ESPN Player Evaluations
- Jan 11, 2012
- Top junior Mercedes Russell eyeing visits for February and March.
- Mercedes Russell of Springfield, Ore., isn't waiting until her high-school season ends to resume her recruiting process. The 6-foot-5 junior post, who ESPN HoopGurlz ranks No. 1 in the 2013 class, is visiting Louisville on Feb. 20, according to her mother, Tammy Hill.
Russell's unofficial visit will include the Cardinals' game against Notre Dame at the KFC YUM! Center. She will also have a familiar person, and fellow junior, with her on the visit, Stephanie Mavunga, a teammate on the USA Basketball U16 national team last summer.
Mavunga, a 6-2 forward from Brownsburg, Ind., is ranked 15th in the ESPNU HoopGurlz Super 60.
Russell also has tentative plans to visit Duke and North Carolina in March. Dates have not been confirmed as she is trying to coordinate the visit with her spring break schedule. Chapel Hill, N.C., hosts a pod of first and second round games March 18 and 20, while Raleigh, N.C., hosts the regional final March 25 and 27.
Russell has previously made unofficial visits to Kentucky, Louisville, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington.
- Oct 6, 2011
- Top junior, Mercedes Russell, has some visitors this week, and planned two upcoming unofficials
- Mercedes Russell of Springfield, Ore., has set up two unofficial visits over the next month, according to her mother, Tammy Hill. The No. 1 ranked prospect in the ESPNU HoopGurlz Super 60, will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., on Oct. 13, to visit coach Pat Summitt and the Lady Vols; and to Seattle, Wash., on November 5, for a visit with coach Kevin McGuff and the University of Washington.
Russell, the 6-foot-5 post player who earned a FIBA Americas gold medal this summer with the USA Basketball U16 national team, will sit in on classes at Tennessee as a guest of a current player and attend the Volunteers home football game against LSU. Her trip to Washington will include the Huskies home football game against Oregon.
On top of her planned unofficial visits, Russell also has some visitors dropping in on her at Springfield High School. Connecticut associate head coach Chris Daley is visiting the 5-star prospect's school Oct. 6, while Louisville head coach Jeff Walz and assistant coach Stepanie Norman will be at her school Oct. 7.
- Jul 6, 2011
- Mercedes Russell sparkles in clash of West Coast powers
- OREGON CITY, Ore. -- The food there didn't really agree with her, but Mexico was very good for Mercedes Russell's game.
That much was obvious from the start of Team Concept's 82-65 romp over the Arizona Warriors in an End of the Trail exhibition matchup of two of the West Coast's best teams.
The game was barely minutes old when Russell, ranked No. 4 by ESPN HoopGurlz in the 2013 class, blocked a shot by Courtnee Walton, No. 41 in the 2012 class. The 6-foot-5 post from Springfield, Ore., then scooped up the loose ball and fed teammate Jordan Reynolds for a layup.
Russell, who helped USA claim gold at the FIBA U16 Americas championship in Mérida, Mexico, had 17 points, numerous blocked shots and huge overall impact. Her performance offset a game-high 30 points by the Warriors' Shilpa Tummala.
"Every game, I got better," Russell said of her five-game stint with the national team. "Now I'm playing with a lot of confidence. I know I'm one of the better players in the country and need to keep playing that way."
One of the best club eams to come out of Oregon, Team Concept led 42-36 after a rock-em, sock-em first half during which the Warriors took control several times. But the Portland-area team spurted in the second half and, with Russell locking down the paint, tightened considerably on defense.
This all may have started in Mexico, where Russell says there was only one real downside to her FIBA experience.
"I hated the food," she said.
- Jun 13, 2011
- Record-setting Mercedes Russell leads USA
- Mercedes Russell of Springfield, Ore. had a game-high 21 points and set four USA U16 records as the U.S. beat Brazil 71-54 Monday in the FIBA America's Championship in Mérida, Mexico.
The 6-foot-4 post, just ranked No. 4 in the 2013 class by ESPN HoopGurlz, set single-game team records for rebounds (15), blocks (five), free throws (seven) and free throws atempted (nine) as the U.S. set a team mark with 58 rebounds and tied another with 11 blocks.
After trailing by three points, 34-31, the USA outscored Brazil 21-8 in the third period to take a 10-point lead and control of the game.
"I felt like we were gambling too much defensively in the first half and just very careless defensively," USA head coach Jill Rankin Schneider (Monterey H.S., Lubbock, Texas) said in a release. "Brazil was very quick, and in the second half we contained them better and we controlled the boards. Of course, they cooled off a little bit. They were hitting some tough shots in the first half. I'm proud of our young ladies. They were able to step it up defensively and get on the glass the way we needed them to, and they played very well in the second half."
Eleven of 12 players scored for the USA, including Rebecca Greenwell of Owensboro, Ky., with eight points and six rebounds, Stephanie Mavunga of Indianapolis, Ind.) with eight points, Kaela Davis of Suwanee, Ga.. with six points and six rebounds and Linnae Harper of Chicago, Ill., with six points, four assists and three steals.