Bedlam women's basketball: OU's Sharane Campbell could have gone to OSU for vet school

Campbell grew up on a farm in Spencer, meaning she was around all sorts of animals. She had to think about the number of species that inhabit the land: cats, dogs, pigs, goats, cows, ducks, rabbits and, of course, horses.

Campbell decided at an early age that she wanted to become a veterinarian – before she blossomed into one of the area's top young basketball players.

The logical place to play hoops and become a vet was Stillwater, at Oklahoma State.

“Two for one,” Campbell said.

On a visit to OU, Sooners coach Sherri Coale told Campbell it did not have to happen simultaneously. It could be one, then the other. Coale told her she would have to take undergraduate classes no matter where she went, before she got into the veterinary courses. So why not start at OU, and then go to OSU or wherever to reach her career aspiration?

“I hadn't thought about it like that, I guess,” Campbell said.

Taken with the game atmosphere at Lloyd Noble, it started to add up for the 2011 NewsOK state player of the year.

The Sooners (14-6, 6-3) host Oklahoma State (12-6, 4-5) at noon today, in a meeting that sort of represents Campbell's present and future.

She said she had a passing consideration about what might have been when OU played at OSU on Jan. 14. But it didn't last too long.

“There's always that thought, ‘Oh, I almost went there,'” Campbell said. “But I love it here. I felt more like I belonged here.”

Coale and the Sooners agree. Without a deep bench, especially in the absence of Joanna McFarland (jaw), Campbell has come up big in recent weeks.

The 5-foot-10 wing scored a season-high 23 points in Tuesday night's overtime win at ranked Kansas. Campbell hit 8 of 10 field goals and scored five of the team's 10 points in overtime. The Jayhawks only had four points, as a team, in overtime.