Daron "Fatts" Russell (born May 6, 1998) is an American
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player for the
Galatasaray Nef of the
Basketbol Süper Ligi and the
Basketball Champions League
The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercontin ...
. He played college basketball for four years for
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
, and after graduating he played one season for the
Maryland Terrapins.
Early life and high school career
Russell grew up in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, and looked up to basketball player
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...
, who was born in the same city.
His mother gave him the nickname "Fatts," which he has been called his entire life, because he was chubby as a baby.
Russell played for
Imhotep Institute Charter High School
Imhotep Institute Charter High School is a public charter high school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1998 to offer an African-centered education that emphasizes STEM subjects.
During the 2015–16 school year, the sch ...
in Philadelphia, where he was coached by Andre Noble.
Russell became its all-time leader in points, assists and steals.
As a senior, he led his team, which was considered one of the best in the country, to a 31–2 record and the
Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) 4A state championship, scoring 25 points in the title game.
Russell was named
Philadelphia Public League and Pennsylvania Class 4A
most valuable player
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
(MVP).
He was a consensus three-star
recruit __NOTOC__
Recruit can refer to:
Military
* Military recruitment
* Recruit training, in the military
* ''Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries
* Seaman recruit Books
*''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (En ...
and committed to play collegiately for
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
over offers from
Seton Hall,
SMU and
Western Kentucky
Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state.
;Always included
* The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...
, among others.
College career
On December 4, 2017, Russell was named
Atlantic 10
The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...
freshman of the week after scoring 20 points in wins over
Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...
and
Providence
Providence often refers to:
* Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion
* Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity
* Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
. As a freshman, Russell averaged 7.0 points per game. In the NCAA Tournament, he scored 15 points including two clinching free throws with 11 seconds remaining and had five assists and two steals in a 83–78 overtime win against
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
. Russell scored a career-high 41 points on March 5, 2019, in a 86–85 overtime win against
St. Joseph's. It was the highest scoring effort by a Rhode Island player in a road game. Russell finished his sophomore season averaging 14.2 points and 3.7 assists per game.
On January 15, 2020, Russell scored 25 points against St. Joseph's and surpassed the 1,000 point threshold.
He scored 30 points on January 30, in a 87–75 win over
VCU. On February 13, Russell was named to the midseason watch list for the
Naismith Trophy.
At the close of the regular season, Russell was named to the First Team All-Atlantic 10 and the Defensive Team.
He was named the U.S. Basketball Writer's Association District I Player of the Year and was selected to the National Association of Basketball Coaches 2019–20 Division I All-District 4 First Team. Russell averaged 18.8 points and 2.9 steals per game, second in Division I. Following the season, he declared for the
2020 NBA draft
The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...
but intended to keep his college eligibility. On February 16, 2021, in a game against
Dayton
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...
, Russell became Rhode Island's all-time leader in steals. As a senior, he averaged 14.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, earning Third Team All-Atlantic 10 honors. After the season, Russell transferred to
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
.
On February 27, 2022, Russell scored a career-high 27 points and surpassed the 2,000 point mark in a 75-60 win over
Ohio State
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
. He was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten.
Professional career
Mornar (2022–2023)
On July 7, 2022, Russell signed with
Mornar of the
ABA League and the
Montenegrin League.
Galatasaray Nef (2023–)
On January 21, 2023, he signed with
Galatasaray Nef of the
Basketbol Süper Ligi.
Career statistics
College
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2017–18
, style="text-align:left;",
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
, 34 , , 0 , , 17.9 , , .352 , , .298 , , .810 , , 1.6 , , 1.6 , , .8 , , .0 , , 7.0
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2018–19
, style="text-align:left;",
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
, 32 , , 32 , , 34.1 , , .338 , , .223 , , .737 , , 2.7 , , 3.7 , , 1.8 , , .3 , , 14.2
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2019–20
, style="text-align:left;",
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
, 30 , , 29 , , 35.7 , , .388 , , .357 , , .824 , , 3.4 , , 4.6 , , 2.9 , , .2 , , 18.8
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2020–21
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
, style="text-align:left;",
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
, 23 , , 22 , , 33.2 , , .337 , , .235 , , .799 , , 4.5 , , 4.5 , , 1.9 , , .1 , , 14.7
, - class="sortbottom"
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career
, 119 , , 83 , , 29.7 , , .356 , , .281 , , .790 , , 2.9 , , 3.5 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , 13.4
Personal life
Russell's older brother
DeWayne played college basketball for
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
before playing professionally overseas.
References
External links
Maryland Terrapins bioRhode Island Rams bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Fatts
1998 births
Living people
American men's basketball players
Basketball players from Philadelphia
Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) players
KK Mornar Bar players
Maryland Terrapins men's basketball players
Point guards
Rhode Island Rams men's basketball players