Family Ties For Ruscoe
Tagged in: FIBA U19 World Championship, Junior Tall Blacks
New Zealand Junior Tall Black Brook Ruscoe does not have to go far if he wants someone to critique his game.
He doesn’t even have to go outside his family.
All it takes is a call or facebook message to either of his cousins, Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe and Luke Ruscoe, or a chat with one of his uncles, Matt and Pete Ruscoe.
If the Hills are the first family of New Zealand basketball, you could easily make a case for the Ruscoes to be second.
Brook, a 1.83m combo guard from Porirua, is just the latest from a family with a deep basketball tradition, suiting up for New Zealand at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Auckland, starting Thursday.
Kate has been a member of the national women’s team for most of the decade, playing more than 50 games for the Tall Ferns, and competing at the Beijing Olympics last year, while Luke has played parts of seven seasons in the National Basketball League with the Nelson Giants, Canterbury Rams and Christchurch Cougars.
Uncle Matt Ruscoe is a former Tall Black in 1977 and an NBL player and coach, Pete Ruscoe played in the NBL, while Aunt Jane McMeeken is a former New Zealand women’s captain in the early 1980s.
“I don’t know if it’s helped. Well, it has helped because they dog me when I haven’t done something right and tell me when I have done something well,” the 18-year-old said of his family connection.
“It was more just getting into it. When I was younger, if they hadn’t played then I probably wouldn’t have played basketball and I wouldn’t be here.”
Ruscoe is one of the most decorated members of the JTBs squad, having won four national age-group and secondary schools titles, earned national tournament MVP honours three times and been selected to seven tournament teams throughout the age-groups.
When team-mate Richie Edwards was told Ruscoe was the back-to-back AA secondary schools MVP, leading his St Patrick’s College team to the title both years, he replied: “oh you the man, dawg”.
Ruscoe sees his role in the JTBs as a facilitator, rather than a dominant playmaker.
“I think it’s to be a leader now. I’ve been in the team four years and I may have to slide into the point guard role if Logan or Josh get injured. I just have to lead, not so much go out and score points because we’ve got more scorers now but just to go out and lead and help the others out.”
After the FIBA tournament, Ruscoe, who lists Alicia Keys as his favourite musician, wants to follow his older cousins, who attended USA colleges on scholarships, Kate at the Universities of Hawaii and Buffalo and Luke at Brown University.
“Before I was still up and down about if I wanted to go. I’ve decided that I do want to fully commit and go to the States. It’s getting pretty late in the period to sign, so if it happens, it’s going to happen quickly.”
Just like a Ruscoe slash to the hoop.
