D’Angelo Russell’s college basketball premiere was in an empty gym at West Virginia.Russell didn’t know it then, but he was going up against a full-court pressing defense that is now forcing turnovers at a higher rate than any defense in years. Before tip-off in the secret preseason scrimmage, Russell’s old high school teammate and starting center for West Virginia, Devin Williams, approached the freshman guard and delivered a message.We’re coming after you.
Russell was about to deliver his own message.
You can’t stop me.
“Oh my god,” Russell says months later. “That was a welcome to college experience. I felt like I got beat up every possession.”
Only it was the Mountaineers who suffered.
Russell carved up their pressure. The 6’5″ guard dribbled through double teams, nailed threes and delivered pinpoint passes to his teammates. He dropped 33 points, had four assists and four steals, and the Buckeyes won.
“He never got sped up,” Ohio State assistant coach Jeff Boals told Bleacher Report. “From that point on, you knew he was going to be able to handle pressure. To see the poise he had as a freshman playing against his first Division I opponent was pretty impressive.”
It was just a preview of what was to come. Russell was already a known commodity—sort of.
He was a McDonald’s All-American. After his freshman year of high school in his hometown of Louisville, his family sent him off to a high school basketball powerhouse, Montverde Academy in Florida, where he won…
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