Russell to announce his college choice on Thursday

Published 5:36 pm Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Today’s the day Mariner star running back KeiVarae Russell’s been waiting for seemingly forever.

After years of hard work, that’s rewarded itself with offers from over 16 Division-1 football programs, Russell is set to announce where he will continue his education once he graduates from Mariner High School.

“It’s a big thing for me,” Russell said. “It’s a big thing for the community and all of the people that supported me.”

Russell will announce his decision in the Mariner gymnasium at noon today. His final two choices are the University of Washington and the University of Notre Dame. Russell himself has known which school he’ll be going to for a while. Today, the rest of the world gets to find out.

“It was like an epiphany,” Russell said of the moment he realized what school he’d be taking his talents to. “The last two, three weeks I was pretty sure about where I wanted to go.”

The decision was based on many factors, including the school’s academic reputation and the ability to play right away. He also wanted a school that would look into taking advantage of his skills at receiver.

The Marauder running back, who led his team to the district playoffs this past season and was named to The Associated Press All-State team despite missing three games with an injury, did his research, visited his final three schools, which included the University of California-Berkeley, and talked to his family before making his decision.

Russell said his family was very supportive, and just told him to pick the best option for himself and his future.

“Just go with what you believe in your heart,” Russell said his family told him. “Choose the best thing for you.”