The Pioneer (An excerpt from the book “The True Stories of Canadian Basketball”)
Ro Russell is struggling to get on the court. As a teenager playing with grown men, nobody wants him on their team. He stands on the sidelines, practicing his jump shot just in case a moment arises. Suddenly, an injury. Russell is thrust into action.
He doesn’t disappoint. Playing point guard, Russell uses his playmaking skills to run the show. He leads his team to victory, impressing all the players at the packed downtown Toronto gym that day. They mutually agree to take him under their wing, on one condition.
He pays it forward.
Back in the 1980’s, basketball in Canada was in dire need of a pioneer. Sure, the country had some players who found their way to the NBA, and the Senior National Olympic team had some strong performances, but these instances were few in number. More importantly, the opportunities for kids, especially from low-income families, were minimal. There simply was no way to advance in basketball as a Canadian without a giant strike of luck.
Russell experienced this issue firsthand. Growing up in Toronto with a love for basketball, opportunities simply didn’t exist for him. He was a starter at Runnymede Collegiate Institute in Etobicoke, where he was considered one of the lucky ones. Under legendary head coach John Petrushchak, Runnymede would attend the occasional U.S tournament, a rarity amongst Canadian high schools. It was there when Russell realized that basketball could be much more than what he experienced back home. He knew that the talent existed, and with more structure, Canadian hoopers could have the exact same opportunities that their neighbours to the south did.
The only issue was he had to start from ground zero. In fact, even the most basic facilities were a pain to secure.
“There was no such thing as an inside court. There was no indoor basketball and that was what it was supposed to be for, right?” said Russell, “The lines are there for the basketball court, the key and everything, they were playing soccer on that same court.”
Searching for places to help mentor the best young talent in the Greater Toronto Area, Russell eventually found a resource. Universities and colleges such as George Brown and York would often have gyms available for rent. However, a young Russell didn’t have the two pieces needed to secure courts; connections and funds. Russell believes he could have made a much larger impact early on, had the external assistance have existed.
“There was no corporate support at all,” said Russell, “They didn’t believe that basketball was a thing.”
Belief was a big word holding Russell’s aspirations as a coach and mentor back. All across the U.S., massive sports apparel companies like Nike and Reebok would sponsor youth organizations to help fund the development of basketball from the grassroots level. They never searched in Canada though, and few Canadian-based companies were willing to take the risk on a sport that hadn’t yet gotten going at the same rate as it did in America.
“Grind to shine, pay your dues, earn your keep, no entitlement, you gotta prove yourself, all those different monikers were front and present back then, because that’s what I had to do.”
This period of time was certainly difficult for Russell. To see the opportunities that existed just kilometres away across the border, yet none of them popping up in his own hometown was heartbreaking. However, instead of giving up on his goals, Russell pushed through the adversity he was facing, and motivated himself to persevere.
“Grind to shine, pay your dues, earn your keep, no entitlement, you gotta prove yourself, all those different monikers were front and present back then, because that’s what I had to do,” said Russell, “You knew you weren’t going to get it like that. You have to go earn it. You have to go figure it out and to fight for it. So it made me really appreciate it and work that much harder.”
Sometimes, it takes a specific moment for one to truly realize the opportunity they possess. For Russell, this moment came during a trip to Buffalo, New York.
The concept of bringing a group of kids to the U.S from Canada was still relatively unheard of, but Russell’s experience with coach Petrushchak at Runnymede showed him that it could be done. He knew he could put together a solid group of players, and given the chance, they could make some noise. He just didn’t know anyone that would take a team of Canadians at their showcase.
Russell called every American school within a few hours of a U.S border in Ontario. Finally, he got in touch with the University of Buffalo, who allowed his team to come to their scouting camp. Ecstatic about the opportunity, Russell rented a minivan and stuffed as many kids as he could fit with him. Stocked up with business cards and the best young hoopers the Greater Toronto Area offered, the team made their way down to Buffalo.
What happened at that camp was monumental, and unknowingly sparked a major change for the trajectory of youth basketball in not only Toronto, but all across the country.
“From the camp, all the kids got an offer. Wow. You know what I mean? And then the coaches were like, what, Canadian players? Oh man. Yeah. I want that kid,” said Russell, “And then that kind of started it from there.”
If Ro Russell didn’t fully believe in the caliber of players he was coaching, or his ability to guide them forward before the Buffalo trip, he certainly did afterwards. If anything, that experience allowed Russell to think bigger. How could he help even more kids searching for an opportunity in basketball?
Just like that, Ro’s Runs were born.
Around this time, David Peterson, the Premier of Ontario, and first Liberal leader in power in over 40 years, developed something that Russell had been asking for years before. He created a program to keep kids busy, by allowing free permits at high school gyms during after-school hours. Suddenly able to secure affordable gym space, Russell took advantage of this program, and strategically acquired permits for courts across the city.
“I had like 15 gyms all along the subway lines, so kids could get there easily,” said Russell, “All these gyms, Humberside Collegiate, Western Tech, Ursula Franklin, Bloor Collegiate, Central Tech, Eastern Commerce, Danforth Tech, all of these schools that were down Bloor and easy to get to.”
Every weekday evening, Russell could be found at one of those gyms, organizing scrimmage sessions for whoever wanted to come out and play. It started small, with only a few guys he recruited around the city knowing about the initiative. However, as time passed, legend about the coach that got his whole team basketball scholarships in the U.S made its way across Ontario. Soon, everyone wanting to make a name for themselves in basketball knew about Ro Russell and Ro’s Runs.
“Every day at a different gym, I told one guy and the word of mouth spread like wildfire,” said Russell, “And before you know, there’s 60 guys from all over Ontario coming to the runs from Hamilton to Peterborough, to Barrie, somehow finding out about it.”
Originally, Ro’s Runs were just a place for kids with a love of basketball to compete and get better. After a while, it turned into something much more.
The mumblings of these open gyms filled with the best talent in the area spread beyond the athletes themselves. Soon, the very people that Russell wanted to get attention from were at his runs. College coaches started coming by the dozen to watch the elite talent that Russell attracted.
This was not a typical thing for Division 1 college coaches to do back then. They very rarely travelled across the border to scout Canadians on their own home soil. Mainly, this was due to the fact that in high school games, the elite talent was spread across many schools, and cities. It made no sense for these coaches to come all the way to Canada to watch just one player. Sometimes, the only way a Canadian would get recognized by coaches was to send a VHS tape of their highlights over to the U.S.
By having all of those players in one place, Ro’s Runs made it easy for coaches to get the best talent that the Greater Toronto Area possessed. Suddenly, the path to a Division 1 scholarship was exponentially easier, and it changed players’ attitudes towards basketball altogether.
“Guys were like, what, are you serious? I could go to Ro’s Runs and I could get a scholarship opportunity right there.” said Russell, “And if guys didn’t, it would still be beneficial because you could either get a scholarship right off those runs, or you get recruited, and the coach likes you.”
One of those guys at the runs was 6-foot-3 guard Kern Carter. Playing at Father Henry Carr Secondary School in Toronto, Carter was always one of the best players in the city. However, after a multitude of injuries, he fell off the recruiting map.
Just like so many others, he heard about Ro’s Runs through a friend. It took some time for Carter, but after a while he started to shine. After getting noticed by college coaches, he earned a full-ride scholarship to St. Bonaventure University in upstate New York. While Carter’s skill is undoubtedly what got him the scholarship, it was all of the talent at the runs that helped him get there.
“Everybody who was playing with Ro, they were the best basketball players in Toronto,” said Carter, “You had no choice but to get better.”
Carter was one of many players in the 1990’s and early 2000’s that used Ro’s Runs as a springboard for a Division 1 scholarship. That value cannot be undersold. With tuition upwards of $40,000 U.S dollars per year, there was simply no way that many of the players’ families could afford it. Suddenly, Russell wasn’t just providing a place to play basketball, he was setting up athletes for their futures.
“The biggest thing was scholarships. All the single parent families, they can’t afford to go to university, so they wanted to be a part of that,” said Russell, “Then whatever kids did get scholarships, it’d be in the Toronto Sun, the Toronto Star or whatever. And then people were like, wow, you can actually get a scholarship. Okay, I’m going to go for that.”
“It got me my education for free. It took me out of Toronto. It made me ambitious and made me be able to dream about things…basketball legitimately just changed my life.”
When Russell started his quest to provide chances for kids to follow their dreams of playing basketball, it came from an internal struggle of his own to do the same. He simply wanted to give players a chance to play that game that he loved so dearly. Then, somewhere along the way, he became more than just a basketball coach. Providing these scholarships went beyond the game with a round, orange ball. For Carter, it quite literally changed everything.
“It got me my education for free. It took me out of Toronto. It made me ambitious and made me be able to dream about things. You know, living in Toronto, you can get stuck in your neighbourhood. A lot of people get that with where they live in their environment,” said Carter, “So basketball legitimately just changed my life.”
In the eyes of so many young basketball players and their families, Russell was a role model. An inspiration and guide for dreamers to follow their passion as far as it could take them. To some, he wasn’t viewed in the same light. Unfortunately, throughout Russell’s journey in basketball, the game that he loved so much showed its ugly underbelly.
“There was a lot of systemic racism in Canada,” said Russell, “And because I was a vocal person towards that at the time, I was kind of ostracized, cussed out, told to shut up. To let the old men, the old boys club, you know, keep running your show.”
The systemic issues in Canada came from a multitude of directions. Russell declines to get into much detail about the specifics, but highlights that it was there nonetheless. What mattered to him was that he could continue to provide opportunities for others. He wouldn’t share the discrimination he felt with his players.
“I didn’t even know that that was the case. Ro kept us very separate from any external dealings,” said Carter, “Ro just made us focus on basketball. He always had a gym and we just showed up and played.”
Despite Russell’s best efforts to allow his players to focus on the game, they too felt the effects of systemic racism.
Changes to high school courses often discriminated against Black students who were put into college-level streams that didn’t qualify them for Division 1 scholarships, unbeknownst to them. Often, guidance counsellors would arbitrarily oblige, directing those students to the workforce, rather than post-secondary education.
With all of these issues stacked up, Russell knew he had to work even harder to provide what he had set out to do.
“It was very impactful, more so for Black kids, the ones that were more impacted at inner city schools,” said Russell, “It came a time where I really had to, you know, roll up my sleeves and really think hard of how to give kids opportunities.”
Ro’s Runs ended in 2002, over 12 years after it had begun. Ironically, it ended the exact same way it started, by the government. The Premier at the time, Mike Harris — the first Conservative leader since the 1980’s, took away the free high school gym permit program that Russell had been using to book the courts. Unable to pay for the gyms by himself, and refusing to make the kids and their families pay, Ro’s Runs officially shut down. Reflecting on the now defunct program, Russell understands the value it provided to so many.
“When the Peterson government was in power, they saw the benefit and a solution to curb gun violence and crime, or just keeping kids busy and in positive constructive environments to help the economy, the society, and everything,” said Russell, “Then, when Mike Harris came into power and they started charging, once that happened, we stopped doing it, because the kids couldn’t afford it.”
Today, almost 20 years removed from Ro’s Runs, Russell is still doing what he set out to do from the very start; providing kids opportunities in basketball. He is currently the head men’s coach at Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto, as well as the founder of Grassroots Canada. He has graduated hundreds of kids, mostly from the Greater Toronto Area, to Division 1, Division 2, Junior College, Canadian USports, and even the NBA.
Russell first began his journey way back in the 1980’s. He used to beg companies to partner with his youth teams and help fund them. Since then, he partnered with Basketball Hall of Fame member and influential Nike executive George Raveling in the early 2000's, and his teams are currently sponsored by Adidas.
Now, hundreds of coaches across the nation seek to provide Canadian kids the same opportunities he’d been seeking out for years. Once a lone ranger, Russell now sits at the top of a long list of influential figures in the youth basketball landscape in Canada.
“I can’t even imagine how many kids’ lives wouldn’t have been the same (without Russell)…He’s an icon for sure, because he pioneered everything that’s happening right now.”
Ask any player that Russell has coached, and they’ll tell you a story about how he’s assisted them in some way. Whether it’s driving them in his big van to a showcase in the U.S., paying for entry to a camp they couldn’t afford, or even just giving them the confidence they needed to perform at the highest level. Without any of the media coverage, star power, or financial benefits of today, Russell still found a way to make it work.
“I can’t even imagine how many kids’ lives wouldn’t have been the same (without Russell). I think people forget how influential he was,” said Carter, “He’s an icon for sure, because he pioneered everything that’s happening right now.”
It would be an understatement to call Ro Russell a pioneer of today’s current landscape in Canadian youth basketball. Something that perhaps not even he expected back when that landscape was entirely non-existent, and Russell was just starting on his journey.
A journey that began with a successful trip to Buffalo, which led to the iconic Ro’s Runs, has helped hundreds of kids gain opportunities in basketball, and education, that they may have never received otherwise. For Russell, that is certainly an overwhelming fact to reflect upon.
“I felt that it was totally needed, right? So it was great when you get the thanks of appreciation from the parents and kids,” said Russell, “It felt really good that I was able to be blessed by God to provide a platform for these guys to get seen.”
