Mountaineer Athletics and Commonwealth University-Mansfield, along with the Mansfield community, mourn the loss of one of the greatest student-athletes to ever wear the Red and Black with the passing of David “Davey” Russell.
Russell, one of the charter members of the Mansfield Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame in the inaugural Class of 1983, passed away on November 3, 2026 at the age of 85 years-old.
Russell was recruited to play basketball at then Mansfield State Teachers College by Hall of Fame head coach Bill Gibson. Russell, like Gibson, was a graduate of legendary Donora High School in the Mon-Valley area of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Gibson, who steadily built a winning program over his first three seasons at Mansfield, returned to his hometown roots recruiting Russell, a high school All-State selection. Gibson also recruited future Mansfield Hall of Famer Dick DiBasio who hailed from neighboring Monesson High School.
As a freshman in the 1958-59 season, Russell led the team in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game. Mansfield finished the campaign with a school-record 15-5 mark, advancing to the postseason NAIA District playoff for the first time in school history.
During his sophomore season, Russell again topped the Mountaineers in scoring, averaging 16.3 points per game. He finished second in the PSAC in points as Mansfield posted a 14-7 mark on the season and made its second straight appearance in the NAIA District 19 Championship game, dropping a heartbreaking 63-61 overtime loss to Westminster.
Named team captain as a junior for the 1960-61 season, Russell led the Mountaineers to the best win-loss record in school history posting an overall record of 20-1, along with an undefeated 18-0 regular season mark.
Mansfield was an elite teams in college basketball that year as one of just two of the NAIA’s 460 member schools to post an undefeated regular season. The Mounties ranked among the top ten teams in the nation.
The Mountaineers earned a berth in the first-ever PSAC Championship game that season when the conference restructured into East and West Divisions and initiated its first conference championship playoff matching the East and West Division title-winners. Russell again led the way, scoring a game-high 31 points in a resounding 97-87 victory over IUP for the conference title.
He earned 1st Team PSAC honors, finishing second in the conference in scoring, averaging 22.6 points and 9.3 rebounds a game.
Russell’s athletic prowess extended beyond the basketball court. An exceptional baseball player as well, Russell was the starting catcher for the 1961 Mountaineer baseball team that would go on to win the school’s first PSAC baseball title that season. In the title-clinching doubleheader to end the season against Lock Haven in May of 1961, Russell blasted home runs in both games to sweep the Bald Eagles and earn Mansfield its first-ever PSAC baseball championship.
That performance attracted the attention of professional scouts and the opportunity to play professional baseball. Russell signed a professional contract to play baseball for the Milwaukee Braves, and by doing so, forfeited his amateur status to make him ineligible to play collegiate sports his senior season.
Don Richmond, the scout for the Braves who signed Russell was quoted in local media accounts saying he believed Russell to be potentially his best signee that year. “I think Russell has the potential to go all the way,” said Richmond in a story in the Elmira Star-Gazette in October of 1961. “He was hitting .280 with a couple of homers when he broke his thumb after about 15 games. Everybody in the Braves organization likes him.”
Injuries ended his professional career, but Russell returned to Mansfield to finish his college degree in a promise he made to his mother.
After teaching at Athens, Russell returned to Mansfield University to administer the Act 101 program, along with other responsibilities, helping scores of Mansfield students earn their degrees.
Media accounts often described Russell as “Mansfield classy basketball player” for the elegant and elite way he played the game.
In just three seasons, Russell ended his collegiate career as the then all-time leading scorer in school history. His 1,061 points still ranks 25th best in school history and he was one of the first selections to the MU All-Century team.
Mansfield has produced thousands of student-athletes over its 169-year existence, but you would be hard-pressed to convince anyone who watched Davey Russell play that he wasn’t among the best of the best.
The late Terry Manning, member of the Hall of Fame Class of 2013 and teammate of Russell’s on the 1961 PSAC Championship baseball team, perhaps summed it up the best. “I came to Mansfield with the expectation of being a four-year starter on the basketball team,” Manning remembered. “Then I went to the first practice and saw Davey Russell play and I knew right there and then that I better pick another sport because there was nobody who was ever going to beat him out. Davey Russell was the best of the best. We didn’t call them GOATs back then but Davey was a GOAT.”
His family legacy at Mansfield extends to his younger brother Joe, also a basketball standout at Mansfield, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the Class of 2007. His wife Karen is a long-time member of the university’s Board of Trustees.
Dave is survived by his wife Karen, brother Joseph Russell, children Adrienne (Fay) Bradley, Kate (Travis) Wood, David J. Russell, Zachary (Nichole) Hammer, Joshua (Michelle) Hammer, and Patrick (Amy) Hammer. Grandchildren Brooke Arnold, Josiah Wood, Ava Wood, Emmett Hammer, Avery Hammer, Archer Hammer, and great-granddaughter, Sophia Stettler.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, November 15 at 1:00 p.m. in 307 Alumni Hall on the Mansfield campus (campus map).
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation to the Mansfield University Mountaineer Foundation (MUMF) in support of the Campus Care Fund in Dave’s memory. The Campus Care Fund assists Mansfield students facing financial challenges to meet their basic needs. Gifts can be made online at mountaineerfdn.org, through mail: 31 S. Academy Street, Mansfield, PA 16933, or by phone 888-305-6505.
