Kurt "KJ" Russell was scouting apartments in Phoenix when he received a call from Adrien Harraway, vice president and director of the John McLendon Minority Scholarship Foundation. He called to tell KJ that he had been selected to receive the scholarship that the Fiesta Bowl awards annually through the foundation to a student at an Arizona institution.

"John McLendon was a trailblazer in the sports industry as the first African-American basketball coach at a predominately white institution and the first African-American head coach in any professional sport. To receive a scholarship in his honor is incredible," Russell said. "The partnership between the McLendon Foundation and the Fiesta Bowl has already opened doors for me in beginning my path to accomplish my professional goals."

Russell, who will be working simultaneously on a law degree and a master's degree in Sports Law and Business at Arizona State University, arrives with two bachelor's degrees from Ohio University, one in Business Administration the other in Sports Management.

Growing up in a small town in Northeast Ohio, he knew early on that he wanted to work in sports and that he needed to do that someplace in another location to be out from under his family's shadow.

His grandmother worked at the elementary school he attended, his dad was his high school basketball coach and history teacher and his mom worked at nearby Oberlin College. While Ohio University is only 180 miles away from where he grew up, it was a far enough buffer. 

"I always loved sports and knew that I wanted it to be a part of my life," said Russell, whose father put a basketball in his hands at an early age.

His dreams of playing in the NBA shattered after he realized he wasn't going to top 5'8" tall. His dream of becoming a broadcaster, maybe even the next Stephen A. Smith, faded as he recognized that sports broadcasting was trending toward putting former athletes on camera.

But he saw a path pointing to Ohio University, known as birthplace of sports management studies. There, he discovered that career opportunities in sports are not just on the field of play.

"Whether you want to be in marketing, sales, event management or in my case, a sport agent, there's so much to do within the industry," he said.

He arrived on campus that first year a shy, timid teenager, struggling with his identity as a small-town kid.

Through a peer mentoring program his freshman year and a job as campus tour guide his sophomore year, Russell was able to overcome his natural introversion while also helping ensure that the school lived up to its promise of diversity and inclusion. He expanded his role over time, complementing his studies by working as a peer mentor, a College of Business student ambassador and peer coach and as a learning community leader.

"As a Black man in higher education, I wanted to inspire other diverse students to pursue leadership roles and create a sense of belonging in our community," he said. "I didn't want anyone else to feel the way I did as an incoming freshman, and I made it my mission to help other students feel as comfortable and included as possible."

Along the way, he found time for several internships. As a sophomore, he was director of ticket sales for the Southern Ohio Copperheads, a collegiate summer league baseball team that plays at Ohio University. He also interned with Ohio University's Ticket Operations, and the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks.

As he prepares his move to Phoenix, he is finishing an internship as a summer road warrior with Paragon Marketing Group, traveling about the country getting hands-on experience leading a team and overseeing on-site logistics for sporting events.

Three years from now, after his studies at ASU are complete, Russell hopes to land a job with a sports management agency or a law firm that specializes in sports management.

"Ultimately, I plan to open my own firm that will provide athletes with legal, financial, real estate and multimodal communication services," he said.

Until then, when he's not busy with the rigorous requirements of law school and graduate school, he intends to be active in the Arizona community.

"The Fiesta Bowl has already approached me with volunteer opportunities, which is incredible," Russell said. "Being able to volunteer at one of the nation's biggest bowl games will be an experience of a lifetime. I honestly feel like I hit the lottery. First with the McLendon Foundation and the scholarship and then secondly, with the partnership with the Fiesta Bowl and the opportunities to gain even more experience."