Inside the Huddle | 'I Just Focused on That Vision': Hobby Achieves Dream of Playing College Hoops, Inspires Next Generation of Athletes

The greatest basketball players in the world, all under one roof. The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing featured some of the biggest names in sports history, all on one team: Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings, Sylvia Fowles, Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, Diana Taurasi.

Oh, and that was only half of the team’s roster.

Thousands of miles and an ocean away, 7-year-old Camille Hobby sat in her living room with her eyes glued to the TV in Raleigh, North Carolina. She idolized that team, a group that won their eight contests by an average of 37.6 points en route to the gold medal for the fourth Games in a row.

“Mom, I want to play basketball. I want to be just like them,” Hobby recalls telling her mom, Constance, that summer.

So, she started playing basketball at the age of 7, and she has now chased her dreams of playing high-level hoops in her final year at the collegiate level at Illinois.

“That was my inspiration,” Camille Hobby said. “It was just the whole team and the idea that they were the best women in the whole entire world competing in one location. That was mind-blowing. I thought that was awesome.”

The daughter of Marion Hobby, a longtime college football coach and the current defensive line coach for the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL, Camille is used to constant change. She attended three different elementary schools, one middle school, and two high schools, and she has lived in Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Florida.

Given the chaos of frequently having to pick up her life and move, Camille Hobby found one constant source of comfort and familiarity: sports. 

It started with just about every activity offered at the local park district: karate, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and even dance. She found success in just about everything she set her mind to – OK, maybe not dance – when it came to her athletics career, but she always went back to one sport: basketball.

“As soon as one sport was over, she just wanted to know when basketball would start,” Constance Hobby said. “As a parent, you want your child to be active and experience lots of different sports because you never know what will pique a kid's interest. That was the main goal: letting her try everything.

Camille was always destined to pursue basketball. Her mom took her to women’s hoops and volleyball games in every college community they lived in, which included Tulane, North Carolina State, and Clemson. They also attended the SEC tournament while living in South Carolina, which planted the seed in Camille’s mind that she could, eventually, reach that level.

“I always wanted her to have the opportunity to see these big, tall, beautiful women who were competing in sports,” Constance Hobby said. “She was probably not even in kindergarten at that point when I would bring her to these events. Every place we lived, we always went to all the women's basketball programs. We noticed her interest and her love of it. Any time we had the opportunity for her to watch the big girls play, that's what we took her and did.”

Camille put all of her eggs in one basket and focused solely on basketball once she reached fifth grade, when the Hobby family moved to Clemson, South Carolina. 

Seeing her dad coach and interact with college student-athletes on a daily basis, Camille never doubted her potential to eventually reach that stage. Never short on confidence, she set her mind to working hard and putting in the time to play college basketball one day.

Camille’s college recruitment began in eighth grade, when she earned her first scholarship offer. The initial interest did not faze her, though, instead serving as fuel to get better. A 6-foot-3 freshman, Camille played her first two seasons of high-school basketball at Daniel High School in South Carolina.

Earning all-state honors as a sophomore, Camille’s family made the move to Florida when her dad secured a coaching job with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Constance prioritized giving Camille the option when it came to her next high school, and she settled on Nease High School, a program with proven success.

Joining a roster that was very connected, Camille used her winning mentality to fit right in and integrate herself into the team.

“I just continued to be myself,” Camille Hobby said. “I've always been very determined. I've always been a person that felt like I could add value to a team. I knew we all had common goals of being good and winning games, so I based my approach off the common goal of being successful. I feel like the transition was pretty easy due to our like-mindedness.”

Despite entering an environment with new teammates, a new coach, and new surroundings, Camille thrived right away. Named her conference’s Player of the Year honoree, Camille led the Panthers to the regional finals in the state tournament.

One year later, Camille Hobby put together the strongest season of her high-school career. Taking Nease all the way to the state championship game, Camille repeated as player of the year and was named Miss Florida Basketball following her senior campaign.

As the accolades continued to roll in, Camille, being the humble person she is, did not care much about the individual recognition. Instead, she was more focused on helping her team win, and that’s exactly what she did. Though the Panthers came up short in the 2019 title game, Nease finished with only two losses, which came by a combined five points.

Seeing her daughter amass several individual awards in her two years at Nease, Constance Hobby says nothing compared to watching Camille earn Miss Florida Basketball status. With all of the changes and uncertainties in the family’s lives, Camille still shined and made the most of every situation.

“It meant everything because she really set her mind to what she wanted to do,” Constance Hobby said. “When she found out that we were going to be moving, it wasn’t her parents who told her. It was a teacher at school walking down the hallway. She was really upset because who wants to leave their high school? 

“She flourished. She fell in love with her coach, and she just decided that she wanted to be the best player in Florida basketball. Camille is one of those kids who, if she sets her mind to something, it's gonna be done. We couldn't be more proud of her for accomplishing her goals and just having the success that she decided she was gonna have.”

Camille’s college career started at NC State, where she played for four years. A three-time ACC tournament and 2022 ACC regular-season champion, Camille started all 32 games for the Wolfpack last season as a senior.

After graduating from NC State in May, Camille announced her decision to play elsewhere in her fifth and final year of eligibility. She knew what she was looking for once she entered the portal: a school with the best nutrition regiment, world-class strength and conditioning resources, a like-minded group of teammates, and a winning culture.

So, Illinois had everything she was looking for.

Now only about a four-hour drive from her family in Cincinnati, Camille is able to play her final collegiate campaign with her parents in the stands, both at State Farm Center and at almost every Illini road game. 

“Camille really wanted to have one last year where her dad, one of the most important people to her, could have more opportunities to come to a game and experience that last year of her playing,” Constance Hobby said. “Naturally, we’re in an area where it's a quick drive for us to come over, catch a game, get home, and he can still take part in his football activities. It has been the biggest blessing for our family to have her close, come watch her play, and root on Illinois.

“We've had such an awesome experience watching her grow as a player, watching her have success everywhere that she's been, and ultimately coming to the Big Ten and helping her team have success. It's just been a wonderful experience, and we're so excited to see what's next.”

The Midwest weather proved to be an adjustment for Camille, but she has found her groove on the court heading into the final games of her college career. 

Once her playing days come to a close, Camille wants to get into coaching. Inspired by both her dad and the coaches she has played for over the course of her basketball journey, Camille wants to inspire and work with the next generation of players by giving back to a sport that has done so much for her.

“I definitely want to be a coach,” Camille Hobby said. “I've had some really good coaches in my life.” 

As she heads into the final games of her career at Illinois, Camille wants to go out on a strong note. That’s what she has strived to do her whole life, after all.

Though her tenure in Champaign will only span one season, she is thankful to be able to spend her final year of eligibility with some of her closest friends and biggest supporters in the stands and on the court alongside her.

“Obviously, basketball is a game, but I feel like it has so many life lessons: determination, working hard, facing adversity, and working through that,” Camille Hobby said. “As student-athletes and speaking for myself, we get a dose of this at such an early age before most kids face that when they go into the working world. I really feel like it sets all of us up for a better future in the workforce and other aspects of our lives because we've already had these skills and built these skills throughout our college careers.

“I want to be remembered for my work ethic and my determination. Obviously, this team has faced quite a bit of adversity this season, and we've kept going in the face of adversity. I want to be known as someone who has worked hard and made people around them better.”