Rusty LaRue (born December 10, 1973 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) is an American former multi-sport athlete who played basketball, baseball, and football at Wake Forest University. He later played for the Chicago Bulls team that won the 1998 National Basketball Association Championship. He was listed at 6'3" (1.90 m) and 185 pounds (84 kg).
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LaRue attended Northwest Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, where, in addition to being an honors student, he earned All-State honors in baseball, basketball, and football. As a senior in 1991, he was named North Carolina Athlete of the Year, and he attracted the attention of many colleges before choosing to attend Wake Forest, where he planned to play both basketball and football in the ACC. LaRue also played collegiate baseball for one season, becoming just the second player in ACC history to play three sports in the same year.
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men’s basketball | ||
| Competitor for United States | ||
| FIBA Americas Championship | ||
| Gold | 1997 Montevideo | Team competition |
LaRue arguably had his most collegiate success on the football field. As a freshman quarterback in 1992, he led Wake Forest's football team to an Independence Bowl victory, and during his senior year he broke eight NCAA records for passing, including the record for most completions in one game (55). However, LaRue was a solid basketball player, as well, as he helped his teammates reach the NCAA Tournament for four consecutive seasons. He also finished second in school history in three-point field goals made, and he finished first all-time in three-point field goal percentage.
After college, LaRue decided to focus exclusively on basketball. Though he was not drafted by an NBA team, he earned a spot on the Chicago Bulls' roster in 1997 after honing his craft in the minor leagues for one season. During the 1997–98 NBA season, LaRue averaged 3.5 points per game in limited playing time and earned an NBA Championship ring in the process. He would receive more minutes during the next season after Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Steve Kerr left the team, and he averaged 4.7 points and 1.5 assists per game while making 33.7% of his three-point field goal attempts. However, the Bulls cut ties with LaRue during the 1999–2000 NBA season as they continued their post-dynasty rebuilding process, and he returned to the minor leagues before signing with the Russian team CSKA Moscow in 2000.
After a year in Russia, LaRue returned to American and briefly played for the NBA's Utah Jazz during the 2001–02 NBA season (signed January 28, 2002[1]) before going back to the European leagues, where he joined the Italian team Pallacanestro Varese. In 2003, he returned to the NBA once again, this time as a member of the Boston Celtics, but he was waived before appearing in a regular season game, although he would appear in four games for the Golden State Warriors towards the end of the season.
LaRue served as head men's basketball coach at Greensboro College in 2004-05 and later was athletics director and basketball coach at Forsyth Country Day School in Winston-Salem.
In 2009, he re-joined the Wake Forest men's basketball program as an assistant coach under Dino Gaudio.[2]
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | Chicago | 14 | 0 | 10.0 | .408 | .250 | .625 | .6 | .4 | .2 | .1 | 3.5 |
| 1998–99 | Chicago | 43 | 6 | 17.0 | .359 | .337 | 1.000 | 1.3 | 1.5 | .8 | .1 | 4.7 |
| 1999–00 | Chicago | 4 | 1 | 32.3 | .349 | .143 | .714 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 1.8 | .0 | 9.3 |
| 2001-02 | Utah | 33 | 0 | 16.4 | .395 | .340 | .857 | 1.5 | 2.2 | .5 | .2 | 5.8 |
| 2003-04 | Golden State | 4 | 0 | 5.5 | .333 | 1.000 | .500 | .8 | .5 | .5 | .0 | 1.0 |
| Career | 98 | 7 | 16.0 | .376 | .318 | .841 | 1.3 | 1.6 | .6 | .1 | 5.0 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-02 | Utah | 4 | 0 | 13.3 | .375 | .400 | .600 | 1.5 | 1.5 | .2 | .0 | 5.0 |
| Career | 4 | 0 | 13.3 | .375 | .400 | .600 | 1.5 | 1.5 | .2 | .0 | 5.0 |
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