Thank you for checking out Basketball Across Minnesota, my weekly look at some of the state's top hoops stories, from preps to pros. — Marcus Fuller
One of Minnesota's most successful basketball coaches is known more for his unmistakable connection to players than the long journey he made to this country to fall in love with the game.
That's the way Jim Russell prefers it.
Winning 485 games at Central Lakes College, a two-year technical school in Brainerd, made him a junior college coaching legend. None of it would have been possible without his players, but escaping war-torn Vietnam as a child first put him on a path to a new life.
"I'm very lucky and blessed to be here," said Russell, now in his 25th season.
When Russell was 9, Vietnam's war was still raging between North and South. He had been separated from his mother for eight years, but they reunited and headed for the U.S., which supported the South, in 1973 with his adoptive father. He was grateful to be safe from the violence.
"I'm from the South and we lost the war," he said. "We left right before it got really ugly."
Growing up with a new family in Northfield, Minn., Russell didn't look like his three siblings, but he quickly fit in with the community through sports. His introduction to basketball came after his ride to fourth-grade hockey practice was a no-show. He ditched the skates and walked into the nearby gym.
