Deron Russell pens his future to North Dakota

During the chilly morning of Wednesday, Dec. 3, students at the Waseca Junior Senior High School gathered to witness senior Deron Russell sign his letter of intent to attend North Dakota State University, Fargo.

 

Coach Brad Wendland introduced Russell, “This signing here today is an indication of Deron’s leadership in our school. He’s homecoming king, he’s a leader in both of his sports, (football and basketball). What I try to do is to get him around young people, and they end up asking, “What’s it like to be division one.” As a coach I like to step back, point at him and say, ‘This is what division one looks like, how you treat other people, how you go to class, how you are to your teachers, your teammates.’ Deron is a really good kid who happens to be good at football, and apparently he’s really good at basketball as well.” 

 

Wendland’s statement garnered laughter from the crowd. Wendland continued, “A lot of people in Minnesota, from around the state, when you tell them you’re from Waseca, Deron’s name comes up. He’s been such an incredible ambassador for us.” Russell’s brother Isaiah, who graduated in 2012 was in the audience, Wendland made reference to his continuing legacy. “Russell is one of ten finalists in the state for the award for Mr. Football. Then he will start practice for the All-Star game, playing offensive for the south team.” 

 

A shout from the basketball coach in the audience informed everyone, “He broke the school record: 48 points last night.” The announcement was met with a round of applause.

 

Wendland had some Russell statistics, “On offense, 125 career receptions for Waseca 1,979 yards. Six receptions, 11 in his career. School record for receiving yards in a season. Receiving yards in a career, number of receptions in a career. Touchdown receptions, he beat his brother by one. It’s been really fun traveling with Deron, little kids try to get a picture with him and he handles that so well, it’s been great to be a part of.” With that he let Russell take center stage.

 

Russell, “First I want to thank God; without him none of this is possible. I want to thank my family and friends for being with me through this journey. I want to thank my mom for all her sacrifices; she’s always pushing me. I want to thank the coaches for pushing me through every practice and all the support.” He kept it short and sweet. As he signed, the audience provided another round of applause. Once the signing was over, a group of high schoolers joined Russell on the stage to pose for pictures before being ushered back to class.

 

Russell received 11 offers from schools including Minnesota State, Iowa State, Nebraska State and Washington State, but he stuck with North Dakota. Said Russell, “I toured North Dakota for two days; I talked to the players and some of the defensive backs and everyone there seemed very supportive, especially the coaches.” He has a 3.5 grade point average and is on the B honor roll. He had a calf injury but says, “I think I’m back to 85 percent now, not quite 100 but I’ll keep at it.” Despite his gift of playing defensive back, he’ll be playing the All-Star game as a receiver. He has not picked out a major yet, but plans on deciding that during his first year in college.

 

The mascot for North Dakota State is the Bison; the teams are referred to as the Thundering Herd. NDSU has around 12,000 students and is 250 miles from Waseca.