Russell Ellington, 69, Harlem Globetrotter
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Russell Ellington, whose four-decade career coaching basketball included a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters, died Saturday at 69 at a Savannah, Ga., hospital.
Ellington is best known nationally for his stint touring with the Globetrotters from 1984-93.
Inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame earlier this year, Ellington accumulated a 894-212 record while coaching basketball for more than 40 years, including stints with Savannah State College, Savannah Tech and Morris Brown.
“I’ve been blessed throughout my life, and then the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame blessed me again,” Ellington said at the time.
During his hall of fame induction, he stepped lightly to the podium in Macon to the tune of “Sweet Georgia Brown,” the Globetrotter’s theme song.
