something my father really thrives for, so laziness is something he doesn't like, at all," the senior said. "I trained with a couple of people during the summer, my dad paid for workouts or he would go workout or shoot with me.

"Those things became a daily schedule, I would have to attend one, then go to another. That helped keep me in check."

Helping the Purple Knights' cause: Cambronne is not the only player over 1,000 career points. Mike Holton reached the mark last season and is closing in on 1,500 career points, while guard Corey Crawford surpassed the career feat in Saturday's win at Dominican (N.Y.).

So far this season, St. Michael's is off to a promising start with a 7-2 record overall and a 4-1 mark in the NE-10.

"We try and capitalize and understand that we have to make things happen this year," Cambronne said. "We just have to make sure, that to have a successful year, we have to stay positive and stay on things and keep the same mindset the whole year."

There is one other part of the season that Cambronne is looking forward too. His parents, so integral to his 1,000 career points are hoping to finally see their son play in person.

They have watched every game online, but have never made the trip to campus.

"Senior night, we have three or four games that week, they are coming maybe to spend that week here," Cambronne said. "It would be really nice to have them here."

Contact Lauren Read at 660-1855 or lread1@freepressmedia.com.