Ruddy spent one season as a student assistant (2003-2004), two seasons as a grad assistant (2004-2006), and the final year of his tenure at UNI as the video coordinator under current coach Ben Jacobson. Since his time at UNI, Ruddy sat on the bench as an assistant coach at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa before moving on to Hoover High School in Des Moines as an assistant coach.
Ruddy took some time to offer insights about his job at UNI under Coach Mac, his thoughts about his former boss taking the Creighton job, and what Bluejays fans can expect from their new head coach.
- Ruddy (blue shirt) along with Coach Mac (red) with former high school teammates (green), former Iowa & UNI players (gray), and former All-American Nick Collison at a fundraiser in 2008. Photo courtesy of the Fort Dodge Messenger
White & Blue Review: For those not too familiar with the world of coaching, describe your duties and responsibilities as a student assistant, a grad assistant, and video coordinator?
Justin Ruddy: I definitely took on more responsibilities after my first year as a student assistant, but I don’t think my duties changed too much from year to year while at UNI. Under Coach Mac, from the first day I started helping with the team he made it clear that I could put in as much or as little time helping out as I wanted. I took that literally, and spent as many hours as I could in the basketball office and at practice.
At the time there was only one other full-time student assistant so we both got to travel with the team. We shared duties that included managing the recruiting database, organizing and operating the film exchange, getting everything ready for practice, helping with individual workouts, helping out during practices, helping with team travel, cutting game film for scouting opponents, and coordinating the game film for self scouting purposes.
WBR: You started as a student assistant. How did you go about approaching McDermott about being a student assistant? What was his initial response?
JR: I worked a Northern Iowa Basketball Camp in the summer of 2003. Once the school year started, I decided that I wanted to get more serious about coaching so I went to the basketball office and talked with Coach Ron Smith. I told him my intentions on wanting to coach and he said they could use any extra help. The next day I went up to the basketball office again to work and Coach Mac introduced himself and welcomed me to the program. He said I could be as involved as I wanted and I would get out of it what I put into it.
WBR: It has been mentioned that he’s a player’s coach. Creighton fans have only observed Coach McDermott as a opponent (while at UNI). Can you describe his interactions and relationships with players?
JR: As a student manager and graduate assistant you have a good relationship with the players and the coaches. From my experiences, I consider Coach Mac to be honest and fair with the players. He might not always tell you what you want to hear, but he will always be honest with you. He pushes his players to compete at their highest level and demands hard work and attention to detail. He also expects his players to represent the university in a first class manner on and off the court. He runs his program with structure and discipline and holds his players accountable for their actions. I would send my kid to play for Coach Mac in a second.
WBR: Having worked with and for both McDermott and Jacobson, describe a few of the similarities and differences between the two?
JR: From my experiences; I think they are similar in the way they run their programs. Both coaches are very structured and disciplined. The way they prepare and scout and their attention to detail is very similar. They are both very competitive. I only worked under Coach Jake for one year and it was his first year as a head coach, but I think he’s a little more reserved than Coach Mac. Coach Jake has a way of saying a lot without saying very much.
WBR: What else can you tell casual Creighton fans about McDermott they might not already know by only seeing UNI up close and personal twice a season?
JR: Coach Mac is very competitive and hates to lose no matter what the game is. He will use any angle he can to exploit his opponent. He is approachable, humble, and down to earth.
WBR: What is the feeling of UNI alumni toward McDermott for accepting the Creighton head coaching job, a conference foe his alma mater will play at least twice a year?
JR: I’m not sure. I can only speak for myself and I am thrilled for Coach Mac and his new opportunity at Creighton. I hope UNI grads don’t harbor any ill will toward Coach Mac, especially since they haven’t missed a beat since he left. He might catch some boos but I hope its nothing too bad. I wish him nothing but success at Creighton and hope he is there for a very long time.
WBR: Will Coach McDermott finally win a regular season conference championship, something he didn’t achieve at UNI? If so, how many years will it take him?
JR: Coach Mac has all of the resources in place to be successful at CU. Sometimes fans don’t understand how hard it is to win these days. They want to take shortcuts and expect easy fixes, but that’s not reality. You have to be very good, stay healthy, be a little lucky, and have the ball bounce your way some nights when you struggle. I can remember my first year at UNI, we had a staff get-together after a game because for the first time under Coach Mac we wouldn’t have to play on the first night of Arch Madness. I have no doubt in my mind McDermott will be competitive and have Creighton back up at the top of the Valley competing for championships.
WBR: Dou still keep in contact with McDermott or ask him for coaching tips or advice?
JR: We still keep in contact. I consider Coach Mac a very close friend and a mentor. I look up to him with a ton of respect and gratitude for everything he has done for me. We text sometimes after games and I made it up to a handful of Iowa State games over the past couple of years. I haven’t had to ask him for any coaching tips yet. Maybe when I become a head coach I will lean on him more for coaching advice.
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After Coach Mac went to Iowa State and Ruddy off to Simpson College, they reunited, along with several other former Iowa and UNI basketball players in Fort Dodge, Iowa, in July 2008. Coach Mac showed his friendship and support for Ruddy (a graduate of St. Edmond High School in Fort Dodge) by attending a fundraiser in Ruddy’s honor. A charity basketball game was put together to raise money for a kidney transplant as Ruddy battled Berger’s disease. Not only did they raise money, they also increased awareness in organ donations.
”It’s neat that the sport of basketball, in a small way, can help someone out with the bigger picture,” McDermott said at the time. ”I think the most important thing Justin wants out of this besides raising some money, is to raise the importance of organ donation. He wants to have 50 organ donators by the end of the day, and I think we can blow that number out of the water.”
McDermott was right. More than 75 donors signed up that day.