TSSAA hall of fame girls basketball coach Campbell Brandon dies at 83

Hall of fame coach Campbell Brandon, who won 757 high school girls basketball games while coaching during the 6-on-6 and later the 5-on-5 era, died Sunday after a bout with cancer, his son Bud Brandon confirmed to the Tennessean.

He was 83.

Campbell spent 28 years at Lebanon, where he won a state title in 1971. He had a 679-194 record at Lebanon. The gymnasium at the school is also named after him.

Visitation will be held from 3-7 p.m. Tuesday at First United Methodist Church at 415 W. Main St. in Lebanon. A celebration of life service will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Lebanon High School in Terry Edwards Auditorium at 500 Blue Devil Blvd.

The burial service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Evergreen Cemetery in Murfreesboro.

Campbell was known around the state and the Southeast as one of the premier girls basketball coaches in his era.

“I don’t know if people appreciated him like they should have,” said Andy Landers, an ESPN women’s basketball analyst and former Georgia women’s basketball coach. “Campbell was a legend in women’s basketball.

“He started doing this a long time ago. He was doing it when it wasn’t cool. It’s cool now. He did a lot to develop it. Middle Tennessee is known to be among the best in girls basketball in the country, and Campbell Brandon was a reason for that. He did as much as anyone.”

Landers was a longtime friend to Campbell.

Campbell was named The Tennessean’s girls basketball coach of the year five times and was inducted into the TSSAA Hall of Fame in 1994.

He coached at Lascassas, Lebanon and Smith County, and had assistant roles at Smyrna, Watertown and Wilson Central where his son Bud was the head coach. Campbell assisted on Wilson Central's state championship teams in 2006 and 2008. 

“(Campbell) definitely had a big influence on my coaching career,” current Lebanon girls basketball coach Cory Barrett said. “I could always count on Campbell to tell me exactly what he though good or bad.

“He has always supported me and wanted the very best for our Lebanon program. We often talked strategy and tendencies of our team as well as our opponent.”

He coached in six decades, beginning in the 1960s and finishing with the 2014-15 school year as Smith County's coach.

Campbell coached in two different eras of Tennessee high school girls basketball – during the 6-on-6 game and also the current 5-on-5 format.

"Most people thought he was a brilliant 6-on-6 girls coach, then the game changed in 79-80 school year and they just realized he was, very simply, a brilliant coach," former TSSAA executive Ronnie Carter said.

He was the lone girls basketball coach to lead his team to the 1979 Class AAA state tournament in the final year of 6-on-6 and also the following year in the first year of 5-on-5.

“He was one of the best post coaches I’ve had the chance to share ideas with on low-post play,” Franklin girls basketball coach John Wild said. “I always took away a nugget."

Campbell was known for his brutal honesty with coaches, if you wanted to hear it or not.

“I say this with all of the love of my heart,” Landers said. “He was one of a kind.

“He’s one of those guys that could make you mad and laugh in the same sentence. He just had that personality about him. I loved being around him. I knew he’s say something on purpose to make me mad. I loved that about him.”