The 2008-09 Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year rejoined Austin Peay's basketball staff as assistant coach a year ago.
It is the second time Bret Campbell has served as an Austin Peay assistant. He was an assistant to Dave Loos and later associate head coach from 1992-99 as the Governors elevated into the OVC elite during his presence.
Campbell then went to UT Martin as head coach, beginning in 1999, until his resignation in Summer 2009 after leading the Skyhawks to their first-ever OVC regular-season title. In 2009-10, Campbell served as Director of Basketball Operations at Murray State.
Campbell joined an APSU staff that includes two former Govs players, Bubba Wells and Scott Combs, that he helped recruit and coach during the mid-1990s before he earned his first head-coaching assignment at UT Martin.
Campbell led the Skyhawks to their first Ohio Valley Conference championship in 2009 and their first National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearance. The team posted a 14-4 league record that season and a 22-10 overall worksheet, the best overall record in school history and the most wins for UT Martin since playing as an NCAA Division I team. After winning a school-record 11 straight games, the Skyhawks cracked the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll for the first time Feb. 23, 2009.
That season also saw UT Martin own the 11th highest attendance increase in the country, that average raising more than 1000 fans per game that the previous season.
Campbell led the Skyhawks to five consecutive OVC postseason tournaments; he recruited the Freshman of the Year or OVC Newcomer of the Year four times and recruited two-time OVC Player of the Year Lester Hudson.
Campbell went to UT Martin in March 1999, after serving nearly eight years at Austin Peay, including the 1995-96 season that saw the Governors captured the OVC tourney championships and appear in the NCAA tournament as well as the 1996-97 season where APSU captured a portion of the OVC regular-season title. He served as head coach for 292 games at UT Martin.
Prior to coming to Austin Peay initially, Campbell served three seasons as a Central Florida assistant coach (1989-92). He served five seasons as recruiting coordinator under Joe Dean Jr., first at Birmingham Southern (1988-89) and then at Central Florida. Birmingham Southern won the 1990 NAIA title with players Campbell aided in recruiting.
A native of Anderson, Ind., he was captain of the 1979 Anderson High School state title runner-up team. He played college basketball at Valdosta State where he was a three-year starter at guard and served as team co-captain. He left Valdosta State as the program's all-time assists leader. After receiving his undergraduate degree in 1983, Campbell remained at the school as a graduate assistant for two years (1983-85).
He moved first to Kennesaw College from 1985-87 to initiate the school's intercollegiate basketball program before his next stop at Birmingham Southern.
Campbell and his wife, Marcia, have three children: daughter Caitlin, age 17, and sons Cannon, age 14, and Carter, age 12.
