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A year ago Javeon Campbell was best known as a star basketball player at Western Hills High School in Frankfort who was on his way to becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer as a junior. He had joined the football team but had yet to play his first high school game.

Now he’s preparing to start his second football season when Western Hills plays at  Bourbon County Aug. 23 and he’s known across the state because he’s not only the state’s No. 1-rated player, but he’s also a Kentucky commit.

“I can’t wait to get back on the field,” said the 6-5, 265-pound Campbell who had 14 1/2 sacks last year. “The last few months have been pretty hectic trying to figure out where to go (to college) and everybody asking about it and talking to all those coaches was crazy.”

Even though he has played just one year of high school football, he turned down offers from Georgia, Alabama, Auburn and many others to play at Kentucky.

“It is crazy to think about that but I am happy with my choice,” Campbell said. “Honestly, I thought when I started playing football I might get looked at by a few colleges and then I could see what I could do with basketball or football. But this has truly been a blessing for me.”

Campbell’s story is more like a fairy tale than reality starting with the day new football coach Simon Vanderpool approached his mother about him playing football after watching him play basketball.

“I used to play (football) but like I took a break and I was like, ’It’s not a bad idea’ because I did like football when I played but it comes with a risk (of injury),” Campbell said. “But once my mother was okay with it and then I started practicing and getting a feel for football again, it was fine.”

Campbell goes into this season as a four-star player and ranked as high as the nation’s 14th best defensive lineman in his recruiting class by On3 and 247Sports. He’s also already been invited to play in the U.S. Army All-America Bowl.

Campbell said anyone who watched him play last season will see a “big difference” in him this season.  

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“I feel like I’ve gotten way better than I was even last season,” the Western Hills senior said. “I feel stronger, more powerful, more explosive. I feel like it’s gonna be a big improvement from last year.

“I played offense back in middle school so defense was like a whole new thing to me. Just getting back into it, I was learning.”

Campbell joked in middle school he used his size to run over opponents and did not have a lot of finesse to his game as an offensive lineman. Now he’s had to learn to read what opposing offenses are doing and still keep up with the speed of the game to make plays.

He understands there are big expectations on him this season after his scholarship offer list and verbal commitment to Kentucky.

“Everything in practice is about me picking up more and pushing me to my limits,” the UK commit said. “I started working on myself and running every day to become more athletic when I was like an eighth-grader and I think it has paid off.

“I think playing basketball helped me with my footwork that helps me in football work my moves. I know at the next level I will need to use my hands and arms more. Now I just do what I do to make plays but I know I still have a lot to learn.”

He credits Vanderpool for helping him develop so quickly and for convincing his mother that her “baby” would be safe playing football.

“She was kind of nervous going into our first couple of games and worried I would get like a bruise or a scratch but she’s perfectly fine with it now that she knows what I can do on the field,” the Western Hills senior said.

His mother didn’t limit where he could go play college football.

“She just wanted the best for me, so she didn’t really care where I went. She might have had a problem if I had gone far away but she never said so,” Campbell said.

Unlike most highly rated high school football players, Campbell does not plan to enroll early at UK. Instead, he wants to finish his high school basketball career under coach Geoff Cody.

“I just want to enjoy my last year of high school and then just get ready for the next level,” Campbell said. “My (basketball) coach was all for it when I told him I was also going to play football. He actually went to college for football and then he went to basketball, so he understood what I was doing.”

“I still want to finish my last basketball season. I enjoy playing with my team. I want to play another year with them.”

Even though he’s Western Hills’ all-time leading scorer, he’s not a 3-point shooter which is no surprise considering his physical prowess.

“I feel like I have a little bit of finesse with my pump fakes and my spin moves. I feel like it’s a pretty good combination and that athleticism also helps me in football,” Campbell said.