Kendal Russell

Quad Shot and Full Heart: The Kendal Russell Way

She’s chasing a pro contract, running on espresso and emotion, and reminding everyone to slow down and enjoy the moment.

Some players find basketball. Kendal Russell just always knew. “From the first time I touched a ball, I knew it was my sport,” she says — the kind of line that sounds cliché until you realize she means it in the most literal way possible. There was never a Plan B. There still isn’t.

Basketball has always been both her compass and her calling, leading her to every next step, every next challenge. And now, that compass is pointing to what comes after college — the dream of signing a professional contract and proving that the game she’s loved since childhood still has new chapters left to write.

Off the court, Kendal’s as fueled by people as she is by coffee — and that’s saying something. “Relationships are everything to me,” she says. “My humor and my ability to connect — that’s who I am.” Her “chosen family,” as she calls them, keeps her grounded when the schedule gets chaotic or the pressure builds.

And yes, she’s got a ritual — one that’s become legend around the locker room: a quad shot of espresso before every game. No superstition, no sugar-coating — just four shots of pure readiness.

Ask her what she’d tell younger players, and her answer feels like both advice and confession:

“Enjoy everything. It goes by way too fast. You’ll blink and be graduating.”

Then she pauses and adds, almost like she’s letting you in on a secret:

“If you can, redshirt your first year. Sit back, learn, grow. I wish I did that.”

There’s something beautifully self-aware about it — a player who knows the clock doesn’t stop, but still wants to make sure everyone else remembers to breathe before it runs out.

For Kendal Russell, basketball isn’t just what she does — it’s who she’s been, who she is, and who she’s still becoming. Quad shot. Deep breath. Let’s go.