Basketball and football star, Northwestern’s Russell is state’s top recruit for 2026

Even now, Teddy Bridgewater still thinks of Calvin Russell as “a basketball player playing football.”

After all, football has only been a real part of his long term plans for a little more than two years.

Of course, Russell played football as a kid—he is a boy from Miami, after all—but basketball became his preoccupation. In middle school, he gave up football to focus on basketball and didn’t come back to the gridiron until he was getting ready to go to Northwestern for high school.

Quickly, rising stardom arrived.

“There was definitely challenges to it,” Russell said. “I definitely learned and caught on quick.”

Quick meant coming in off the bench against, and nearly upsetting, eventual state-champion Columbus when Taron Dickens got hurt in the first month of Russell’s freshman year and then starting a week later in the Bulls’ annual rivalry showdown with Central. Bridgewater, who was then a backup quarterback for the Dolphins, was in attendance when Russell took his first snaps at quarterback and quickly stamped the up-and-coming athlete with his seal of approval.

Less than two years later, the entire football world has caught on to what Bridgewater and Miami quickly learned: Russell has a chance to be a superstar. The 6-foot-5, 190-pound junior is now a five-star prospect in the 247Sports composite rankings for the Class of 2026, considered the No. 2 wide receiver in his recruiting class and the No. 2 player in the entire state of Florida. For two years he flirted with a future at quarterback, but now he’s fully committed to a long-term vision as a wideout.

After two exceptionally promising seasons, Russell expects his new, singular focus to help him elevate to another level as an upperclassman.

“I haven’t really showed nobody what I am,” Russell said.

He has, however, already showed everyone what a dynamic offensive weapon he can be.

After playing sparingly as a freshman, Russell was a second-team all-county selection by the Miami Herald last year, mostly playing receiver, but also mixing in a handful of spectacular dual-threat performances as a quarterback. In an encore showdown with the Explorers, Russell rushed for nearly 100 yards and had another dazzling 51-yard touchdown called back, dashing Northwestern’s chance at upsetting a top-25 opponent, according to MaxPreps’ rankings.

With his blend of size and athleticism, Russell had a chance to develop into a prototypical new-age quarterback. The same mix of size and athleticism, however, could make him one of the best receivers in the world.

Russell is still a basketball star—he was a first-team all-county selection last year—and the transition from the hardwood to wide receiver is a natural one. Russell tries to model his play off of iconic jumbo-sized wideouts like Andre Johnson and Calvin Johnson, trying to use the same skills that made him a regular double-double threat to win jump balls and 50-50 battles.

“It helps,” Bridgewater said, “every sport.”

Russell, who also competes in track and field, already holds more than 50 scholarship offers, with Miami and Florida State—plus some out-of-state programs, like Syracuse—involved in the early battle for the dynamic athlete.

He’s taking his recruitment slow, though. He knows his recruitment will get crazy next year and will have a wrinkle most others’ don’t.

“Right now, I’m not too sure what I want to do with the basketball-to-football situation,” Russell said. “I’ll definitely have a decision when the time comes.”