MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Morgantown senior point guard Alex Rudy was given an offer he couldn’t refuse: Play basketball for a perennial National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics program, Florida National, with a scholarship that covers almost all of his tuition.
It was just after the Woodrow Wilson game on Dec. 21, 2019, when Rudy and his mother, Linda, departed Morgantown to catch a flight to Miami. From there, the two dropped off their bags at the hotel and went to Nova Southeastern’s Elite basketball camp. There, FNU head coach James Thatcher and other coaches were waiting on the attendees to show up and after a few hours of the normal camp grind, the lot was split into 12 groups of five to play games. What followed helped squash any doubt that Rudy may be one of the best 3-point shooters in West Virginia. Rudy’s father, David, called it a “James Harden moment” – though it was probably more of a Kobe Bryant moment because Rudy didn’t flop – as his son netted 46 points. Seeing art in motion, the coaches were ecstatic and without beating around the bush offered Rudy a spot at FNU on the spot.
“I’m really proud of him,” Morgantown boys’ basketball coach Dave Tallman said. “He gave his heart and soul to this program, and we appreciate that. He’ll always be a part of this family.”
The NAIA is a conference for small colleges and universities in North America and currently hosts 251 schools in the United States, British Columbia and the Virgin Islands. One of those institutions is West Virginia Institute of Technology in Beckley. The NAIA is split into divisions, of which Florida National is a Division II school.
With the Morgantown boys’ season coming to an end in the Region I co-finals at Wheeling Park, Rudy ended his senior season with an average of 13 points, four assists and four rebounds per game.
“We knew [we wanted Rudy] when we went over and saw him play,” Thatcher said. “We shoot the ball a lot – we attempt about 35-40 3-pointers a game, so we knew that he was going to fit in right away.”
Though Rudy is moving far away, in the long run, his parents aren’t too disheartened that they’ll be hours apart as they’re planning on “making the provisions to go down that way eventually.”
“We’re all moving,” Linda pitched in.
Now official, Rudy knows he still has work to do. Already, he’s got a few things in mind: Hitting midrange pull-ups, getting through the cut faster and upgrading his defense.
“We know he’s athletic,” Thatcher said. Jordan called me and said that by the time we were getting to the [Elite camp] that we were having one of the best 3-point shooters coming from West Virginia. It wasn’t just his shooting, but we also checked out his athletic ability. You don’t see it all the time when people are coming from the Northeast or Midwest – you think everything’s fundamental. I think it’s going to shock some people next year. We look for more than just shooting even though we love shooting the ball a lot. It’s a storybook work out for everybody.”
And with a chapter closing as Rudy finishes his senior year of high school, there’s one person he can thank more than the rest. Sure, there’s a litany of people in his life that have gotten him to this point like Tallman, his parents and his teammates, but one man has been beside him since middle school pushing him to his limits to make him a better baller and person: His trainer, Mitch Martin.
“I remember before Alex went into high school, one of the biggest things I told him – I used to mess with him – that looking at him he looked like a regular white dude. So we started working on his athleticism when he was in 7th grade because we knew it would be tough for him to make the high school team. He’s been through development – a lot of strength and agility – since he was young. So whatever coach [Thatcher] throws at him in the future, hopefully, we laid the groundwork. This kid is like a son to me, a son I never had, so I’m very proud of him,”
TWEET @ASpellman_DPost
