City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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It seemed like Daron Russell couldn’t wait to get his 1000th point over with and behind him.

That’s the only way to judge what Imhotep’s junior guard did in the first quarter of a Public League game against Martin Luther King on Tuesday afternoon.

The Division I recruit was unstoppable from the get-go, and the rest of the Panthers were right there with him in what became a 75-40 stomping of the Cougars.

After King’s Nasir Bell opened the game with a triple, Russell and Imhotep (15-2, 8-0 Public League A) scored 18 of the next 20 points, going on a 15-0 run that made it 18-3 not five minutes into the game. The 5-foot-10 guard hit six of his seven shots in the opening frame, surpassing the 1000-point mark on a 3-pointer from the left wing with 1:28 left in the period.

“It’s definitely out of my mind now, I’m glad I got it over with,” said Russell, who holds offers from Temple, La Salle, East Carolina, Grand Canyon and several others. “The bigger goal is to win the state championship and win a Public League championship.”

After the first quarter, the game was paused while Russell's teammates presented him with a plaque, which he then shared with his mother, Teri Sutton, and his stepfather, Imhotep assistant coach Tahar Sutton.

“I’m happy for him, it’s what he wants and it’s still a lot of things he wants to accomplish," Tahar said. "I’m proud of the fact that he’s reaching some of his goals, I think he has a lot of room to grow and I just hope he keeps pushing, doesn’t get complacent."

Imhotep, who's been running away with the Public League's top division this year, didn't let up despite the milestone's passing, holding King without a field goal in the second quarter to lead 48-16 at half, and it was 67-29 after three quarters.

Russell, who didn’t play in the fourth, finished with 28 points on 10-of-11 shooting, including 6-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc. And to show that he’s more than just a scorer, he added five assists and three steals for good measure.

“The best part is the passer he’s become and how he’s just doing a great job of getting his teammates involved, getting them easier plays and turning down some shots to get them some shots,” Imhotep head coach Andre Noble said. “That’s the biggest growth I’ve seen in his game.”

Sophomore guard Bernard Lightsey added 12 points and junior Jaekwon Carlyle had 10 for a Panthers squad that put together an impressive all-around performance.

As a team, Imhotep was 27-of-47 (57.4 percent) from the field, including 9-of-15 (60.0 percent) from 3-point territory, forcing 17 King turnovers while holding the Cougars to 10-of-44 (22.7 percent) overall.

"I thought they were going to come out with more energy and attack us more," Russell said, "but we were the aggressor, and that was really important for us.”

La Salle head coach John Giannini, whose campus is just five minutes from Imhotep, was on hand to watch the game, and was the first person Russell spoke with after it was all over.

“He was telling me what was my best plays he thought I had,” Russell said. “I really like Coach G, I’m always having great conversations with him.”

Though his focus is as much as possible on the upcoming Public League and state playoffs, there’s one more milestone coming up on the near horizon.

The school’s all-time leading scorer, Brandon Austin, finished his career two years ago with 1,141 points.

With Russell dropping 20 points with regularity, there’s a good chance he’ll get the record as long as the Panthers win a few games in both the Pub and state brackets.

“Me and (Brandon) talked about it. He told me he wants me to get it,” Russell said, then added with a laugh “but I don’t know if I believe that.”