Toronto's pipeline to the NBA runs through his office, but few in the city even know his name.
Those who do are often afraid to utter it, fearing that doing so could be seen as an endorsement of his methods.
They are wary of him. They think he is exploiting kids and taking away their childhoods on the extremely limited chance they can achieve NBA success.
They even wonder aloud about some of the close relationships he has with NCAA coaches.
That's alright, though.
Ro Russell is more concerned with his reputation south of the border, where he has been quietly directing talented teenaged hoopsters from the GTA since 1992.
His pitch is simple.
Join one of his Grassroots Canada teams, compete in Amateur Athletic Union summer leagues, transfer to an American prep school, then parlay the increased exposure that comes with that into a full scholarship at a major NCAA school and an early exit for the NBA.
It's a blueprint that Russell has been preaching for years, but with the recent NBA draft success of two of his pupils, it's getting more attention.
Brampton's Tristan Thompson and Pickering's Cory Joseph became the first two Canadians to be selected in the first round of the same NBA draft in June, following the Russell blueprint through McDonald's All American seasons at Findlay Prep in Las Vegas and dominating freshman campaigns at the University of Texas.
Another Rusell Pupil, Myck Kabongo, will likely get his turn next June.
He was a McDonalds All American at Findlay Prep this past season and will follow in Thompson and Joseph's footsteps by suiting up for the Texas Longhorns in the fall. He committed to Texas in Grade 9 and is rated as the 14th best prospect in the 2012 NBA draft by ESPN.
"There have been a lot of kids from the Toronto area that had NBA potential and should have been able to make it, but for whatever reason didn't. Scouts said they were international, so they were not tough enough, they didn't play good enough defense and they were soft and that barrier was hard to overcome," Russell told CP24.com. "All we did was come up with a formula to help these kids be looked at as Americans and it involved US camps, AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) and going to high school in the states. We wanted coaches and media to say ‘sure these guys are Canadians, but they are assimilated in American basketball culture' and that's exactly what has happened. We removed the stigma."
Ro's runs
Russell was born in Jamaica, but immigrated to Toronto with his family when he was just four.
Growing up he played basketball at Runnymeade Collegiate Institute and harboured the same professional dreams many kids do, but it never worked out for him and in the 90s he shifted focus.
He earned a degree in phsycial education and started running scrimmages for some of the city's top players.
Word eventually got out and before long "Ro's Runs" as they were known by many, started attracting a laundy list of American college and university coaches looking to get a foot up on the competition by plucking players from a largley untapped market.
"I always wanted to do something connected or related to basketball and as I saw the oportunities that this game gives kid's either by giving them a free education or a career, I dedicated myself to it," he said. "Working with them before practice, after practice, being with them at their hosues, talking to their parents, travelling with them, it's been a big commitment and it has taken a lot of sacrifice, but when stuff like this happens it kind of makes it all worth it."
Targetting kids as young as 14
Russell started prepping Thompson and Joseph for NBA success when they were both in eighth grade and he sat down with their families to map out a five year plan that would eventually take both to Las Vegas and Findlay Prep.
Run by the owner of a local car dealer chain, Findlay Prep isn't your typical prep school.
In fact it is not really a school at all.
Its only ten students play on the basketball team and they don't attend classes at Findlay Prep, they attend classes at Henderson International School, a private school across the street from the $425,000 five-bedroom, four-bathroom home they all live in.
"Once you realize a kid has that potential you have to start right away and put him in an environment where you can say ‘hey we did everything possible to get the best out of this kid' and that's what we did with those guys," Russell says, noting that Thompson and Kabongo attended St. Benedict's prep school in New Jersey before transferring to Findlay Prep in Grade 11. "You have to go to the proving grounds and be able to show that you belong. It's the only way."
In a country in which conversations about great home grown basketball players usually start and end with Steve Nash, Russell is shaking things up.
Only four Canadians have ever been selected in the first round of the NBA draft, so to have two selected in one year isn't insignificant.
Russell, who was Thompson's guest during the NBA draft, knows it.
That's why when Thompson was selected fourth overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers, becoming the highest Canadian ever selected, he took to his phone.
"I texted Myck right away and said ‘Myck you're next' then I texted Dwight Powell and said ‘Dwight get ready', so even though it was this great historical moment I was still thinking about what's next," he said. "Those guys opened the door. Now kids can believe, they can hope, they can dream and it's only the beginning."
Not everyone agrees with Russell's methods
Leo Rautins, head coach of the senior men's national team, admits something special is happening when it comes to basketball in Canada, but he doesn't want to oversell the influence of people like Russell.
Rautins says a lot of what's happening now can be tied to the Toronto Raptors arrival in 1995.
"What you are seeing right now with the Tristan's, the Cory's, the Kabongo's are kids that grew up with the NBA and that's a big deal," he told CP24.com following a recent national team practice at Ryerson University. "Myself, I rarely saw NBA. I was lucky if there was one game on TV that I could watch every week. These kids grew up seeing it, touching it, feeling it, the whole bit and now we are seeing the impact of that."
Rautins highlights his son Andy, who just finished his rookie season with the New York Knicks, and Montreal's Joel Anthony, who plays in the NBA for the Miami Heat, as proof that you don't have to leave the country at 14 to obtain basketball success at the highest level.
"They weren't a product of that same environment and look at them," he said. "You know it is all individual. For some kid's it's not good to leave and for some it is."
Roy Rana echoes that point.
Currently the head coach of the Ryerson Rams, Rana spent nine years as head coach of the boy's basketball team at Eastern Commerce, arguably Canada's most prominent high school basketball program.
"That route is for a very very small slice of the basketball community within Canada and it really needs to come down to the level of talent the kid has, but also the maturity he has and the support system he has," he said. "You know not everyone is guaranteed success. It is great Cory and Tristan have had it, but there have been many kids before them that haven't exactly reached the NBA."
For Russell that's exactly the point. He believes players like Denham Brown, who starred at Bathurst High Secondary School and West Hill Collegiate Institute in the early 2000s and went on to a four year career at the University of Connecticut, could have cracked the NBA had he left the country at an earlier age.
That's why he's dedicated a good portion of his life, including countless sums of money, to helping today's Denham Brown's realize their hoop dreams.
"We have some sponsors and supporters that donate money to help out, but you would be surprised how much money the coaches and staff take out of their pocket to help these kids that don't necessarily have it," he said. "The hope is that the kids get something positive out of it and for the most part that's been the case. The next step is having guys like Tristan and Cory give back to the program and help the cycle continue."
Russell, who rarely gives interviews, concludes by recounting one of his favorite sayings.
"I always say shoot for the stars, but understand that if you don't make it you'll still land on the moon."
