The Bobcat Nation

Does anyone know where Bozeman high school's Gabe Rucker is going to attend school this fall. Last winter I heard a rumor that he was considering walking on at MSU. Maybe I missed it but I have not any announcement of him signing with any school yet. Just wondering.

mslacat wrote:Does anyone know where Bozeman high school's Gabe Rucker is going to attend school this fall. Last winter I heard a rumor that he was considering walking on at MSU. Maybe I missed it but I have not any announcement of him signing with any school yet. Just wondering.

i have heard some of the same things msla. i know he could have played at western for sure, and i thing northern too. i know lewis-clark state was looking at him a bit early last year but don't know what transpired. i think walking on is always a great option. especially for a player like him. he'll really make our guards bust their butts in practice because he is flat out annoying on defense and never gets tired. also, he is a pass first, pass second, pass third, pass fourth, shoot fifth type of guy which coaches seem to like in walk-ons. especially when they play great defense. i hope he gives it a shot, and the worst that could happen is it won't work out and he can head over and play at dillon or something.

I had heard he was taking a year off and then looking to play somewhere, or was maybe going to go the JC route.

Rucker is not a D1 player. There's a reason most of the interest in him is coming from NAIA schools.

Billings Cat wrote:Rucker is not a D1 player. There's a reason most of the interest in him is coming from NAIA schools.

true, but there is a reason that kids walk on. on it's not uncommon for kids to be rewarded with a scholarship after walking on and busting their butts. it boils down to how well they fit in, and what the kids goals are. if there goals are to play a ton of minutes, score a ton of points, and make a ton of highlights, then naia might be the answer. if growing up, all they wanted to do was play d-1, and that's their dream, then walking on is great option. i've known gabe since he was an annoying little kid, and i'm very familiar with the cat basketball program and especially their walk-on program. gabe has the tools to be a great walk on player if he chooses. will he be starting for the cats in a few years? doubtful. but his defense is tenacious. and his motor doesn't stop. coaches love that in their practice players. he could play a big part in making the cat starters better simply by the way he practices. whether or not he wants to is completely up to him. but no one is sitting here saying he's gonna be the next star in the big sky...

Walking -on to a program is tough. First of all you are walking on because coaches did not think you were "good enough" to bestow a scholarship on. You have to work just as hard as the scholarship players, if not harder, and you have to pay for everything yourself. Not to mention be looked on by some fans as a second class player. Still though there have been a handful of players who have proven everybody wrong, Kevin Criswell immediately comes to mind but there have been others. It is a tough road but some have made it work for them, although most do not.


All that said, I do not know what Mr. Ruckers plans are. I heard a rumor 6-8 months ago, but nothing since, so I do not want to assume he is or even considering walking on. I was just curious if anyone knew. I believe he is the only member of the Montana All star team that faced Wyoming who I have not heard what his college plans were. What ever his plans are I wish him luck.

mslacat, it was interesting that from the Montana Wyoming game the majority of the kids on it were going on to play Football. Very few of the 10 from the guys were headed for basketball anywhere.

tetoncat wrote:mslacat, it was interesting that from the Montana Wyoming game the majority of the kids on it were going on to play Football. Very few of the 10 from the guys were headed for basketball anywhere.

It's a numbers game--there's more colleges and universities that play basketball than football, but the number of players on a football team is probably 5 or 6 times the number on a basketball team at a school at least. Of course, the Midland Roundtable in all their wisdom left off at least one in 6'9" Steven Davis who is walking on for the Cats. Montana also seems to be much more of a "football" state than a "basketball" one as well. And they weren't any better on the girls' side leaving off a number of signees at the D1 & D2 level in favor of some players who are either going NAIA or haven't been recruited at all in basketball.