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23 Russell Ellington

Name
Russell Ellington
Position
Guard
Class
Junior
Hometown (Last School)
Louisville, KY (Manual)
Ht
5'11"
Seasons
1934-35, 1935-36
Birthday
July 14, 1912

Obituary – RUSSELL ‘DUKE’ ELLINGTON, FORMER UK ATHLETE, DIES, Lexington Herald-Leader (April 25, 1986) by Staff

Russell F. “Duke” Ellington, a former University of Kentucky athlete, died yesterday at the Veterans Administration Medical Center off Cooper Drive after a long illness. Ellington, of 111 Woodland Avenue, was 73.

Ellington lettered in basketball and football at UK during the 1930s. He continued to be an active supporter of UK athletics throughout his life and was a member of the K Men’s Club. “Duke was a fine, fine athlete. . . . I guess basketball was probably his number one game,” said former Henry Clay High School basketball coach Elmer Gilb.

Ellington was a former car salesman for Glenn Buick and Fred Bryant Motors in Lexington, and at one time ran Ellington House, an antiques business, on Henry Clay Boulevard.

He served in the Navy during World War II.

He was a member of Wyndermere Country Club in Naples, Fla.

He is survived by his wife, Kathryn “Katie” Hockensmith Ellington.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Kerr Brothers Funeral Home. Burial will be in Frankfort Cemetery. Visitation will be from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Contributions are suggested to the K Men’s Club or a favorite charity.

On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 28, 1992, in what many called the “best NCAA Tournament game ever,” Kentucky takes defending NCAA champion Duke into overtime before losing 104-103 in the East Regional finals in Philadelphia. A last-second shot by Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four, and breaks the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere. It is Cawood Ledford’s last game as the “Voice of the Wildcats.”

 

On March 28, 1998, against Stanford, Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinals to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points.

 

On March 28, 2014, unranked Kentucky beat No. 5 Louisville 74-69, in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.  Aaron Harrison buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds left that put UK ahead to stay before 41,072 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

On March 28, 2015, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 8 Notre Dame, 68-66, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.  With its 37-0 record on the line, Kentucky trailed Notre Dame 59-53 with 6:14 left. UK rallied in front of 19,464 fans in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and preserved its perfect season thanks to a crucial blocked shot by Willie Cauley-Stein and two game-deciding free throws from Andrew Harrison in the final seconds.

 

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