RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Don Russell is one of the most decorated figures in The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley's athletic history, and his career influenced where the university is today. 
 
Russell played men's tennis for legacy institution Pan American College (PAC) from 1959-1962. He won seven NAIA national championships as a student-athlete, including four consecutive NAIA doubles titles – three with John Sharpe and one with Jerry Wortelboer. He led the Broncs to the school's first national title in 1961. They repeated in '62 as Russell, the team captain, headlined the effort with a national tournament sweep to win the singles, doubles and team championships. 
 
Russell returned to PAC to serve as the men's head tennis coach from 1964-67. The Broncs went 29-9-3 under his direction and won the 1965 NAIA national championship. His eighth title put Russell in a small group of people who have won collegiate national championships as a player and coach, alongside legendary sports figures Paul "Bear" Bryant and Jimmy Johnson. He is the only person in UTRGV history with that distinction. 
 
"I've been so blessed," Russell said. "I worked very hard at being fit and strong. I'd say the reason that I succeeded at all was that I hit the ball very hard, so I was able to wear people down." 
 
Russell never planned to attend college. Growing up in Melbourne, Australia at a time when the best players in the world were Australian, Russell's whole life was tennis. He wanted to travel the world playing tennis like the Australian Davis Cup team members he admired. 
 
But over in the United States, at a small school called Edinburg Regional College, a man named Orville I. Cox had his own goal to use athletics to bring the college to statewide prominence and, in turn, make it more affordable and accessible. 
 
In 1958, the Pan American Tennis Patrons Association was formed to help this quest. The group reached out to Australian coach Harry Hopman to recruit players for the tennis program. Hopman recommended Russell, the No. 5 ranked junior player in Australia, and his doubles partner, Sharpe, and the PATPA sponsored their move to Edinburg. 
 
"I didn't know such a thing existed, to play tennis and go to school, didn't know it at all. It was a total surprise and something out of the blue that happened," Russell said. "I had never been to the United States and it was very difficult to move from Melbourne, which is a large city and has some of the finest tennis facilities in the world, to Edinburg and find there were really just a couple old concrete tennis courts. For a while we didn't have real tennis courts to practice on." 
 
The challenges didn't affect Russell's success on the court. He was described as the strongest net attacker on head coach Harry Meng's team. He had a powerful serve, an overspin forehand, a flat backhand and "extraordinary" anticipation, which all led to a plethora of wins. 
 
Russell and the Broncs won four consecutive Big State Conference championships and were runners-up at the NAIA national tournament twice. He won two singles and two doubles conference titles. Russell earned many tournament victories and defeated three players ranked in the top 50. He faced some of the biggest names in tennis, including Chuck McKinley the year McKinley won Wimbledon, and Cliff Drysdale. 
 
Russell and Sharpe rose as high as No. 10 in the U.S. doubles team standings, helping the Broncs notch a No. 1 "small college" ranking in 1961 and No. 4 overall in 1960. They were the No. 1 junior doubles team in Australia before playing for PAC. One of their biggest victories was for the Australian Hardcourt Championship when they beat Rod Laver, who Russell called "one of, if not the, best tennis players to ever live." 
 
"We worked out just as hard as we played tennis and we were very serious about it," Russell said. "John was left-handed and I was right-handed and both of us were particularly adept at playing doubles. We just happened to be good at it and we won a lot of tournaments." 
 
During Russell's playing days, there was no professional tennis and there wasn't much money to be made as an amateur. His time at Pan American showed Russell the importance of education. 
 
"By the time I became a senior, I realized that education was a significant thing to focus on. I realized that education could provide me with more opportunities than tennis could at that time and my life would be enhanced by having an advanced degree," Russell said. 
 
Russell received a bachelor's in mathematics from Pan American and a master's degree from Oklahoma. After grad school, he returned to PAC and taught mathematics at the school while serving as the head men's tennis coach for three years. The Broncs won a national championship in his first season and their 13^th-straight conference title. In 1966, the Broncs' first year at the NCAA Division I level, Russell led them to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. 
 
His bountiful achievements earned Russell a spot in the inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame class inducted in 2007. 
 
"It's very flattering, but I don't look at myself as being anything extraordinary," Russell said. "I've been fortunate enough to be around several people who helped me advance my life in many ways." 
 
One of the people Russell credited for helping his path was Cox, the former Board of Regents president who the UTRGV tennis center is named after. Russell took a similar path later in life, serving on the Board of Trustees for Claremont McKenna College and being involved peripherally in various endeavors in the educational field.  
 
The work Russell has done to help advance educational opportunities and as president of the Operon Group resulted in another honor for his esteemed resumé – the Distinguished Alumni Award, which is the highest honor an alum can receive.  
 
"It's beyond anything I could have ever hoped for," Russell said. "I've been blessed in my life to help people, whether it's been with work or in tennis, by whatever it is I say or do. It gives me the greatest joy to see people succeed." 
 
During his trip back to Edinburg for the award ceremony in April, Russell took time to visit with the Vaqueros tennis teams. 
 
"It was great to have the guys meet with and speak with someone who has achieved greatness in his athletic and professional life like Mr. Russell," men's coach Nathan Robinson said. "Listening to him speaking about the history of the program and about his insights into what creates success was an invaluable lesson for the team. We are lucky to have an alum like him." 
 
The experience was just as special to Russell, who helped start the trend of recruiting international student-athletes to the RGV. The success he and the Broncs had in the '60s gained the school major recognition, helping it thrive. 
 
He is proud of the incredible growth his alma mater has made in the past 60 years – growth he helped spark by taking the leap and chasing an unknown, moving nearly 9,000 miles from home to play tennis in deep south Texas.
 
"It really is quite incredible what has occurred, becoming a very significant university. It's just amazing," Russell said. "If you'd seen it in the 1950s and '60s, I don't think anyone would've given it the chance to be where it is today. The physical facilities are one thing, but the quality of people is truly incredible. You've got student-athletes, tennis players, that are all impressive. Terrific young people from all over the world, and to see they are achieving something with their lives at UTRGV, that is just as good as it gets." 

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