By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com

There was something missing from Cameron Joseph's life when he started college in 2019 at Sacramento State.

He was missing everything about basketball – being on a team, practicing and playing in games, putting in all the time and work that goes into the game, going through the day-to-day routine of being in the gym and getting up shots.

"It just felt off. I honestly missed basketball. It was what I was thinking about all the time," said Joseph, a three-year starter at Armijo High School-Fairfield.

"Coming out of high school, I didn't intend on playing college basketball. I decided I was done with it."

Joseph, named All-Monticello Empire League for Armijo his senior season, discovered that there was a void in his life – that he had basketball on his mind.

"It was always in the back of my mind," he said. "Like the moment I enrolled at Sac State and moved into the dorms, in the back of my mind was basketball, just missing it, thinking like about what could have been.

"It was rough."

It was one day in February of 2020, at the start of the spring semester during his first year at Sacramento State, when Joseph was at his home in Fairfield, visiting with his mom, Lisa Joseph.

"I was just sitting down, talking to my mom. She was asking me how school is going," Cameron recalled the other day. "The grades were good, but she was like, 'Are you happy?' She knew basketball was a big part of my life.

"Walking around the campus (at Sacramento State), you'd see one of the football players or basketball players. They were with a teammate. I just thought about the camaraderie I used to have playing sports. It's not just playing the game. It's everything else that comes with it. All in all, those factors just led me to missing it enough to want to come back."

Cameron was overcome with emotion when his mom repeated the question: are you happy?

"I paused for a second. I tried to keep it together. But eventually, I just broke down. Once I started crying, that's when I started to really put it together, that this meant a lot to me, and I really missed it," he said.

Basketball means so much to Cameron Joseph. He returned home after one year at Sacramento State and transferred to Napa Valley College, a member of the Bay Valley Conference.

Finding a home at Napa Valley College

Joseph is starting his third year in head coach Steve Ball's program and going into the 2022-23 season, his sophomore year, he is emerging as a team leader for the Storm.

"I was able to just play basketball and I was having fun with it," he said. "I honestly realized that is what was best for me. I'm glad I made the decision when I did, because it was hard on me, because my passion in life is sports. So, with basketball not being in my life was hard."

Joseph has found a home at Napa Valley. During its fall program, the Storm practices Monday through Thursday, from 1-4 p.m. Napa Valley will play in two showcase events in September. The Storm will play four games at Cerritos College-Norwalk, an event Sept. 16-17 that will have 60 teams. The Storm will also play four games at American River-Sacramento, an event that will have 10 teams, on Sept. 24 and 25.

NVC has an exhibition game at home on Oct. 25 against Sierra-Rocklin at 6 p.m.

Joseph is coming off a freshman season that saw him play in 27 games, with six starts.

"I think that the sky's the limit for him," said Ball. "I think these showcases that we play in in September will be huge. Cameron already has some interest from some (NCAA) Division II (schools). I think that he should get some DI interest coming out of these showcases.

"He's a great representative of the character, the talent and the type of young man that we're trying to produce here."

As a freshman last year, Joseph averaged 12.7 points per game for the Storm (9-19 overall, 8-8 Bay Valley Conference). NVC finished sixth in the conference standings.

Playing the shooting guard and wing positions, he shot 43.2 percent from the field, 36.8 percent from 3-point distance, and 66 percent from the free-throw line.

"He had a really, really successful second half of conference," said Ball. "He had some big games in conference play. He came off the bench for us. We love having scoring off the bench. With his length, he's very versatile. He could sub in for any one of the players on the court. And then he gives us, almost in all cases, an offensive lift as he comes in."

Joseph played behind two top sophomore players, Shakir Howard and Jaivon Williams, last year. Howard averaged 17.8 points per game and Williams averaged 16.3 points per game.

Williams was named first-team All-BVC. Howard was named honorable mention All-BVC.

Joseph also averaged 3.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game last year.

He continued to elevate his game during the season, said Ball.

"We always say, when January hits, there are no freshmen. So, I think that's when he started to feel that confidence – 'Oh, I can do this. I can be just as successful as anybody out here,' " said Ball. "He shoots as high of a percentage as anybody. I think he felt empowered to take some shots, because he was making shots. And then he didn't feel like as a freshman that he had to defer to anybody. When you're on the court, perform. And he did a great job with that. He was very confident.

"Hopefully we can carry that over into the start of the game with him being one of our leaders, and in that way being assertive."

Joseph scored in double figures in 16 games, and scored a season-high 26 points three times – in BVC games against Los Medanos-Pittsburg, Alameda and Merritt-Oakland.

He scored 21 points against Marin-Kentfield and had 20-point games against Santa Rosa and Foothill-Los Altos Hills.

"He's got a great 3-point shot. He reads screens really well – curls and flares off those screens and knocks down the shots," said Ball. "His mid-range game is nice. He can handle it and change directions and stop on a dime. And he can take it into the paint. He needs to add some weight so that he can take and absorb some more contact in there, but he finishes really well around the hoop, especially in the open court.

"And then aside from all of that, his intangibles are excellent as well. You'll never see him yelling at a teammate for something or anything along those lines. He's always trying to motivate and pick things up and pick people up and lead by example."

Joseph (6-foot-4, 175 pounds) ended last year's season in a big way, scoring 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and going 6-of-8 from the free-throw line in the Storm's 79-78 win over Marin. He also had three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

"I felt myself getting more and more comfortable toward the end of the season," he said. "As far as big shots, things like that, I've never shied away from the spotlight. I've always enjoyed playing in front of a crowd, big moments, the ball in my hand, things like that. I look forward to those things. I try not to get too nervous in my head about it and just appreciate it for what it is."

Joseph had a season-high eight rebounds against Los Medanos. He had a season-high five assists in games against Sacramento City, Las Positas-Livermore and Yuba-Marysville. He had five steals, a season high, against Alameda.

Joseph is a 2019 Armijo High graduate who scored 34 points in a nonleague game against Center-Antelope in 2019.

Changing his uniform number

After wearing No. 2 last year, Joseph asked Ball in July if he could change his uniform number. He will now wear No. 1 for Napa Valley.

"As sophomores, they're entitled to first pick of the uniforms," said Ball. "It's a personal thing.

"They always say: look good, feel good, play good. If he feels like the No. 1 is a better fit for him, that's going to make him play more comfortably, play more confidently, then I'm all for it."

Joseph wants to take on a leadership role with the Storm, and wearing No. 1, he said, ties into that.

"I've worn No. 2 a lot of my life," he said. "I just feel like No. 1 is kind of like the head of the team. I want to change who I was last year. I just was kind of fitting in where I could last year and trying to just be a role player. But this year, I want to be more of a leader. I want all the responsibilities that come with that. So, I think No. 1 kind of symbolizes that in a way. So that's what I'm most excited about."

Joseph played for Team Rampage, an AAU team in Vallejo that is led by head coach Brandon Bracy, during his high school years.

NVC will start the season Nov. 4 at home with a nonconference game against Folsom Lake.

"I'm definitely excited," said Joseph, 21. "I'm happy to be where I'm at. I'm trying to stay in the moment and not look too far ahead. This is what I dreamed of."

* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.