Profile: lan Russell
By Mike Grossman
It is 12:30 on a Thursday
night . lan Russell is asleep
in his room in English dor
mitory when he is awaken
ed by sounds cqming from
outside the door.
He gets up to hear a few
laughing female voices
and opens the door to a
cardboard sign reading
"Mr Shotblocker: lan
Russell, 40. Good luck
against Elon."
Apparently, these
female fans were inspired
to pay their respects by an
article in the Greensboro
News and Record on lan
being one of the leading
college shotblockers in the
nation.
While this six-foot,
seven-inch center says he
does not mind this kind of
fun attention from his
peers once in a while, he
says he does not like the
attention he sometimes
gets from the press and
other media.
"I don't like too much at
tention unless it's team
oriented," he says.
As a senior at Saint
Peter's High School in
New Brunswick, New
Jersey, lan says he got a
lot of coverage from the
press.
He averaged 11 points,
11 rebounds, and 7 blocks
per game and was named
to an All-State team that
included Notre Dame stan
dout guard David Rivers
and Kevin Walls, a
member of the 1986 na
tional champion Louisville
team.
Lan went to Oregon State
University, and redshirted
his freshman year of
basketball, meaning that
he did not play in games
that season so that he
could save one of his four
years of eligibility.
Although he did not ac
tually play in games, lan
practiced and traveled
with the team to all away
contests. He says he was
constantly bothered by the
press, and kids asking for
autographs, and other
hype.
"There were always
people at the airports ask
ing for autographs, and
always newspaper writers
hanging around," lan
says. "It was just a big
hassle."
lan says he left Oregon
State after his freshman
year because it was too far
from his family back in
New Jersey. He ended up
at Guilford College, where
he currently is one of the
nation's leading college
shotblockers, with 102
blocked shots in 24 games.
Lan says he had trouble
adjusting to Guilford at
first, but has grown to like
it.
"The friends I have
made here make life
tremendously easier," lan
observes. "I also like the
fact that Greensboro is a
growing city. It will never
be like Brooklyn, but I
would consider living here
after school."
Is there anything lan
does not like about
Guilford?
"I don't like the fact that
there are so many cliques
here," lan says. "I like to
try to be friends with
everyone."
lan states that he came
to Guilford with hopes of
doing well in both athletics
and academics. He is a
Honors Cont'd
nation in si lgles.
Jochen hiinke, a senior
tennis player and physics
major from Heidelberg,
West Germany, won
Carolinas Conference and
District 26 championships
last season.
He made it to the semi
final round of the NAIA na
tional tournament, receiv
ed NAIA All-American
honors, and was named
District 26 Player of the
Year last season.
Klinke entered the fall
season ranked fourth in
singles in the nation.
Peter Bourque, a senior
lacrosse player who ma
jors in Sports Manage
ment, has served as team
captain for two years and
is an Ail-American can
didate this season.
He has started for the
Quaker defense for three
years, played all positions
except for goalie, and has
played virtually every
minute of every game.
Jennifer Hunter, a
senior tennis player who
majors in sports manage
ment, earned Honorable
Mention All-American
Justice and Policies
Studies major with a 2.5
grade point average.
"I'm not someone who
came in just to play
basketball," he declares.
"I want a good education
also."
In his free time, lan says
he likes to be with his
friends, whether it's going
out to get something to eat
or just talking. He is also a
big fan of professional and
college basketball.
Lan is Christian, and
after graduation, he will
do "whatever Jesus wants
me to do." He says he
could envision going back
to Brooklyn, to give
something back to the
community that he grew
up in.
"A lot of kids in
Brooklyn grow up in
broken homes, and there is
a lot of temptation to make
money dishonestly." he
states. "I would like to go
back and spread the
gospel of Jesus Christ and
somehow be a big-brother
type figure based on my
faith."
honors at the national
NAIA tournament last
year.
She has a career 76-21
singles record and is cur
rently ranked number 21
in the NAIA-ITCA rank
ings.
Lee Porter, a junior who
majors in Management, is
an All-American golfer
who finished seventh in the
national championship
and led the Quakers to a
second-place finish.
This fall, he averaged
73.0 strokes for 12 com
petitive rounds of golf.
Kamus McNair, a senior
football player who ma
jors in Sports Manage
ment, has played in every
Guilford football game
since he arrived as a
freshman and was a cap
tain of this fall's team.
He was named to the
NAIA All-District 26 team,
and also received second
team NAIA All-American
honors this fall.
Donnie Redmon, a
senior base! all player who
majors in Physical Educa
tion, hit .398 and set a new
home run record with 13 to
lead the Quakers last
4M
W • -' ;
* 0 mm - %irtr
Jt^
A
Lan Russell warming up for the Wingate game
season. Also a quarter
back and punter for our
football team, Donnie
turned down an offer from
Jp* m
E ** TB
j| 1 3W s
Jocker Klinke
Spring Sports
Next Issue
12
IMiolo: I' ioiia leni
the Boston Red Sox to
return for his senior year
at Guilford.
Photo: Eric Buck