ANTHONY RUIZ '15 Recruiting Profile

    I live my life and judge myself according to my work ethic and goals that I set for myself.  For as long as I can remember, I have loved the game of basketball.  And I have been inspired by my freshman coach to pursue a career in coaching high school basketball.  

    I was born and grew up in a very small town in South Texas where at the time there was one "summer ball" team in my city and my junior high school had two coaches, one for all of the boys sports and one for all of the girls sports.   As a result, much of what I learned about the game of basketball by the time I reached 7th grade and my family moved to San Antonio I had learned on my own.  Catching up with my peers in San Antonio, many of whom had parents who were coaches and/or had been playing AAU ball for three years or longer, was a challenge but I worked very hard, I learned from some very good middle and high school, AAU and private coaches and I was able to get to a point where I played varsity ball in high school and I played for some of the top-ranked AAU teams in the state.      

     At the same time, I maintained an "A" average in school, I became an accomplished chess player, I was very active in my church and I earned the rank of Eagle Scout.  I also landed a spot on my high school varsity track team where I ran the 100 and 200 meter and 400 meter relay.  I have now had the opportunity to spend a year playing for a DII junior varsity team during which time I have continued to learn and grow as a player while still maintaining an "A" average.  

     I will be spending the off season working on improving my skills as a player.  I will be spending a month at the IMG Academy in Florida this summer.  While back home in San Antonio this summer I also intend to continue to work with Coach Springer, a coach who has helped coach some NBA and NBA draft players, including Danny Green and Kawai Leonard,  and has worked alongside the likes of Coach Becky Hammon.  And as always, I will continue to work on my own to try and become the best player I can be.  

     I believe that my background has taught me valuable skills as a player and instilled in me the type of work ethic and determination that will allow me to be a real asset to any coach who gives me the opportunity to play for his team.   I have high hopes of continuing to advance as a college basketball player and I am prepared to help take any team I play for in the future to the next level.