How a McDonald’s All-American with an NCAA basketball title ended up at UK

Of all the basketball players on the University of Kentucky campus, women’s or men’s, Eniya Russell has a problem no one else has:

Deciding where she is going to keep her NCAA championship ring.

Last season, the 6-foot-1 wing was a sophomore reserve on the South Carolina team that cut down the Final Four nets for the second time in Dawn Staley’s stellar coaching run in Columbia.

“I actually didn’t get it yet. They haven’t delivered it yet,” Russell said last month of her title ring. “But I am going to keep it at home, in Baltimore, with my Dad (Nelson Russell). He keeps all my rings and (mementos of) all my achievements.”

As the Kentucky women’s basketball program seeks to build on the momentum from last year’s unexpected run to the SEC Tournament championship, one of the primary themes of the 2022-23 season will be the quest to replace the scoring lost when Rhyne Howard (20.5 points per game) graduated to the WNBA and Dre’una Edwards (16.9 points) exited via the transfer portal to Baylor.

Kyra Elzy believes Russell — a 2020 McDonald’s All-American who UK recruited ardently before she chose South Carolina — can help fill that void.

“Eniya Russell is talented. She’s gifted offensively,” the Kentucky coach said. “We’re just trying to get her up to speed defensively. But her athleticism is nice to have on the floor. She’s a guard who can create her own shot. She can also create for others.”

Russell grew up in Baltimore playing AAU basketball against the boys until she was 13. Sometimes, those games took place in the gym at the youth development center funded by another hoops star with “Charm City” roots: Carmelo Anthony.

“He has a good impact on Baltimore,” Russell said of the longtime NBA star. “He’s a good leader there.”

After Russell put up a stellar junior season at Saint Vincent Pallotti High School, the major-conference women’s hoops programs began to beat a path to her door. Eventually, Russell announced five finalists — Georgetown, Indiana, Kentucky, Miami (Fla.) and South Carolina.

“I was pretty close with (UK),” Russell said of her original recruitment. “I had a pretty good relationship with (then-Kentucky Coach Matthew Mitchell). That’s who was the head coach when I was getting recruited.”

However, the allure of joining the women’s hoops juggernaut that Staley has built at South Carolina won out.

As a freshman in 2020-21, Russell played in 26 games for the Gamecocks as a reserve, averaging 2.7 points and 0.9 rebounds while shooting 33.3 percent from the floor.

Last season as a sophomore, Russell was one of 11 McDonald’s All-Americans on Staley’s roster. The Baltimore product appeared in 23 games, averaged 2.3 points and 1.3 rebounds while improving her shooting percentage to 42.2.

Playing on a team with 10 other McDonald’s All-Americans “was challenging,” Russell said. “Being in practice every day (under that scenario), iron sharpens iron. It makes you better. It also makes you think about things.”

Russell said being around elite talents at South Carolina, such as reigning National Player of the Year Aliyah Boston and standouts such as Brea Beal and Zia Cooke “really helped me become a better player on and off the court. Just seeing how they worked, how they were off the court.”

Still, not long after South Carolina vanquished Connecticut 64-49 in the 2022 NCAA title game, Russell decided she needed to make a career move. To fulfill her potential as a player, she needed to find a spot where more playing time could be had.

“I was pretty nervous going into the (transfer) portal, I am not going to lie,” Russell said. “I was hoping (Kentucky) would pick me up because they were my first choice.”

Ultimately, Russell and one of her childhood besties — LSU post player Ajae Petty, another Baltimore product — decided to move to Lexington together.

A Petty/Russell package deal for Kentucky?

“Basically,” Russell said. “We grew up together. She was at LSU. When (Petty) found out I was in the transfer portal, she was asking me about it. Then when she went in the portal, she had a visit here. She came here and ended up saying she really liked the coaches and the staff and the team. So that’s how that happened.”

Now UK roommates, the Baltimore duo gave a glimpse of what they could provide the Wildcats during Wednesday night’s 93-48 Kentucky exhibition victory vs. over-matched NAIA foe, the University of Pikeville.

Both coming off the Cats’ bench, the 6-3 Petty had a team-high 15 points (on 7-for-10 shooting), six rebounds and four steals. Russell also stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Unlike the team Russell left, Kentucky — with 10 newcomers on a 15-player roster — is not the focus of the preseason prognosticators. UK did not get a single vote in the AP preseason Top 25. The Cats were picked to finish No. 7 in the SEC by the media and No. 10 in the conference by the league’s coaches.

“We are counted out on a lot of of (polls). I feel like everyone is kind of belittling us,” Eniya Russell said. “We’re still trying to put the pieces together, but I think we have a good chance of doing something big here.”

Season opener

Radford at Kentucky

When: 7 p.m. Monday

TV: SEC Network Plus (online only)