By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Their paths crossed several times on the off-season high school basketball circuit.

Zach Taylor (Quincy, Mass.) and Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.) would square off during summer or fall league games while preparing for their upcoming seasons at North Quincy High and Archbishop Williams High, respectively.

Their teams would meet in a summer league in Braintree or in the Beantown Slam, a fall league, and even went head-to-head in a preseason scrimmage between North Quincy and Archbishop Williams.

"We used to guard each other," recalled Taylor. "It was a tough night every time I had to guard him. He's a great player."

"I remember guarding him and he was a really tough kid to guard in high school," said Campbell. "He was one of the kids I remember guarding because he was difficult."

Now, Taylor and Campbell are together as freshmen members of the Bridgewater State University men's basketball team where they quickly earned spots in the starting lineup.

They made such a favorable impression during training camp that both Taylor and Campbell started on opening night against Anna Maria on Nov. 8 and have been fixtures in the lineup ever since.

Taylor is one of two players to start all 18 games for BSU while Campbell has started 15 games, missing two recent games with an injury and coming off the bench when he returned last Saturday against Westfield State University.

Last season, Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) started 25 games and Louis Jennings (Walpole, Mass.) started half the season (13 games) in their freshmen years, but this marks the first time in recent memory that two first-year BSU players have started at least 15 games in the same season.

The duo of Campbell and Taylor are making an immediate impact one year out of high school.

Campbell, who helped Archbishop Williams win the state championship in 2023, is second in the MASCAC with a field-goal percentage of 53.8 and ranks seventh (and tied for second on the Bears) in scoring at 14.6 points per game. 

He scored 36 points against Ithaca, making 14 of 18 shots in just his third career game and has been the conference rookie of the week three times.

Taylor and Kikuba are the only two players to appear in all 18 games. Taylor averages 9.8 points on 51 percent shooting and 4.1 rebounds and was named the MASCAC rookie of the week for the second time after averaging 13 points, six rebounds and 2.5 assists in a pair of wins last week.

Coach Matt McLaughlin knew going into training camp last fall that Campbell and Taylor were not the kind of freshmen who would be brought along slowly.

"I think we knew how strong they were going into it and knew that it was a possibility they could start," said McLaughlin, whose team seeks its third straight win when it hosts Salem State Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Tinsley Center. "From day one, they've shown their strength and where they can fit in and what they're capable of doing.

"It's really a credit to both of them being able to make transition seamlessly really from the high school stage to now the college stage."

McLaughlin and his coaching staff kept tabs on both players during their high school careers.

Campbell had a 50-point game in a two-overtime win over Burk and scored 34 points when Williams defeated St. Mary's, 75-71, in the state final, scoring 21 of his team's final 28 points.

Taylor, a versatile, athletic forward, was the most valuable player of the Patriot League.

"We knew how talented they were and we knew they were impact guys sooner rather than later," said McLaughlin. "But you never know until you get to preseason and their ability to get up and down the floor and their ability to move at the pace of play.

"I think if you were to watch them in the first couple of games, and they would say the same thing, you could see that the game was definitely faster and it caught up to them a few times. But their ability to make the adjustments is what kept them there.

"You can always tell guys that are going to get some time freshman year based on their ability and the ability to keep up with the pace on the defensive and offensive sides and if they're able to make adjustments and corrections on the fly. The both of them are able to do that and that's what keeps them out there. They're able to make adjustments and corrections and you don't always see that. I would say that's what is rare."

Taylor liked what he saw when he visited the BSU campus and saw the style of play the Bears use, going up-tempo as much as possible.

"I liked all the coaches, I liked the campus. I just thought it would be a good fit for me athletically and academically," said Taylor. "I just thought coach McLaughlin was a great guy.

"I like the way they play. They play a fast-pace style, which I would have fit in well with. I'm an athletic kid and can run a little bit. I just thought it was good, I could fit in with the system."

Campbell wanted to remain in the area to attend college and like Taylor saw the BSU system as one that would benefit him.

"I thought Bridgewater was a great fit," he said. "I thought it would be a good place for me as a player.  One of the reasons I came here is I like their faster pace. We pushed it up the court in high school and they do it here."

Both Taylor and Campbell arrived at training camp with modest goals, just wanting to have a role with the Bears.

"I had no idea what to expect," said Taylor. "I had never played anything at this high of a level. I just came in and tried to work hard. Everything ended up working out the way it did. I'm getting good minutes and starting."

"My goal was by the end of the year to be starting," said Campbell. "I didn't really know what I was walking into. I didn't want to set too high a goal or expectations. By the end of the year I wanted to be a starter and I wound up starting earlier."

As first-year players who are in the starting lineup, Taylor and Campbell are helping each other out as they make the transition to college life.

"He's going through the same things that I'm going through, adjusting to the lifestyle," said Taylor. "It's very different in college, not really what we're used to. Just having each other and being able to talk to him and help each other out is great."

"It's nice to have someone else who is going through the same thing," said Campbell.

McLaughlin is thrilled at the prospect of having Taylor and Campbell paired together for three more seasons after this one, knowing they will have plenty of experience after productive freshman years.

"It's great. It really is," he said. "They're very coachable. The coaching staff enjoys working with them. They want to learn. They ask questions and want to get better. They're curious and inquisitive and not afraid to ask questions. That's another sign of maturity and wanting to grow and get better."