Antonio Russell said he lost track of time Friday sitting at a computer in his Louisville home, captivated by a YouTube highlight reel of his son.
There was D’Angelo Russell passing. D’Angelo Russell shooting 3-pointers. D’Angelo Russell dunking.
The elder Russell said he started to cry.
“I had to think to myself, ‘What are you crying for?’ ” he said, laughing. “Just seeing all the work that he has put in and for him to be able to enjoy what he is doing and have fun. I just want him to have fun.”
D’Angelo Russell, a freshman guard for 20th-ranked Ohio State, has been doing that since he arrived in Columbus. He has been one of the most electrifying players in college basketball, the Buckeyes’ go-to option late in games since the start of the season. He enters Sunday’s game against the Big Ten newcomer Rutgers in the top 25 nationally in scoring, at 19.4 points per game.
“I kind of just unpacked my bags, watched and learned the best that I could,” Russell said. “To see what I could do, the way I could fit in the best that I could. And then when I got comfortable and used to what was going on, I tried to separate myself the best I could.”
It is something he has been doing on the basketball court from a young age. In fact, it is how he stood out to his first high school coach.
“Some friends and guys I know had told me, ‘Bib, you might have something,’ ” said Doug Bibby, coach of Louisville’s Central High School. “When he showed up, I was waiting for him. And when he showed up, he showed out.”
It was a summer open gym session. Bibby remembered that there were freshmen and sophomores playing, mixed in with some of the upperclassmen. But all he could see was the skinny eighth grader holding his own against the older kids.
“Everything I was told — it was that and then some,” Bibby said.
Before arriving at Central High School, Bibby was at Eastern High School in Louisville, where he coached the future N.B.A. All-Star Rajon Rondo. When Bibby began hearing about how Russell was ahead of the learning curve in middle school, he thought he would see a player with potential who needed some polishing.
But Russell became a starter on Day 1 at Central. When he transferred to Monteverde Academy in Florida to play for Kevin Boyle’s nationally recognized program midway through his sophomore year, he started immediately there as well.
And when he got to Ohio State, he started from the first game and has not looked back.
“D’Angelo has a great understanding of the game of basketball,” Ohio State Coach Thad Matta said recently on the Big Ten’s weekly teleconference. “He’s a very diligent worker in terms of doing the best he possibly can. He wants to be a great player. Before practice, after practice, you see him in there working.”
While Russell was highly coveted coming out of high school at Monteverde and was a McDonald’s all-American, he was overshadowed by some of the other players in his class. He was considered to have N.B.A. potential but was not a sure bet like Jahlil Okafor of Duke or Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky. But as the college basketball season makes the turn toward March, it is Russell who is being mentioned as a possible top selection.
Last week, the ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla wrote in an evaluation of Russell that he is “the draft’s most skilled player.”
“I don’t really keep in touch with those scenarios,” Russell said of his possible N.B.A. future. “Those are personal goals that will come up after the season. Right now, I’m just worried about our team.”
Given the eye-catching plays that Russell has made, it is easy to see why he may be highly coveted at the next level. He has had 11 games with 20 or more points, but it has been his all-around playmaking ability that stands out. In particular, his passing.
Last month in a victory at Northwestern, he stood between midcourt and the 3-point line, holding the ball outstretched in his left hand. In the blink of an eye, he whipped it diagonally across the floor — through the middle of the defense — to a cutting Sam Thompson for a dunk.
His father’s reaction: “Wow.”
Bibby’s reaction: “I had to rewind it.”
Russell said, “I think I might do it two or three more times before the year is over.”
It was just D’Angelo Russell having fun.
“As a father, you always think your son is great,” Antonio Russell said. “But when you’re watching a game or a highlight tape and you hear someone — like a Jay Bilas — say that your son is great, it just brings tears to my eyes. It’s surreal.”
