On Bill Russell and Mentorship of Providence's First Big Man

Legendary NBA Hall of Fame player and coach Bill Russell passed away in late July at the age of 83. He was one of the all-time greats, both on and off the court.

On the court, Russell is the greatest winner in the sports’ history, taking home 11 titles in 13 seasons after winning a pair of NCAA titles and an Olympic gold medal as an amateur. Russell played in ten Game 7 in his NBA career. He won all ten.

In 1966, Russell became the first Black head coach in any major American sport when he was named the Player/Coach of the Boston Celtics.

The NBA recently announced that Russell’s jersey no. 6 will be retired throughout the NBA.

Off the court, his accomplishments and beliefs were just as great. He was one of the first sports figures to be a vocal advocate for civil rights, despite the pushback from critics. Russell was active in the Black Power movement and was one of the first athletes who came together at the 1967 Cleveland Summit to support Muhammed Ali and his decision to refuse to be drafted. 

Besides being an advocate and spokesman for Civil Rights, Russell was a dedicated champion for youth mentoring in our country. He was a founding member of “Mentor: The National Mentoring Partnership,” where he volunteered his time for more than 20 years. Russell made sure that the program was a beneficiary from proceeds when his number was re-retired in 1999, and when his statue was dedicated at Boston’s City Hall. In describing his dedication to mentoring children Russell has often said, “there is no such thing as other people’s children.”

What is really interesting is how Russell first got involved with mentoring. It is a story of how a 6’10 player from California came all the way across the country to play for a small Catholic school in Providence, RI. It turns out that Jim Hadnot wound up at PC for one reason: Bill Russell.

During the 1958-59 season, Russell was a young star for the Celtics. 

Jim Hadnot was finishing his career at Russell’s old high school, McClymonds High School in Oakland. They both came from the same neighborhood and Hadnot’s sister and Russell were the same age. When Jim’s father had passed away Russell became a mentor, and steered him to PC so he could keep a close eye on him.

Here is an excerpt from an interesting Providence Journal article that Bill Reynolds wrote in May of 1999 about Russell becoming a mentor to Hadnot:

It was the late ’50s, and Russell already was a star for the Celtics. He already had led the University of San Francisco to back-to-back national titles, won an Olympic gold medal, won an NBA title, and revolutionized the game, the first quick athletic big man who used defense as a personal imprint, a sort of sneak preview of where the game would one day go.

What was not well known was he already was a mentor to Jim Hadnot, the first significant big man in Providence College basketball history, a relationship that had its roots in Russell’s youth.

“I knew his family,” said Russell. “His older sister was my age.”

Both Russell and Hadnot were from Oakland, Calif. They both had gone to McClymonds High School. Russell was 6-foot-9, Hadnot 6-10. Russell already was the superstar. Hadnot was the unofficial protégé.

“I think his father had died the year before and his mother asked me for advice on what to do with Jimmy,” Russell said. “It just felt like something I should do.

“One of the things he did was arrange for Hadnot to attend PC, close enough to Boston so Russell could oversee him. Russell was married at the time, living in Reading, a suburb north of Boston. The summer of 1958, shortly before he entered PC, Hadnot lived with Russell.

“I remember he had to go to summer school at Reading High School and we got him a bike to go back and forth. It was quite a sight,” Russell said, with his signature cackle laugh.

Russell continued to mentor Hadnot throughout his career at Providence, and Jim frequently stayed with Russell on weekends while in college (although Russell did restrict him to campus for a semester after he got a “D” in an American Literature course).

It turns out that Russell’s relationship with Hadnot was the beginning of his lifelong commitment to mentoring children in the United States.