The Independent – Dec. 21, 2017
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — After a practice last week, Fatts Russell sat in the Ryan Center stands and talked about the time since he took Rhode Island basketball – and beyond – by storm.
Senior Jared Terrell was a few seats down, eating lunch and listening in. On the other side, senior E.C. Matthews tried to make eye contact and force Russell into a laugh or a cracked smile, standard procedure for the Rams any time a camera is on or a notebook is out.
It was business as usual, but symbolic, too.
Rhode Island’s newest young star is part of an old team that embraces him.
“It’s been crazy,” Russell said of life since his coming-out party against Providence. “A lot of people have been texting me, telling me how good I’m doing. But these guys keep me level-headed – E.C., Jared, all the guys. They just tell me that we’re not done. That Providence game was fun but we have a lot more to accomplish.”
As he powered URI’s first-half comeback against the Friars – capping it with a dunk and a highlight-reel scoop – Russell gained a lot of fans, but he already had quite a few in his own locker room. A precocious, high-scoring freshman joining a veteran team could make for a tricky situation. But a kid with a wide smile, a humble attitude and a bottomless reservoir of confidence? Who goes by the name Fatts?
Let the Rams tell you how it’s going.
“Fatts is always the big man on campus,” senior Andre Berry said. “Smallest guy, but he has the biggest heart.”
“Fatts is always in attack mode,” Terrell said with a smile.
“Every time he steps on the court, he knows he’s the best player on the court,” senior Stanford Robinson said. “I hope he just keeps thinking that, because he’s playing real well and he’s got a lot of big things coming.”
“We just let him be Fatts,” coach Dan Hurley said. “The legend is beginning.”
Hurley first got a glimpse of the growing legend at a showcase event in Brooklyn. The Philadelphia point guard wowed him, on the court and off.
“I just walked away from it saying to [associate head coach David Cox], ‘We’ve got to find a way to get this guy,’” Hurley said.
His game was one thing – frenetic, fast, fearless. Beyond the deep 3-pointers and the whirling drives to the basket, there were already the ingredients for star power, too, the kind that can make fans swoon and lift a team to big things.
“He’s got a lot of charisma. He’s a talented kid. He’s a humble kid. He’s got a great smile. He’s got a charismatic personality, and he’s a guy who kind of lights up rooms,” Hurley said. “The first thing that probably drew us to him, besides his game, was that he’s got a little bit of a magnetic personality.”
The name lends a little extra flair. When media relations coordinator Shane Donaldson met him in the off-season, he asked Russell what he wanted to go by.
“He kind of had a sheepish smile and said, ‘Can I go by Fatts?’” Donaldson said. “He felt like he had to ask permission, but I thought it was perfect. His name is just like everything he does. His personality is so relaxed – everything’s fun and he’s not fazed by anything.”
His high school coach at Imhotep Charter in Philadelphia, Andre Noble, touted that personality long before Russell got to campus.
“Sports people know him as a basketball player. But in our building, our teachers love him, our principal loves him,” Noble told the Independent when Russell committed last year.
That list is growing now. Russell plays with a confidence that’s hard not to love, even for Hurley.
“Coach probably doesn’t like it, but if I make one shot, I think the next 10 are going in,” Russell said.
“It’s a fine line between being offensively aggressive and hunting offense. He’s definitely on that fence and this is a year where we need him to be a little more selective because he’s surrounded by really strong guys,” Hurley said. “But once these guys move on, that line will be erased and he’ll be turned loose fully. I have a lot of confidence in that kid.”
Russell’s own confidence has long been hard-wired. He was a chubby baby – hence the nickname – but never again the big kid. When he picked up a basketball at an early age, he was always looking up.
“I’m not the biggest guy, so I have to have something different from everybody else,” Russell said. “I carry a chip on my shoulder and I play with confidence.”
The courts of Philadelphia drew it out further. Russell grew up in the city before his family moved briefly to Arizona and then returned. His game is all Philly.
“You have to be confident coming out of Philly,” he said.
He also had a blueprint for how to succeed as an undersized guard. His older brother, DeWayne Russell, starred at Grand Canyon University and is now playing professionally overseas. Last year, while Fatts was leading Imhotep to a big season that culminated with a state title, DeWayne was averaging 21.2 points per game. He put up 42 on Louisville.
DeWayne shared advice as Fatts began his college career, telling him to be patient and persevere through the inevitable ups and downs. After watching the Holy Cross game, he had a little more.
“He told me after the Holy Cross game, where I didn’t play great, that I needed to get in the gym,” Russell said. “I needed that because I was kind of getting complacent and wasn’t working as hard as I needed to. After that, coming from him, I really listened to it.”
Russell came back with eight points in his next game. Soon after came the 20-point performance against Brown, which turned out to be just an appetizer to the real breakout against Providence.
Since then, Russell has scored 12 points against Alabama and four against College of Charleston. On a team with plenty of weapons, off nights are not a problem.
If his next shot goes in, 10 more might follow.
But the Rams’ budding star knows he doesn’t need to hit 10 shots every night – and the team that has embraced him loves him for that, too.
“I’m just trying to be more of a playmaker, be a really good defensive stopper,” Russell said. “I know that if I can help my team in any way, we’re going to go far, so that’s just my focus.”