'We Want Russell': UCLA Men's Basketball Walk-On Fan Favorite Rises to March Madness Heights
If the game had been in Pauley Pavilion, the chant would have been repeated by thousands throughout the stands.
With No. 4 seed UCLA men's basketball up double-digits on No. 5 seed St. Mary's and a spot in the Sweet 16 all but locked up, some of the die-hard Bruin fans brought that Westwood energy to Portland. It wasn't the widespread chorus it had been at Pauley all season long, but a few scattered blue and gold supporters kept the tradition alive for the NCAA tournament.
"We want Russell," they yelled. "We want Russell!"
And just like that, fourth-year walk-on guard Russell Stong checked into the game.
Whenever the Bruins were up big in the closing moments, UCLA fans shouted for Stong to play, and coach Mick Cronin obliged by sending him in for garbage time. Stong has held that role for four years now, but he took on some new responsibilities when the Bruins hit the road for the postseason earlier this month.
UCLA beat Washington State in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals on March 10, and when the team was headed back down the tunnel, they gave Stong the "UCLA" sticker to put on the official bracket.
"The guys were huddled around the little bracket with a sticker and it seemed like they were waiting for me to show up," Stong said. "They said, 'Russ, Russ, come slap it on!' I did the best job I could and apparently everybody loved it."
They loved it so much that they made Stong the designated bracket sticker man for the remainder of the postseason. He's gotten to do it four times now – twice in Las Vegas for the conference tournament and twice in Portland during the first two rounds of March Madness.
Last year, it was guard Chris Smith – who was out with a torn ACL – who had the job of slapping the team's sticker on the board in their hotel lobby in Indianapolis after every win throughout UCLA's Final Four run. With Smith gone and the Bruins out of the COVID-19 bubble, the ritual has started to take on a bit of a new meaning.
"In terms of camaraderie, it's similar," Stong said. "But being able to celebrate tournament wins without being in a bubble and also having our fans there, it really adds that kind of excitement to it."
It was not an accident that Stong was the one to take on that responsibility, either.
From Cronin to a long list of teammates, several Bruins have shouted out Stong for what he brings to the team this year. It's more than just his celebrations on the end of the bench – it's his support for the team's biggest stars, both in practice and in games, during good times and bad.
"Russell Stong, heart of our team right there," said guard Jules Bernard.
Stong embraces the label his teammates have given him, the secret weapon of a team filled with former top recruits and future professional talent.
"I just try to be that sparkplug, be that energy on the bench or in the locker room or even in the game for the last 30 seconds," Stong said. "It's whatever I can bring to increase the morale of my team and ultimately help us win."
Stong has exclusively entered contests when the Bruins are holding large leads and on their way to wins, only scoring five career points so far. But UCLA has done a lot of winning these past two seasons, going all the way to the Final Four in 2021 and being two wins away from another appearance in 2022.
And as the Bruins have won, they have reinvigorated a fanbase that hasn't seen their team win a national championship in 22 years and was coming off a 13-year Final Four drought. Stong's emergence has aligned with UCLA's, and he said it's led to students and fans giving him the star treatment on campus, in class and down in Westwood Village.
That hasn't fazed the 6-foot-3 Crespi High School grad. Instead, he's embraced it.
"Being a man of the people, I sort of understand their point of view and I try to accommodate people," Stong said. "I try to be that person that can be approachable and take a picture and not have them to be afraid to ask me to sign things or say what's up."
UCLA superfan Ryan Gesas, who went viral for his role in last year's March Madness run, played against Stong in high school when he was at Calabasas. Though the two were rivals at the time, Gesas was a UCLA fan growing up, so any ill will faded the second Stong donned the four letters.
Gesas said he and Stong have kept in touch since last spring, both over text and through direct messages, and he said he loves to see a local, friendly face representing in a key role on the team.
"That's the kind of chemistry that UCLA needs and that any team would benefit from," Gesas said. "Growing up, obviously you root for the guys playing the most when watching UCLA, but I always had love for the guys on the far right of the bench."
Stong has decided to come back for a fifth year so he can complete his degree while double-majoring in mechanical engineering and business economics, a path he said he has had to pave for himself with no other teammates or classmates going down the same road.
That means Stong will be back on the Bruins' bench next season, giving him yet another chance to build upon his cult status and do even more to help his team win games in one way or another.
"Our team has learned how to create a winning culture and really re-establish what UCLA Bruins are, and I feel like my growth is correlated to that," Stong said. "Which again, is the most I could ever ask for, and I'm just happy to be a part of something so big."
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