TAMPA, Fla. -- UIC junior Ruvanna Campbell owns 48 double-doubles in 65 career appearances at UIC and the nation has taken notice. The 6-foot-3 forward was featured in the NCAA Final Four program (April 5-7) by receiving a full page spread.

Campbell has been twice named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year and is the 20th member of UIC's 1,000-Point Club. This past season, she ranked third in the nation with 14.1 rebounds per contest and sixth with 22 double-doubles. Campbell was the only player in the nation who averaged at least 17 points, 14 rebounds and two steals per game.

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"Ruvanna Campbell has a knack for reaching out and grabbing the things she wants. Just ask any opponent who has tried to box out the 6-foot-3 junior forward at Illinois-Chicago -- you need look no further than her 14-plus rebounds-per-game average to know that she succeeds on the boards more often than most. 

Also, just ask the doctors who once told the then-high schooler she'd never play basketball again -- she has certainly long ago proven that prognosis wrong. 

Campbell, the fifth-oldest of seven siblings between the ages of 18 and 26, at one point lived in the same home with them and 11 other people in a housing project on Chicago's Near West Side. During summer basketball after her high school sophomore season, she suffered a compound fracture of her tibia and fibula; it was a gruesome injury, leading doctors to tell her she wouldn't play basketball again. 

Fast forward five years, where the redshirt junior is one of the nation's top performers, and it's clear Campbell has a knack for overcoming obstacles -- be they an opponent under the basket or challenges off the court. 

Described by her great-aunt, Mary Eason, as "the female version of Dennis Rodman," Campbell ranked third in the nation in rebounds per game while also averaging 17 points per game and earning Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year honors. 

The next goals for Campbell include being the first in her family to graduate from college and being a WNBA draft pick. You'd be wise to assume she will succeed."