Rusty LaRue
Position: Shooting GuardHeight/Weight: 6-3 / 190
Birthdate: December 10, 1973
High School: Northwest Guilford High (Greensboro, N.C.)
College: Wake Forest ‘96
Rusty LaRue is a significant part of the Altitude record books, competing during the team’s inaugural season. He played in 26 games for the Altitude before signing a 10-day contract with the Utah Jazz on Jan. 28, becoming Asheville’s second NBDL to NBA call-up of the season. In Asheville, LaRue averaged 12.1 points, 2.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 28.0 minutes of per game. He started 17 games and ranked second in the NBDL in free-throw percentage (.902) and fourth in three-point percentage (.431) when he signed with the Jazz. He was the fourth player ever called-up to the NBA from the NBDL.
LaRue played in 43 games with the 1998 NBA Champion Chicago Bulls but was not on the Bulls’ playoff roster that season. He averaged 4.7 points and 1.5 assists in 17.0 minutes of play. He started six times and led the team in assists three times and steals five times. He posted a career-high nine assists vs. Vancouver (4/4/99). In his first career NBA start, LaRue scored 10 points against the Milwaukee Bucks. He scored a career-high 15 points in 22 minutes off the bench against the Toronto Raptors and matched his career-high against Miami later that season. He started the final four games of the season, averaging 8.0 points and 2.3 assists. He was waived by the Bulls prior to the start of the regular season, but signed again on Dec. 20. He played in four games before being waived for the second time on Dec. 29.
Following the Bulls, LaRue played a stint with CSKA Russia and NBA Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko during the 2000-1001 season, averaging 6.7 points, 1.0 assists and 18.0 minutes per game in 24 contest in the SuproLeague.
A graduate of Wake-Forest, LaRue was the first athlete in school history and second in the ACC to play three sports (football, basketball and baseball) in the same year (1994-95). As a quarterback, he broke eight NCAA passing and total offense records. In baseball, he earned a save in three innings of relief pitching. As a senior on the basketball court, LaRue competed in 32 games, averaging 10.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 30.6 minutes of play. He led the Demon Deacons to back-to-back ACC Championships and was named to the Academic All-American Third Team in basketball.
A native of Greensboro, N.C., LaRue graduated from Northwest Guilford High School, returning home every summer to put on basketball camps for boys and girls grades 1-8. He has three sons, Riley, Cooper and Maverice, with wife Tammy.
