Charlie Russell Jr. Signs With Tulane

On Monday, Charlie Russell Jr. made it official & signed his national letter of intent to Tulane University. ​

New Tulane head coach Ron Hunter capitalized on Russell after missing out on Dunham’s Jordan Wright who opted to sign with Vanderbilt. This is Hunter’s third signee for this 2019 class & the first from Louisiana. 

The 6-6 wing averaged 17.2 ppg & 11.1 rpg this past season to go with leading his team to a 32-4 record and a state semifinal appearance.  “Tulane really attracted me because of the basketball program & it’s an amazing academic school,” Russell Jr. said. “One of the main things I liked was how the whole coaching staff go out their way to make sure you’ll succeed on & off the court.” 

Russell Jr. is aware of the struggles that the basketball program had last season only winning four games, but he feels optimistic that head coach Ron Hunter & assistant coach Kevin Johnson will get things turned around quickly. “Coach Hunter & coach K.J are great dudes,” Russell Jr. said. “The plan that they have in place will get things turned around & I feel we will win a lot of games.” 

Recruiting can be brutal in some cases & Russell Jr. learned some valuable lessons throughout this process. He had offers from Lamar, Coastal Carolina, University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of California Santa Barbara, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, & McNeese St. Schools shied away late in the process which led to Russell possibly considering going to a prep school. But when Ron Hunter got hired & added assistant coach Kevin Johnson to his staff who was very familiar with Russell Jr, they quickly made a move on the unsigned senior. 

“Lessons I learned is that don’t focus on schools that just like you, go to a school that needs you apart of their program,” Russell Jr. said.