Wayne State University Athletics

Russell Lightbody was an outstanding basketball and football star for Wayne back in the 1920s when the University was called City College of Detroit. He was the outstanding male athlete at the College from 1921 through 1924. He captained the basketball team for three seasons and led the nation in scoring during the 1923-1924 season. Lightbody was rated the best floor guard in the Midwest during the '23-'24 basketball season. In football he quarterbacked the 1921 and unscored-upon Tartar team. In the 1920 Ferris State game, Lightbody scored four touchdowns and converted six extra points for a total of 30 points to set a single-game scoring record which still stands in the WSU record books.

Former Wayne Coach David L. Holmes called Lightbody the greatest all-around athlete in the school's history and a moving spirit of the athletic organization at Wayne.

Born in 1901, Russell Lightbody passed away at the early age of 38 from pneumonia