NCAA history. Russell grabbed 50 rebounds in that year’s Final Four, including 27 in the championship game, which remains an NCAA for most rebounds in a game. In addition to his on-court success, Russell was one of the nation’s top high jumpers in collegiate track and field. Despite his athletic success and de- velopment, the college experience was often unpleasant. Russell frequently commented on isolation in school due to USF’s low enrollment of African American students. Additionally, he was subjected to bigoted attitudes from fellow students, USF faculty, and, in his view, the USF coaching staff. Ac- cording to Russell, his white teammates went to the head coach, informing him they did not want to play with Black teammates. As with other African American professional and collegiate athletes during the time, Russell and his Black teammates were subjected to racial slurs from opposing fans. While on the road, USF Black players were not al- lowed to stay in the same hotels nor eat in the same restaurants as their white teammates. Evolution of His Game and The Game When Russell arrived at USF, and during his collegiate career, basketball was mainly an “earthbound game” where offenses moved the ball in a position to get layups and easy jump
shots. As he matured physically and his playing style continued to develop, Rus- sell started dramatically impacting play on the court. Russell changed the style of play defensively by leaping to utilize his height, timing, and speed to contest and block shots. Russell’s defensive acumen was considered, at the time, revolutionary and unorthodox. Russell’s play was even at odds with his college head coach, who believed “no good defensive player leaves his feet.” One coach commented, “He turned the blocked shot into a weapon, and once he did that, he erased the easy layup from the game.” To adjust, oppos- ing teams shot from further away, rather than watch as Russell swat their layups. Due to Russell, the NCAA widened the lane in 1955 from six feet to 12 feet and disallowed basket interference. One unique characteristic of his play was Russell would tap toward a teammate or upwards to himself when blocking a shot to convert a blocked shot attempt into a rebounding opportunity. When Russell recovered the blocked ball, he would instantly outlet the ball to a guard on the wing to get his team into transition offense. At USF and later in the NBA, Rus- sell helped usher a more airborne game defensively while using defense to create offense. In a 2013 interview, Russell commented on his philosophy on block- ing shots, “...all the guys that followed me approached blocking shots as a defensive maneuver. I blocked shots as an offensive maneuver.” Celtic teammate the late Tommy Heinsohn on Russell’s defensive pres- ence, “What Russell really does is demoralize. The other [opposing} play- ers are afraid to take their normal shots. Instead, they’re looking to see what Russell will do.” When facing Russell once, former NBA player the late Bill Bridges (Mu 1958) recalled, “Russell told me I better bring pepper and salt to the next game. He told me I was going to eat basket- balls.”
Hall of Fame basketball coach the late Red Auerbach, “He [Russell] made shot blocking an art and proved that quickness, finesse, and brains were a match for brawn.” The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics After completing his senior year at USF, the 22-year-old Russell won a spot on the United States men’s basketball team to compete in the 1956 Sum- mer Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. Russell led the U.S. with a team-leading 14 points per game as the U.S. men’s team won all eight games by an average of 53.5 points. Russell reflected in a 1999 interview on his Olympic experience, “The gold medal is very, very, very precious to me. In terms of trophies and things, it’s probably my most prized possession.” Russell to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum “Ever since I was a kid, there were social and physical icons that I always heard about. And you think of these things in awe. And when I got to the age where I quali- fied for the Olympics, I wanted to go. Then, the honor of the Olympics was to compete. Not to win, but to compete. I really wanted that. If I hadn’t made that Olympic basketball team, I was going to participate in the high jump. I was ranked second in the country in the high jump, so either way, I was going to Mel- bourne. I wanted to be a part of that Olympic experience.” Russell’s profes- sional playing career was delayed due to his participation in the 1956 Olympics. NBA The St. Louis Hawks selected Rus- sell with the second pick of the 1956 NBA Draft. The Hawks immediately traded Russell to the Boston Celtics for two future Hall of Famers. One of the NBA’s consequential developments, the trade launched one of the sports’ great- est dynasties, the Boston Celtics of the late 1950s and 1960s, with Russell as the foundation of the franchise’s cham-
“It [Basketball] was a horizontal game, and I brought vertical to the game.”
THE JOURNAL ♦ SPRING 2022
PUBLISHING ACHIEVEMENT IN EVERY FIELD OF HUMAN ENDEAVOR
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