It didn’t take long for rising Whitehall senior Camden Thompson to announce that, even among an impressive recent run of Viking athletes, he was different.
In his freshman basketball season, Thompson went on the road to North Muskegon for a de facto West Michigan Conference championship game and delivered what to this day remains among his finest performances - 32 points and 18 rebounds in a road win at one of the most raucous environments in the area.
He’s never looked back, earning three all-state honors in basketball and leading the Vikings to three conference championships, a district title and, this past year, an unbeaten regular season.
“(Assistant coach) Matt Shepherd and I were talking about this,” Whitehall basketball coach Christian Subdon, whose first season in the top job was Thompson’s freshman campaign, said last year. “No one knows if we’re any good at coaching yet. We have the best player we’ll probably ever have, so we’re just going to ride that wave and let people think we’re good at this.”
As impressive as Thompson has always been on the basketball court, though, as his high school career has progressed, he’s made waves in football as well, racking up over 700 receiving yards in 2023 and earning an all-conference first team spot. His stats and his impressive size - 6-5 and nearly 200 pounds - have earned Thompson several scholarship offers from Football Bowl Subdivision programs.
He didn’t want to give either sport up, and with his recent commitment to Western Michigan, he won’t have to. While officially he will be on football scholarship, giving the priority to the gridiron, WMU has offered him the chance to play both sports.
“I’m not in the mindset to pick one over the other right now, and I felt like if I dropped one now, I might want to pick the other one back up (later),” Thompson said. “Later on, maybe I do choose one, but it’s great that I‘ve been given the extra time to figure it out.”
“That was always my goal for him, just to get him to this place to where he gets to choose, and he’s been in the best position I’ve seen any kid be in,” football coach Tony Sigmon said. “He doesn’t have to choose (right now). It’s peace of mind that he doesn’t have.to close a door right now. That’s a big deal.”
Subdon was with Thompson on the official visit that preceded his public commitment and said he could tell from his star’s demeanor on the visit that he felt comfortable with his college choice.
“You could just tell he felt at home,” Subdon said. “The coaches treated him really well. They had great connections with him. I could see him having a connection like him and I have, joking around and things like that. I’m obviously pretty protective over him, but I know he’ll be alright wherever he goes, and I just want him to be happy with whatever he chooses.”
Sigmon credited WMU head coach Lance Taylor and receivers coach Jordan Reid for their work building a relationship with Thompson; the Broncos gave Thompson his first Division I offer in June 2023. The quarterback in Thompson’s recruiting class, Wisconsin native Vance Holtz, also got in on the act after committing to WMU a few weeks before Thompson did, quickly sending him a text asking when he could start throwing passes to the Whitehall star.
With football and basketball being overlapping seasons, it’s very difficult to even attempt to do both, let alone excel at both. Thompson, though, is determined to give it his best, and credited the Broncos’ football coaches with creating a plan that makes it possible to give some time to hoops when needed.
“It’ll be a pretty big challenge, but I’ll find a way,” Thompson said. “I’m excited more than anything to have the opportunity and have that challenge. A lot of people don’t get that. I’m looking at it in a positive way.”
There aren’t many challenges left for Thompson to conquer in high school - on top of his success in his two collegiate sports, he’s a three-time state qualifier in high jump, taking second place in 2023, and became a regional medalist in discus despite never having done it competitively before this spring. However, this fall he will take on another one - starting varsity quarterback.
With decorated teammate Kyle Stratton now off to Taylor University after three impressive seasons, Whitehall needed someone to take the snaps, and the Vikes have known for a while that Thompson was the most likely candidate. Before his time as a varsity receiver, he guided the JV squad to an undefeated season as a freshman against what Sigmon felt was one of its toughest-ever schedules, one that included Mona Shores and Zeeland East.
Sigmon said he has enormous confidence in Thompson to deliver similar results as Stratton did, both in terms of victories and in terms of inspiring belief in his teammates.
“There’s a confidence where when he’s on the field, every kid feels like he has a shot,” Sigmon said. “That’s why it’s important for him to play quarterback, because Kyle brought that same thing.
“We have a couple kids like that, at different positions that may not be as glamorous. He’s very much a person that everyone will look to.”
Both player and coach agree Thompson’s position switch for his senior year will pay dividends in his collegiate career, giving him a fuller look at the offense.
“I think it’ll help me out from a wide receiver standpoint when I go to college,” Thompson said. “My freshman year, I was just doing whatever they wanted me to. Now I’ll have to read coverages and figure all that out. That will hep me big-time as a wide receiver. It’ll make me pick up a lot more leadership and a lot more things. Everyone’s looking at me as a quarterback. I’m not a wide receiver just wanting the ball. Now I’ll have to make sure everyone’s doing what they need to do.”
Thompson is relieved to have the recruiting process behind him - he’ll be able to officially sign with WMU in December - and can now put all his focus on one last run with his Whitehall teammates in his senior season. The Vikings will have high hopes and plenty of motivation after spectacular regular seasons in both football and basketball ended in postseason disappointments. It seems clear that no one will play a bigger role in how Thompson’s high school sports story ends than himself. Like every other challenge he’s faced so far, Thompson is looking forward to meeting it.
“It’s hard losing,” Thompson said. “Every team is going to lose in your division except for one. That feeling sucks, especially for the seniors we played with. I’m just looking forward to playing one more year with the guys I grew up with. We’re hoping to get better progressively throughout the year instead of falling down in the playoffs.”
