There was a time when college basketball royalty descended upon Lake Ronkonkoma, hoping to land Jeff Ruland. Among the college coaches vying for the Sachem star’s talent was Indiana coach Bobby Knight.
News of his recent passing brought back memories for Ruland, who achieved McDonald’s All-American status as one of the best big men in the country before eventually choosing Iona and Jimmy Valvano to stay closer to his mom on Long Island.
His final three options were between Iona, Indiana, and Kentucky, coached by Joe B. Hall, another legend from that era. Notre Dame’s Digger Phelps AND UNC’s Dean Smith were also interested.
“Bobby came a couple of times to practices and games,” said Ruland. “One time, he saw me run a 23-second suicide in practice. I knew he would make me a better player if I went there, but if I went, I also had an inkling we’d get into it and fight at some point. It was very important for my mom to see me play, so I went to Iona.”
During the recruiting process, Indiana sent him $600 to cover the cost of a car service from the airport to their campus during one visit. It was $540 too much since the limo was $60, Ruland said.
“That’s a windfall of money for me then,” he said. “I had two pairs of jeans to my name. I went out and spent the money.”
After he chose Iona, he got a letter in the mail from Indiana saying they would report him to the NCAA for accepting the funds if he didn’t pay the money back.
Knight would also have his current players call recruits after wins to keep the pressure on and talk about what they were experiencing. Indiana was 32-0 in 1975-76 and won the NCAA Division I National Championship. That’s a lot of calls to Farmingville.
Tom Sabatelle was a Sachem basketball coach before he became athletic director of the district and recalls Knight having a low-key presence. He would sit quietly with the other top coaches. After one game where he saw Ruland hurt his ankle, he offered some tips on how to treat it.
“He gave us recommendations for what he would do with his players,” Sabatelle said. “Sure enough, Jeff was good to go a few days later.”
Long Island was a hotbed of talent in the late 1970s. Coaches who made the trip east were on the trail for North Babylon’s Stan Wilcox (Notre Dame) and Kevin Hamilton (Iona), Babylon’s Glen and Brian Vickers (both went to Iona), East Hampton’s Howard Wood (Tennessee) and, of course, the 6-foot-11 Ruland.
As a senior, Ruland broke his ankle in a playoff game and scored 40 points in the semifinals against East Hampton and Wood. Sachem lost 64-57 to North Babylon in the county finals.
Fast forward to the summer of 1977, and Ruland was trying out for the U.S. team in the Pan American Games coached by Knight. He sprained his ankle during the first practice.
“Knight and his coaching staff didn’t have the nicest things to say to NBA scouts about me,” Ruland recounted. “That’s my Bobby Knight story.”
Ruland helped Iona reach a national ranking, upset No. 1 Louisville at Madison Square Garden, make the NCAA Tournament for the first time, and later spent nine years in the NBA, where he was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1982 and became a two-time NBA All-Star.
Knight coached at Indiana from 1971 through 2000 and is one of the most successful and well-known college basketball coaches the world will ever know. He won three national championships and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.
It all worked out.