December 14, 2024
Anna Camden is doing what she can, when she can — and that’s plenty for Richmond
Aaron Roussell: ‘Richmond women's basketball is infinitely better because Anna Camden came into our world’
In the spring of 2023, then-Penn State senior forward Anna Camden entered the transfer portal, and within an hour, Richmond head coach Aaron Roussell reached out. He had recruited her when she was in high school and he was the head coach at Bucknell. Roussell was happy and proud of her when she committed to Penn State and continued to follow her basketball career.
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The pair talked on the phone later that night, and Camden eventually visited and committed to play for Richmond as a graduate transfer. For Roussell, the years that had passed hadn’t changed a thing; he still wanted her on his team for the same reasons.
“I just thought she was a perfect fit for our offense,” he told The Next. “She finishes incredibly well at the basket [and is] very athletic. She’s long and can defend, can rebound, but she does all those things and still is able to stretch the floor. And I think when you watch us, that’s really what we’re trying to get, is kids that can guard inside, finish inside, but also be able to stretch the floor. And she’s the prototypical fit for our style.”
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The 6’3 Camden grew up in an athletic family: Her mom played college basketball, her brother John currently plays basketball for Delaware and her two older sisters played college lacrosse. She’s been playing basketball as long as she can remember, but she also lettered in lacrosse in high school and played a variety of other sports over the years, including soccer, field hockey, flag football and cross country. She believes that while all the sports she played helped her with her fitness, the defensive footwork in lacrosse is similar to basketball, so it allowed her to work on foot speed and quickness.
Though Camden’s ability to shoot 3-pointers is a key part of her game, it was a skill she honed in high school. “I had to develop that the most, but at the same time, that was one of the easiest skills for myself because I just have a natural follow-through,” she told The Next. “And I think I just have a really fluid shot.”
When she was being recruited in high school, Camden chose Penn State because it checked all of her boxes. Though she never had a dream school, she was attracted to Penn State’s Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications; its proximity to her hometown of Downingtown, Pennsylvania; and the opportunity to help rebuild the program. In her four seasons at Penn State, Camden averaged 5.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 111 games (58 starts).
She chose to transfer to use her last year of eligibility because she wanted a different environment. Richmond appealed to her because of her trust in and respect for the coaching staff, and she liked the offensive system and thought she would fit in. She also believed that Richmond would win a championship, which the Spiders did, winning the 2023-24 Atlantic 10 regular-season and tournament championships.
Though her impact could be felt last season, she was not on the court. She tore her ACL less than 30 minutes into the team’s first practice of the summer and less than 24 hours after moving in. She described the injury as “heartbreaking” and decided to wait until the end of August to have surgery.
“I wanted to become more mentally and physically ready for the — I guess — for the battle that I was about to fight with my surgery and recovery,” Camden said. “Physically, I built up my strength, and then mentally, I adjusted to an entirely new city and new community, and just tried to get my feet under me before I went through such a scary surgery.”
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Assistant athletic trainer Sara Spencer noted that Camden lifted almost every day as part of physically preparing for surgery and, eventually, recovery.
“We did a lot of the things that you usually don’t see ACL patients doing,” Spencer told The Next. “So we worked really hard to get her in a headspace and physically ready for the surgery, so that when she had it, she made remarkable strides in those first two to four weeks where we were able to get all the swelling out.
“All of her range of motion came back within the first seven to 10 days, which is really, really good because that allowed us to walk quicker, allowed us to get out of the brace and off the crutches quicker. And then the progression through the phases of rehab and returning to run, returning to jump and then getting her back on the floor, it just kind of put her in a better place to meet all of those goals. And that started during the summer.”
Camden’s journey back to the court was a winding one full of rehabbing and training that tested her grit and toughness. Not only did she have to get back into physical shape, she first had to learn to walk and jump again. In addition to the support she received from her family and her boyfriend, Camden said Spencer was and still is her “right hand.”
Spencer admired Camden’s attitude throughout the process and how she looks at every day as a new day and tries to make the best of it.
“It’s not an easy thing to go through, and just where she was when she came in and this happened is significantly different from where she is now,” Spencer said. “And she’s not the same player. She’s not the same person. And it’s been a pleasure to watch her grow and see those changes in herself and really grasp that and hone into her true self. … Her determination and motivation just — and her just positive attitude — [have] helped not only herself but her teammates and where we’re going.”
As Camden was sitting at the end of the bench, she was next to then-sophomore forward Jada Green who had torn her ACL, MCL and lateral meniscus the year before. The two tried to make the most of their situation, even starting their own handshake that they carried into this season.
“I love our handshake … that we did before every game because we were like, ‘We’re not playing; let’s have something to do before every game,’” Green told The Next.
Green has had a front-row seat to Camden’s hard work at Richmond. “She’s one of those people, like, once she puts her mind to something, there’s nothing you can say that’s gonna get her off that track,” Green said. “… Coming back from this injury and just playing basketball and even other stuff, she’s just, she’s really determined and resilient and won’t let anything get in her way.”
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Camden started posting on TikTok in 2020, at the end of her freshman year, and has amassed more than 281,000 followers as well as more than 124,000 on Instagram. She started to take social media seriously when she started getting comments from younger women and girls calling her their role model and saying they wanted to be like her. After student-athletes were allowed to make money off their name, image and likeness beginning in 2021, she took it even more seriously. She believes that in addition to the people it has brought into her life, it has opened doors for her and has allowed her to make an impact and share her faith.
“I definitely never saw it ever becoming this,” she said. “I never really had a dream or a vision of being a social media person. I’m very thankful for what it’s turned into and for the community that it’s brought me, and all the fans and followers and friends that I have met through that. And it’s been a huge blessing in my life.”
When she came to Richmond, Camden had a lot of knowledge to share, but Roussell understood that she was in a new place and didn’t want to force her into any role. He urged her to share and lead from the bench in whatever way she was comfortable with. Though Camden was reluctant to, Roussell assured her that her teammates held her in high regard.
“Whenever you’re comfortable using that, don’t feel like there’s supposed to be a muzzle here and you’re not supposed to talk,” he recalled saying. “You focus on you, you take care of your injury. But you got so much to give here, kid. You can be just an awesome human being, an awesome role model for these guys. Don’t hold back.”
Roussell emphasized last season that if Richmond won an A-10 championship, Camden had to wear the championship ring with pride. “She’s a great resource for everybody,” he said. “I think she helped Addie Budnik last year. I think she helped Maggie Doogan last year and this year.”
He feels fortunate to be coaching Camden this year, as he wasn’t sure if she’d use her final year of eligibility.
“I knew in my heart most of the time that I was going to come back, but there was just some, I think, mental obstacles I had to work through,” Camden said. “And so when our season ended last year after the March Madness tournament, I think I just kind of knew immediately that I wanted to make a decision out of faith and not out of fear, and wanted to give myself one last shot of just playing the game that I loved. And so I kind of made that decision within, like, the first week after that season ended.”
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After more than 600 days, Camden returned on Nov. 4 at Temple filled with gratitude and joy. She recorded nine points, five rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes. For the season, Camden is averaging 6.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 15.6 minutes per game and is focusing on doing what she can when her name is called. Roussell has leaned on Camden’s experience, and as he’s gotten to know how she plays, he’s been particularly impressed with her defense.
“She does some things every once in a while that I’m like, ‘Man, with all due respect, I don’t even know if you were doing those things before your injury, or at least … that’s the first time you’ve done this since your injury, with that level of confidence and aggression,'” Roussell said. “And so I think she’s still piecing all of that together.
“But I just think her ability and what she’s seen in the Big Ten — I mean, obviously, I’ve seen clips with her and Caitlin Clark against each other. Like, ‘Hey, [if] you can switch out onto Caitlin Clark, you can switch out on some kids here in our league, no question.'”
Richmond is 9-1 this season with three nonconference games left. The Spiders have already played three top-55 NET teams in Fairfield, Oklahoma State and Columbia, going 3-0 in those games. Coming up, they’ll host AP No. 6 Texas on Dec. 15 before facing No. 19 Tennessee and Alabama in the West Palm Beach Classic on Dec. 20 and 21, respectively.
Roussell and his coaching staff have used their scrimmages and early part of the nonconference to try different lineups — though he admitted less than 24 hours after a Dec. 4 loss to Georgetown that they haven’t figured everything out yet.
“I think you’ll see some things that we’re going to be able to do with [Camden],” he said. “And maybe some big lineups that we can do that maybe we haven’t unleashed yet to this point, and looking forward to that, and I think that will make her better. It will make us better as a team as well.”
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After earning her bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism with a minor in sports studies at Penn State, Camden is pursuing a master of liberal arts degree at Richmond. The degree has allowed her to have internships and explore independent studies. While interning with SpiderTV, she has been able to do sideline reporting, halftime shows, interviews and more, and she’s enjoying the opportunity to gain on-camera experience. After graduation, she plans to pursue sports broadcasting.
Roussell knows that wherever she ends up, she’ll be successful.
“I’m jealous for anybody that gets to be on her team,” he said. “I’m jealous for anybody that gets to be a colleague, a boss, somebody that’s going to get to work for her and with her down the road. She’s just such an enhancer of the group with whatever she does. …
“Richmond women’s basketball is infinitely better because Anna Camden came into our world.”
Written by Natalie Heavren
Natalie Heavren has been a contributor to The Next since February 2019 and currently writes about the Atlantic 10 conference, the WNBA and the WBL.
