High school basketball preview: Kurt Russell goes from Park Street mainstay to Oberlin coach

Oberlin is a small community with many faces. In the center of town you can stroll around Tappan Square, with its well-manicured, tree-lined paths, its historic, oft-painted boulders that face the north side of the business district and its grassy knolls, where, in the spring and summer, you can find college students studying in the sun. About two blocks southeast of Tappan Square is Park Street Park, a different kind of place — not as serene or relaxing. The two basketball courts at Park Street are a proving ground where generations of Oberlinians have spilled plenty of sweat, and sometimes blood, as they locked horns with all comers and learned how to play the game that has become such a big part of the town's identity. There is a price to pay for attacking the rim. You call your own fouls, and if you call a soft one, there is a good chance you will either be ridiculed or ignored. The arguments can grow heated, and on the hot, muggy summer nights, the games can seem to stretch on forever. The names change over the years. James Merchant, Chris Donaldson, Ray Ellington, Tim Shephard, Phil Payne, Morgan Jones, Jessuh Williams, Howard Chambers — the list of Oberlin playground legends is long. They all were mainstays at Park Street. This is where Oberlin High School boys basketball coach Kurt Russell learned the game and, among other things, what it took to be a man. It is why he filled out his coaching staff with men that cut their teeth at Park Street. Russell has five coaches involved with the boys basketball program who played for and graduated from Oberlin High School. Varsity assistant Jordan Beard graduated in 2004, varsity assistant Phil Payne in 1986, junior varsity head coach Chambers in 1995, freshman coach Josh Walker in 2004 and eighth-grade coach Greg Thomas in 1995. A LASTING IMPRESSION The Park Street Park is a big part of these coaches. "That was our basketball camp," Russell said. "Most of us didn't have the money to attend an Ashland University basketball camp or an Akron basketball camp. Our basketball camp was at the Park Street Park, where we played against older kids that were incredibly talented and could jump out of the gym. "That's how we got better, playing against older kids who were more physical and who didn't allow us to make calls they might consider 'soft.' It really just toughened us up. It was really eye-opening, then when we played in high school it was easier for us because we didn't play against that kind of mentality that we faced at the park." Beard talked about it as a rite of passage. When you are young you wait on the sidelines, hoping to get a chance to get in a game. Everything is earned. "When you're younger you would go down and watch the older guys play, and you couldn't wait to be a part of that," he said. "As you get older you go from watching to, if you are good enough and work on your game, you can be one of the younger kids playing with the older kids. "Eventually you are one of the older guys the younger ones are looking up to. And the cycle repeats itself." The play at the Park is also a model of how the Phoenix plays the game. Russell's players focus on defense and usually feature an up-tempo style. They trap all over the floor and look to score off turnovers. Payne thinks this style can be traced back to when hall of fame coach Bob Walsh came to Oberlin and molded the team that ended up winning the Division III state title in 1986. "We had a bunch of players that knew how to play park basketball, but didn't know how to play defense without fouling," Payne explained. "Bob Walsh came and gave us discipline. He taught us to play defense. At the park you play through fouls and you foul people. In Coach Walsh's system we learned how to play defense with our feet. I give that guy a lot of credit." BASKETBALL IS KING Oberlin High School is a clear reflection of the high esteem in which the town holds basketball. The football team often struggles as low participation rates and apathy prohibit the program from building any kind of momentum, either immediate or long-term. The baseball program has gone winless in two of the last three seasons. The track and boys soccer programs have seen a modicum of success, but those are not sports that generate massive community support, involvement or revenue. Boys basketball is a different thing entirely. When tryouts begin the small gym at the antiquated high school is full of kids hoping to be selected to wear the blue and red of the Phoenix. "It's our tradition," said Russell, who went on to get a degree from The College of Wooster after he graduated from Oberlin High School. "We have had some of the best teams ever to come through Lorain County and even when I was a little kid it was a dream to play varsity basketball for Oberlin High School. I still think it has that relevance today. "We have little kids who aspire to play for Oberlin, maybe not to the same level as in the '80s and '90s, but there still is that passion as far as the fans have, as far as the older players have. People remember what I call the 'golden days' of Oberlin basketball, the '80s and '90s. It really means a lot to a lot of people." Payne agrees. "Growing up it was the one thing I always wanted to be a part of," he said. "Everybody's mama, their mama's mama, their cousins, their friends, everyone was at the basketball games. We played in front of packed houses and I always saw packed houses growing up." Chambers thinks learning the game at Park Street was one of the reasons he was able to play Division I college basketball. "It was tough and you had to bring your A-game just to get picked up," he said. "When I was growing up I had to push myself to be the best player I could possibly be to compete with those older guys, the championship guys that went to state. "That actually made me the player I was, the player that ended up at Bowling Green. That carried over and made me who I was." FILLING THE GAP Russell was recently named the 2021 State of Ohio Teacher of the Year. He teaches social studies and other classes at the high school, and sees his role as an educator as a big part of his identity. He has been in his teaching position for 25 years, is entering his 15th season at the helm of the basketball program and was named 2016 Division III coach of the year by the Lorain County Basketball Coaches Association. He sees his role as an educator as his primary purpose. He also is thrilled to be a part of the school he attended, in the town he loves so much. "I was born and raised in Oberlin and I have a commitment to these kids," Russell said. "I never went into teaching to make a lot of money, I went into teaching to hopefully inspire some of these kids' lives. What better way for me than at Oberlin City Schools? "Oberlin Schools have been very kind to me and have helped me to become the person I am today. There is no need for me to chase another dream." Chambers said Russel's emphasis for his students and players is about one thing: setting them up for success. "Coach Russell has always taken pride in being a leader as a coach and in the classroom," Chambers said. "He wants his students to not just be basketball players, but to be good young men. He doesn't just teach the game of basketball but wants them to learn about life. "He takes a lot of pride and asks his players to set a standard in the classroom. He really helps them grow up, have some organization and take some pride in what they do." Russell also thinks it is critical to have other Oberlin graduates and former players on his staff. "It is so crucial that Phil Payne and Jordan Beard and Greg Thomas and Howard Chambers, and we added another guy Josh Walker, who played Oberlin basketball, who graduated from Oberlin High School and all had success," Russell said. "When you have coaches who can inspire younger players and remind them about the history of Oberlin, it means so much to me and I'm so grateful to have them on my staff." Beard said the coaches from Oberlin can understand what the players are dealing with because they walked in those shoes. They had mentors and coaches to provide direction, and the staff will always embrace taking on that role. "It's absolutely important that we have guys that grew up in Oberlin to give back that knowledge," Beard said. "Oberlin is a small town, not much goes on out there and to a lot of outside people it's just a small college town. "There are a lot of kids who don't, honestly, have a lot of direction at home and they don't have much to do. Even though they're great kids, if you're young and have a lot of idle time, trouble is just around the corner if you look hard enough or are doing things you aren't supposed to do. "The guys on the staff from Oberlin, we all faced those same issues. We were fortunate and blessed enough to have people pointing us in the right direction. It's important to have guys on the staff that went through the same things. The boys can really relate to us. "I think the job is so special for us because we're more than just basketball coaches to these boys." Payne thinks Russell is an ideal role model for the young students that play on his team and walk the halls of the school. "He's a parent and a husband and a son first, but he brings that same mentality to the kids that he coaches," Payne said. "He genuinely cares about them and it's always a family. We look out for each other and he feels bad when kids struggle outside of basketball. "He wants to uplift Oberlin and bring the community the attention it deserves. That is why I respect the man so much. He has been offered other opportunities at bigger schools. He's been offered teaching jobs at bigger schools. He stays loyal to Oberlin and that's one of the things I respect about him so much. "It's not about the money for him, it's about the family and community first. He feels like he has a debt to this community and he's constantly paying his debt. Every day." Contact MIke Perry at 329-7135 or macsportstalk@gmail.com.