Russell Ellington (February 4, 1938 – September 1, 2007) was 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 ...

coach. He served as the head basketball coach at Savannah State College—now known as

Savannah State University ) , established = , closed = , type = Public historically black university , parent = University System of Georgia , academic_affiliation = Space-grant , endowment ...

—from 1976 to 1984 and

Morris Brown College Morris Brown College (MBC) is a private Methodist historically black liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded January 5, 1881, Morris Brown is the first educational institution in Georgia to be owned and operated entirely by African Ame ...

from 1997 to 2000, compiling a career

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coaching record of 181–141. He also coached the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...

for nine years. His titles as a coach include: four state high school basketball championships; three

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Formed in 1913, it consists mostly of historically black co ...

(SIAA) titles; two Region XVII Junior College championships, and one NJCCA District 10 championship.

Biography

Early life

Ellington grew up in

Wadley, Georgia Wadley is a city in Jefferson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,061 at the 2010 census. History The community was named for William Morill Wadley, a railroad official. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Wadley as a town ...

. He began working in cotton fields at age five to help his family, which included eight brothers and sisters. He left home for good by the age of 12, hitching a ride on a freight train to

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

where his sister lived.

Education

Russell graduated from

Alfred E. Beach High School Alfred Ely Beach High School, known as Beach High School, is a public high school in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Beach Institute In 1867, the Beach Institute was established by the American Missionary Association (A.M.A.) and the Freedme ...

in 1956. He was an academic All-American in football and in basketball at

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

graduating with a bachelor's degree in biology, with a minor in chemistry, in 1960. He did further studies at University of Georgia and Georgia Southern University.

Playing career

Basketball

Ellington was a standout player for Beach High School and Morris Brown college.

Professional football

Ellington played professional football for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

for two years before his career was interrupted because of injuries.

Coaching career

Beach High School (1962–1976)

Ellington was the Beach High School, boys' basketball coach for 15 years, winning 482 of 529 games he coached (91%). His teams won five state championships including the Georgia High School Association Class AAA State Championships during the first season following integration of the Georgia High School Association, 1966–67, the first season black players were allowed to compete. That 1967 team earned the ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' magazine national championship.

Savannah State (1976–1984)

As Savannah State College;'s men's had basketball coach Ellington compiled a 148–91 record (.619 winning percentage). During that time he also was the school's athletics director and a mathematics teacher, overseeing the school's transition from NCAA Division III to Division II in 1981. He currently holds the record for most wins by a men's basketball coach in Savannah State's history, producing winning records in the final eight of his nine seasons and winning three

regular season and tournament title during his tenure.

Harlem Globetrotters (1984–1993)

Ellington toured with the Globetrotters as head coach from 1984 to 1993, traveling to 122 countries with the team.

Savannah Tech (1993–1997)

Ellington returned to Savannah in 1993 to serve as the first men's head basketball coach and athletic director at Savannah Technical School (College). The team eventually made an appearance in the National Junior College playoffs in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

Morris Brown (1997–2000)

Ellington returned as the men's head basketball coach and athletic director at his alma mater,

, in 1997.

Beach High School (2005–2007)

Ellington returned to coaching in 2005 taking the Bulldogs to the Georgia state quarter-finals with a 28–3 record

Honors and awards

He is a member of the Morris Brown College Hall of Fame (1978). In 1980, he was inducted into the Greater Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame. He also is a member of the Beach High School Hall of Fame (1987) and the

Hall of Fame (1997). Ellington was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame on May 19, 2007.

Quotes

''"There are three parts of faith: One is knowledge, another is belief in yourself and the third is to just put it into action."''

Personal life

Ellington was married to Betty W. Ellington for 30 years; they had six children. He was a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

fraternity, the Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum Board of Directors, the Board of Directors for the West Broad Street YMCA (Savannah, Georgia), the Georgia High School Sports Association, and the South Eastern Quarter Back Club. Ellington died on September 1, 2007 from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

complications at St. Joseph's Hospital in

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

, aged 69.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellington, Russell 1938 births 2007 deaths American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Georgia (U.S. state) Basketball players from Savannah, Georgia Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state) Deaths from lung cancer Harlem Globetrotters coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States Junior college men's basketball coaches in the United States Morris Brown Wolverines athletic directors Morris Brown Wolverines football players Morris Brown Wolverines men's basketball coaches Morris Brown Wolverines men's basketball players New York Giants players People from Wadley, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Savannah State Tigers basketball coaches American men's basketball players