His accomplishments echoed volumes but he wanted them spoken softly.\u00a0 His gift of helping others was the norm,\u00a0 never the exception.\u00a0 His passion for victory was relentless and produced many victories.\u00a0 2002 Branford Sports Hall of Fame inductee Russell \u201cRusty\u201d Gordon has provided quiet team service and leadership as a player, coach, volunteer and referee for the Branford community.<\/p>\n
Tonight\u2019s inductee attended Branford High School from 1972 to 1975, where he was a two-sport athlete –\u00a0 in soccer and basketball.\u00a0 As a three-year player for the Hornets soccer team, \u201cRusty\u201d as he was nicknamed, was part of a Housatonic League title during his senior season. That year, Branford compiled an 8-4-3 record and Rusty was named to the All-Housatonic League Second Team.\u00a0 As a guard on the Hornets basketball team, he led Branford to a Housatonic League title in 1975. The team compiled a 19-1 record, its only loss being at the hands of the East Haven Yellow Jackets.\u00a0 Rusty played alongside current Recreation Director, Alex Palluzzi, Jr. and was coached by hall of fame member Tom Murray (\u201992).\u00a0 He was described in the Milestone Yearbook as being \u201ca strong guard whose value to any team far supercedes that shown on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n
After graduation, \u00a0Rusty attended Central Connecticut State University and played soccer during his freshman season.\u00a0 He is employed by the Regional Water Authority, now in his 22nd year,\u00a0 and is presently a crew chief with the company.<\/p>\n
Tonight\u2019s inductee continued his passion for basketball and for the youth in the town as he started to coach freshman boys basketball in 1982 and continues to coach today at Branford High School for varsity head coach and athletic director John (Jake) Palluzzi.\u00a0 For his outstanding leadership and devotion to his junior varsity team, Rusty was named Assistant Coach of the Year in the state of Connecticut in 1999 by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association.\u00a0\u00a0 He has won over 200 games on the freshman and junior varsity level.\u00a0\u00a0 He has been a high school football official for 11 years, including service for the Eastern Connecticut Athletic Conference the past six years.\u00a0 As a major contributor to the community and the Branford Recreation Department, Rusty has coached voluntarily or refereed in the Frank J. Kinney Boys Basketball tournament since 1966 and serves as night supervisor at Veteran Memorial Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":577,"template":"","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/inductee\/576"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/inductee"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/inductee"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}