Russell Cross (born September 5, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the National Basketball Association's

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

in the first round (6th pick overall) of the 1983 NBA draft.

College career

Russell Cross attended and played basketball at Manley High School, located on the

West Side West Side or Westside may refer to: Places Canada * West Side, a neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario * West Side, a neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia United Kingdom * West Side, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Westside, Birmingham E ...

of Chicago. He led Manley to an Illinois state title; he was selected to the McDonald's All-American team and was also a first-team ''Parade'' All-American; he was also the ''Parade'' Player of the Year. The 6'10" center moved on to attend Purdue University, where he played his freshman season under first year head coach, Gene Keady. In his first season as a Boilermaker, he set a freshman record with 540 points on the season and led Purdue to an NIT third-place finish and to a 21–11 record. In his sophomore season, Cross helped lead them to the NIT Finals with All- Big Ten teammate, Keith Edmonson. In his junior season, he led Purdue to a 21–9 record and onto a Second Round NCAA Tournament appearance. Russell was named ''First Team All-Big Ten'' his junior year.

Professional career

Russell Cross skipped his senior year at Purdue to enter the 1983 NBA draft, where he was selected as the 6th pick in the first round by the

. Cross played in only one NBA season, averaging 3.7 points in 45 games for the Warriors in the 1983-84 NBA season. Cross then signed a contract with the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

, he did not appear in a game and was waived late in the 1984–85 season. He spent the remainder of the 1984–85 season and the 1985–86 season with the

Louisville Catbirds The Louisville Catbirds were a basketball team of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) who played in the mid 1980s. History The Catbirds played two seasons in 1983–85 in Kentucky before moving to La Crosse, Wisconsin, in which the tea ...

and then moved to Europe, where he spent the next seven seasons in the Italian and Spanish Leagues.

References

External links

Career statistics
1961 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basket Napoli players Basketball players from Chicago CB Breogán players Centers (basketball) Golden State Warriors draft picks Golden State Warriors players La Crosse Catbirds players Liga ACB players Louisville Catbirds players McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball players {{1960s-US-basketball-bio-stub