The Syracuse Orange have announced that five-star football commit Calvin Russell III has officially joined the men’s basketball program. The standout wide receiver, who was Syracuse football’s highest rated recruit in 25 years, has enrolled at the school for the spring semester. He is expected to start practice with the basketball program and is immediately available for games, according to a press release from Syracuse Athletics.
Russell won the Greater Miami Athletic Conference Championship with Miami Northwestern High School last year. He averaged double-digit points per game in each of his high school seasons. Russell averaged 15.2 points last season, his junior year, 21 points his sophomore year, and 18.8 points his freshman year. He also averaged at least six rebounds per game in each season of high school basketball, with a career-high of eight rebounds per game in his final season.
Syracuse’s press release officially lists Russell as 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds. According to the Orange’s roster page online, those measurements are the same as Nate Kingz. Russell’s position is listed also as a “swingman” according to the official press release.
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Most Orange fans probably recognize Russell’s name because of his potential impact on the Syracuse football program. He was Syracuse’s first five-star football recruit to commit to the university from high school since Cecil Howard did in the Class of 2021. Russell is a two-time state champion and All-Dade County Player of the Year on the gridiron with Miami Northwestern. He was notably coached by NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in his junior season.
Russell comes from an athletic background. His mother, Chanivia Broussard, was inducted into the Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. She played basketball for four years at Miami (FL), where she scored 1,482 points. Broussard is third on the Hurricanes’ all-time blocks list with 132.
Russell joins an Orange basketball program who have won its last two games. Syracuse takes on Florida State next at home on Tuesday, January 13 at 9:00 p.m. One would assume that Russell would join Fran Brown and the Syracuse football program for spring practice at the conclusion of the men’s basketball season.
