Rusty LaRue
| Rusty LaRue | |
|---|---|
 LaRue in 2013 | |
| Sport(s) | Basketball |
| Current position | |
| Title | Assistant coach |
| Team | Wake Forest |
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
December 10, 1973 Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Playing career | |
| 1993–1996 1997-1999 2000-2001 2002 2002-2003 2004 |
Wake Forest Chicago Bulls CSKA Moscow Utah Jazz Pallacanestro Varese Golden State Warriors |
| Position(s) | Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2004-2005 2005-2009 2009–present |
Greensboro College (NCAA DIII) Forsyth Country Day School Wake Forest (asst.) |
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). He is currently an assistant coach at his alma mater, Wake Forest, under head coach Jeff Bzdelik.
High school and college
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.
Professional playing career
After college, LaRue decided to focus exclusively on basketball because there were more opportunities to play professionally.[1] 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[2]) 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.
Coaching career
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.[3] He was retained as an assistant by new head coach Jeff Bzdelik in 2010.
NBA career statistics
| 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 |
Regular season
| 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 |
Playoffs
| 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 |
Notes
- ↑ "Talking with Wake Forest legend Rusty LaRue". Basketinside.com.
- ↑ Handing out postseason awards
- ↑ LaRue joins Wake Forest basketball staff
External links
- Official site
- Wake Forest profile
- Career stats at Basketball-Reference
- NBDL stats at Basketball-Reference
| ||||||||