Russell makes it official, commits to Western Athletic’s UT-Arlington

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Southeast Missouri State sophomore Phillip Russell announced on social media Wednesday that he will transfer to UT-Arlington.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

After a breakout second season at Southeast Missouri State University, junior guard Phillip Russell entered the transfer portal and committed to the University of Texas-Arlington on Wednesday, per his social media.

Russell, on the heels of his third overall season of college basketball after a freshman stint at Saint Louis University, helped to guide the Redhawks to their first Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship since 2000, leading the team in both points and steals to become a two-way leader.

After the Redhawks’ 75-71 loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Mar. 14, Russell announced his departure from the team just six days later, with a Mar. 20 post to his social media.

“I had the best 2 years of my life, I’m thankful for you guys giving me a chance to compete here for 2 years,” Russell wrote. “But with that being said I will be entering my name in the transfer portal.”

After nearly two months in the portal, Russell announced his commitment with an in-studio photo of himself with the coaching staff while sporting the Texas-Arlington script “Mavericks” uniform, writing “#committed” on Twitter and “HOME !” on Instagram.

Missouri football’s Mookie Cooper, Saint Louis basketball’s Yuri Collins, Arizona basketball’s Courtney Ramey and Redhawk teammate Aquan Smart highlighted a long list of people near Russell, particularly from the St. Louis area, supporting his decision on Instagram.

Russell’s departure marks the third of Southeast Missouri State’s top three leading scorers, with Chris Harris and Israel Barnes both leaving the team after having exhausted their eligibility. After reaching new heights in the 2022-23 season, the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks must turn to new heroes for the upcoming season.

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Makes sense as he goes there with Coach Pickens. I wish him the best of luck at UT-A and in all future endeavors

-- Posted by cd23 on Wed, May 10, 2023, at 11:16 PM
Best wishes to Phillip.

-- Posted by bbqman on Thu, May 11, 2023, at 6:27 AM
A lot of guards on the UT-A roster.

-- Posted by Beacon of Light on Thu, May 11, 2023, at 1:07 PM
Am I missing something? Is this school any better than Semo?

I can see wanting to play at a big name school, but U of T, Arlington?

-- Posted by UFO on Fri, May 12, 2023, at 5:54 AM
Sunbelt Conference…maybe a small step up but not much! Playing college basketball today is like a bad marriage today….if not happy instead of trying to work through it move on to to next…no big deal

-- Posted by indian73 on Fri, May 12, 2023, at 8:50 AM
I’m not opposed to the portal and wish Phillip the best! He is a great/exciting player! Pound for pound one of the best!

-- Posted by indian73 on Fri, May 12, 2023, at 11:42 AM

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