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Daron Russell pledges to Rhode Island

09/20/2016, 6:15pm EDT
By Will Slover

Daron Russell (above) made his commitment to Rhode Island on Tuesday night at Imhotep Charter. (Photo: Will Slover/CoBL)

Will Slover (@WillSlover31)
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The reigning Most Valuable Player of the Philadelphia Public League Division A is now off the market.

Imhotep Charter senior point guard, Daron Russell, committed to continue his basketball career at Rhode Island on Tuesday night at a ceremony at the school.

Russell’s highly anticipated commitment comes just weeks after his Imhotep teammate, Koby Thomas, pledged to Robert Morris.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Russell. “I’m happy Rhode Island was my decision, I have a great relationship with Dan Hurley. I’m just happy.”
After announcing his final six schools less than a month ago, Russell used the past few weeks to make sure he would be spending his next four years at a place that was perfect for him. Rhode Island won the sweepstakes over a pool of schools that included Seton Hall, La Salle and Grand Canyon, among others.

Russell’s decision, ironically, was made while he was on his official visit at another school.

“In the middle of my GCU visit. I talked to my brother and I talked to my family and I was like, ‘I don’t want to be anywhere else but Rhode Island.’”

The decision to attend Rhode Island was not the easiest for Russell, who was also considering Grand Canyon, where his brother will be a senior this year.

“It was kind of tough because I know he wants me out there with him but he was with me 100 percent of the way, whatever decision I make I’ll be there,” said Russell.

Although he officially made up his mind just a couple of days prior, Russell has had a feeling about Rhode Island since The 8, which is an AAU tournament hosted by Chris Paul in Las Vegas from July 20-23.

“I started feeling that right after Vegas because I saw them at every game,” said the 5-foot 10-inch floor general. “Coach Hurley on the sidelines helping me up when I’m down and I mean, I just knew it was the right spot for me after that moment.”

Although Russell excels on the basketball court, what he means to his coaches and family is so much more.

“Besides what he’s done on the court, he’s a better young person,” said Imhotep Charter head coach Andre Noble. “As a gentleman, as a student and as a young man. I told our school leader and our principle how great of a day it is today because we’re not just celebrating a basketball player, we’re celebrating someone that’s a tremendous young man.”

In a high school career and AAU career that has already seen him amass 1,000 points, average 21.4 ppg at Nike EYBL Peach Jam, become Imhotep’s all time leading scorer, win a league MVP award and so much more, the hungry Russell knows that much more lies ahead.

“The whole family, the Imhotep family, we’ve got things we have to achieve, this is just one stepping stone,” said Imhotep Charter assistant coach Tahar Sutton, who is also Russell’s step-father. “He knows that to make this moment sweeter, we need to be standing in the Liacouras Center or at St. Joe’s with a public league championship and a couple more weeks down the line we’ll be standing in Hershey with another championship. This is great and I’m extremely proud of him, but he knows that in order to make it even more special for him, it has to be that. So this isn’t the end of the road.”

The end of the road might not be here for Russell, but for the other programs that were in pursuit of the highly coveted recruit, it surely is.

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