Rusty LaRue is in his fifth season as an assistant coach on the Demon Deacon basketball staff in 2013-14. A member of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame, LaRue returned to coach at his alma mater in May of 2009.
LaRue has been instrumental in mentoring two-time All-ACC honorees C.J. Harris and Travis McKie. Harris developed into one of the top scoring guards in the ACC, ranking fourth in the league in scoring as a junior and sixth as a senior. McKie is one of the top all-around players in the ACC, ranking among the league's best in scoring, rebounding and steals.
In his first season on Deacon bench in 2009-10, LaRue helped Wake Forest to a 20-win season and an NCAA Tournament appearance. The Deacons posted seven RPI top-50 victories and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005.
LaRue's efforts in recruiting have also helped lay the foundation for future success at Wake Forest, as the Deacons' 2010 recruiting class was ranked No. 6 in the country and the 2012 class was No. 21 according to ESPN.
Inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 2008, LaRue is perhaps the most prolific multi-sport athlete in the modern history of the school. As a junior in 1995, LaRue became the first athlete since 1952 and just the second in ACC history to compete in football, basketball and baseball in the same year.
On the basketball court, LaRue was a member of Wake Forest's back-to-back ACC Championship teams in 1995 and 1996. He is one of seven players in program history to play in four NCAA Tournaments.
From 1993-96, LaRue scored 667 career points and made 151 career 3-point field goals. He finished his career as the program's all-time 3-point percentage leader and was second in 3-point field goals. He currently ranks seventh all-time at Wake Forest in both career 3-point field goals and three-point attempts, and his career 3-point percentage of 43.4 percent is the fifth-best mark in school history.
As a senior, LaRue was named a GTE Academic All-American, and his 46.4 percent mark from the three-point line ranked second in the ACC and 15th in the nation.
LaRue went on to play professional basketball for eight years, spending five seasons in the NBA. He was a member of the Chicago Bulls' NBA Championship team in 1998 and also spent time with the Utah Jazz and the Golden State Warriors. In addition to playing overseas in Italy and Russia, LaRue also spent time in the CBA and the NBDL.
LaRue was honored by the ACC in 2006, being named to that year's class of ACC Basketball Legends.
LaRue also played football and baseball for Wake Forest. A four-year letterwinner at quarterback from 1992-95, LaRue set school and ACC records that still stand, including marks for total offensive yards, total offensive plays, pass attempts, pass completions and passing yards in a game. He finished his football career with 5,016 career passing yards, the fifth-highest total in school history.
LaRue still holds the NCAA FBS record for most pass completions in a game after finishing with 55 against Duke on Oct. 28, 1995.
In 1995, LaRue pitched in one game for the baseball team, earning a save with three innings of two-hit relief in a win over Furman.
LaRue was honored as an ACC Basketball Legend in 2006.
LaRue was a standout in the classroom, as he earned Academic All-ACC honors and received the ACC Scholarship Award and an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. He was named Wake Forest's Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1996 and was also selected as the Arnold Palmer Award winner as a senior.
Following his professional basketball playing days, LaRue spent one season as the head basketball coach at Greensboro College in 2004-05.
Most recently, LaRue was the athletic director and head boys' basketball coach at Forsyth Country Day School in Winston-Salem. He spent four seasons in charge of the Furies basketball program and three seasons as athletic director.
LaRue also spent two seasons, 2007-08, as the head football coach, winning two conference championships and being named conference Coach of the Year in 2007.
LaRue founded the Rusty LaRue Basketball Academy (RLBA), which oversees summer youth basketball camps throughout the area, and the Triad Titans, which is a non-profit basketball organization for local youth. The RLBA began the Triad Pro-Am Summer League, one of the premier summer leagues on the East Coast, for local college and professional players.
LaRue also started the Rusty LaRue Charity Golf Classic which benefits The Children's Center for the Physically Disabled of Winston-Salem.
LaRue is a native of nearby Kernersville, N.C. He graduated from Wake Forest in 1996 with a degree in computer science.
LaRue and wife, Tammy, have three sons, Riley (17), Cooper (15) and Maverick (13), and a daughter, Clara (9).
The Rusty LaRue File
Birthdate
December 10, 1973
Birth Place
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Hometown
Kernersville, N.C.
High School
Northwest Guilford HS in Greensboro, N.C.
Alma Mater
Wake Forest, 1996
Degree
B.S. in computer science with a minor in mathematics
Wife
Tammy
Children
Sons Riley (17), Cooper (15), Maverick (13); Daughter Clara (9)
Playing Background
Played basketball and football at Wake Forest from 1993-96; played baseball at Wake in 1995; spent eight years playing professional basketball, including five seasons in the NBA; won an NBA Championship with the Chicago Bulls in 1998.
Coaching History
2010-14 (5th season)
Assistant Coach, Wake Forest
2006-09 (4 seasons)
Athletic Director and Head Boy's Basketball Coach, Forsyth Country Day School in Winston-Salem, N.C.
2009 (1 season)
Assistant Football Coach, Forsyth Country Day School
2007-08 (2 seasons)
Head Football Coach, Forsyth Country Day School
2006 (1 season)
Assistant Football Coach, Forsyth Country Day School
