V 12 N. 55 Bill Russell 6' 9 1/4 " High Jump in 1954 R.I.P.

 August 1, 2022

Bill Russell arguably the most honored player ever to suit up in the N.B.A.  died yesterday at age  88. Why should this track and field oriented blog even bother to mention this other than when honorable men pass, it is honorable to recognize them?  We can do this easily in these pages, because Bill Russell was also a national if not international level high jumper clearing 6' 9 1/4 "  in 1954.  His name was synonymous to that of Charlie Dumas until Dumas went on to be the first to jump 7' and also win the Olympic Gold in Melbourne while Russell was also taking a gold across the street on the basketball court.  .  Although Russell's focus was rightfully on his incredible basketball talents, he still found time to compete in track when a student at McClymonds High School in Oakland, CA.  

How often he competed in university is a bit of a mystery.  If he had done the 6' 9 1/4" in high school in those days it might have been a national record.  However this height was probably during his college days.  He did not compete at the NCAA nationals or he must have had a bad day if he did because in 1954 and 1955 ,  6' 6" placed 2nd,  and in 1956,  6' 4" placed 4th.     

Mention of Russell's exploits in the field was mentioned in an earlier issue of this blog taken from the March, 1954 issue of Track and Field News   see link  Bill Russell

In looking for some of this information which I hope one of our readers can update, I also found an interesting photo of Russell jumping over a fellow competitor who happened to be 5'7"  future crooner Johnny Mathis.  See below.

Russell Clearing Mathis

The photos ran in the San Francisco Chronicle.  Mathis at 5' 7" was able to high jump 6' 5" on his best day.   Wait, Bill, they forgot to put the landing foam out there.!!

While on the subject, here are a couple of photos of another great basketball player who also jumped in college.  Taken at Washington HS, in SF.  Is that Johnny's little brother?  Chances Are it is.  

Wilt Chamberlain  6' 6" HJ

Comments:

 At one time, Johnny Mathis & his brother held the brothers HJ record.  I heard him sing once at Capital.  Kathy and I saw Bill Russell in a wheelchair in the Detroit airport on our way  back from Singapore in 2014.   Bill Schnier

Mathis was incredibly popular in Germany when I

 lived there in the early 70's.  Even learned some German to aid his performances.  George

From Richard Mach:   From Wiki: “ At San Francisco State, Mathis had become noteworthy as a high jumper, and in 1956 he was asked to try out for the U.S. Olympic Team that would travel to Melbourne, that November.^[3] Mathis had to decide whether to go to the Olympic trials or to keep his appointment in New York City to make his first recordings. On his father's advice, Mathis opted to embark on a professional singing career. His LP record album was released in late 1956 instead of waiting until the first quarter of 1957.”