Alexander Marc Ruoff (born August 29, 1986) is a retired American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who is an assistant coach for the Greensboro Swarm of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. In college, he played

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

for the

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

Mountaineers Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

basketball team. Ruoff set school records for the most 3-pointers made in a game and most career 3-point field goals.

Early life

Ruoff was born in

Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located north of Cincinnati along the Great Miami River, Hamilton is the second-most populous city in the Cincinnati metropolitan area and the List of municipaliti ...

, and relocated to

Spring Hill, Florida Spring Hill is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hernando County, Florida, United States. The population was 113,568 at the 2020 census, up from 98,621 at the 2010 census. Spring Hill belongs to Florida's Nature Coast region and is in the ...

in 1999. He attended Central High School in

Brooksville, Florida Brooksville is a city in and the county seat of Hernando County, Florida, Hernando County, Florida, in the United States. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census it had a population of 7,719, up from 7,264 at the 2000 census. Brooksville is ...

, where he was a four-year varsity player. As a senior, Ruoff averaged 30 points and 12 rebounds before injuring his foot in December. Among other accolades, Ruoff earned all-state honors, Hernando County player of the year, and was nominated as a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

All-American. He holds school records for assists, blocks, and steals, and ties the school record for points in a game. Ruoff was the first Hernando County Boys' basketball player to sign with a division one university. He was the 46th ranked senior in the nation according to hoopmasters.com. Ruoff was considered as "arguably the greatest boys basketball player to ever come out of Central High School".

Collegiate career

Freshman season

As a freshman, Ruoff played in 21 games averaging only four minutes in each game. Ruoff then scored his first collegiate basket against

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. He averaged one point per game and 0.5 rebounds per game.

Sophomore season

After the highly touted senior class, led by Kevin Pittsnogle and Mike Gansey, graduated from West Virginia, Ruoff took over at the shooting guard position and started every game. Ruoff scored a season-high (and then career-high) 23 points against

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and 11 points and 8 assists against

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

. Against

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, Ruoff tallied 12 points, 5 rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Ruoff then had a team-high 14 points against Notre Dame and 13 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and three steals against

USF USF may refer to: Universities * University of Saint Francis (Indiana), Ft. Wayne, Indiana * University of San Francisco, California * University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida * University of St. Francis, Joliet, Illinois * University of Sioux ...

. He then had a team-high 18 points in the upset victory over #2

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. In the opening round of the Big East tournament, Ruoff scored 21 points against Providence. Then in the NIT tournament, Ruoff had his first career double-double with 15 points and 11 assists against

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

. Ruoff finished the season second in the Big East in assist-to-turnover ratio, only behind teammate Darris Nichols, while his 191 assists was the third most in school history in a season.

Junior season

With the addition of new head coach

Bob Huggins Robert Edward Huggins (born September 21, 1953), nicknamed "Huggy Bear", is an American college basketball coach. He was the head coach at Walsh, Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State, and West Virginia. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial ...

, Ruoff and the Mountaineers began hot in his junior season of 2007. He opened his season up with 17 points, then 22 points against Prairie View A&M. In a 74–72 loss to

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, Ruoff scored 14 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and dished 4 assists. In an 88–59 victory over Auburn, Ruoff scored a career-high 28 points, also adding 3 steals and 3 assists, and 2 rebounds. He then added 15 points and 5 assists in the victory over Duquesne. In the victory over

Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia, United States. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate ...

, Ruoff scored 23 points, then followed it up with 14 points against

Canisius Canisius may refer to: People * Saint Peter Canisius (1521–1597), Dutch Jesuit Catholic priest * Theodorich Canisius (1532–1606), Jesuit academic, half-brother of St. Peter Canisius * Henricus Canisius (1562–1610), Dutch canonist and histor ...

. In the loss to

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, Ruoff scored 17 and in the following loss to Notre Dame he scored 18 points. In the victory over Marquette, Ruoff scored 19 points, but then scored 13 points in the loss to

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

. But he bounced back with 23 points in the

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

win. He then had 14 points against

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

and 13 points against Georgetown. In the 81–63 victory over

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

, Ruoff scored 14 points; followed by 15 points and 6 rebounds against

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

. In the 80–53 victory over Providence, Ruoff scored 14 points. In the 20th win of the season, against DePaul, Ruoff scored a team-high 22 points with 4 rebounds. Ruoff scored 12 points in a 79–71 loss to

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. In the 76–62 victory over the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facul ...

in the home finale, Ruoff scored 14 points. In an 83–74 overtime victory over Providence, Ruoff scored 15 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. Ruoff finished the season with 14.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3 assists per game on the year. In the first round of the NCAA tournament, Ruoff scored 21 points and grabbed 3 rebounds as the Mountaineers defeated the #10-seed

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

. In the second round upset over the #2-seed

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the N ...

, 73–67, Ruoff scored a key 17 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. In the Sweet 16 loss to #3-seed Xavier in overtime, Ruoff scored 14 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. In his junior season, Alex Ruoff averaged 13.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game over the season. In the Mountaineers' Sweet 16 Tournament run, Ruoff averaged 17.3 points and 5 rebounds per game.

Senior season

Ruoff began his senior campaign with 19 points, 6 steals, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds against Elon. Then against Longwood he scored 12 and grabbed 7 boards, and then scored 25 points and had 4 steals against Delaware State to open the Las Vegas Invitational Tournament. In the following round against

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, he scored 13 points and had 3 assists, and then in the loss to

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

he scored 10. As they beat

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, Ruoff scored 16 and had 3 assists. In the next win over

Cleveland State Cleveland State University (CSU) is a Public university, public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school th ...

, Ruoff became the 45th Mountaineer to exceed 1,000 career points scored with his 5 points in the game. Ruoff missed the following two losses, however, with a shoulder injury sustained in the Cleveland State game. Ruoff returned to action in the 82–46 victory over Miami University, totaling 15 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals. Ruoff broke WVU's school record for 3-point shots made in a game against Radford with 9, on his way to scoring a career high 38 points. In the 76–48 win over

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

, Ruoff had 17 points; followed by 18 points in a win over

. In the loss to #1

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

, he had 13 points and 7 rebounds. He then had 13 points and 8 assists in the loss to Marquette. Ruoff then had 15 points and 19 points against

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

and

, respectively. In the 75–58 win over Georgetown, he had 10 points and 9 assists. As the Mountaineers lost to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

in the

Backyard Brawl The Backyard Brawl is an American college sports rivalry between the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and the West Virginia University Mountaineers. While historically a rivalry between the two schools' football programs, the term "Backyar ...

, Ruoff totaled 16 points. Following the loss, he totaled 17 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds in the victory over St. John's. Ruoff then had 16 points in the 69–63 loss to

. In the loss to

, he followed with 10 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds. Ruoff then had 24 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds in the win over Providence, reaching the 20-point mark for the first time in 11 games. In the next loss to Pittsburgh, he recorded 17 points. In the following 93–72 win over Villanova, he had 8 points. In the 79–68 win over Notre Dame, he had 24 points and 4 assists. Ruoff then had 12 points and 7 assists in the win over

. In the loss to

he had 18 points and in the following win over South Florida he had 16 points. In the win over DePaul he then had 20 points with six 3-pointers, typing himself at first place on WVU's all-time 3-point field goals list with Kevin Pittsnogle. Ruoff was expected to easily break Pittsnogle's record against

, but after his spending senior night scoreless and plagued by foul trouble, Ruoff could only hold his head in shame. In Ruoff's final regular season game as a Mountaineer, the 62–59 loss to #6

, Ruoff had 0 points and 6 turnovers - only playing 22 minutes due to 4 personal fouls. In the second round matchup of the Big East tournament against Notre Dame, Ruoff scored a team-high 25 points - breaking the school record for all-time 3-point shots made. In the quarterfinals round, a 74–60 victory over #2

, Ruoff scored 18 points with 2 rebounds and assists. In the semifinals' 74–69 overtime loss to #20

, Ruoff scored 9 points with 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Over the Tournament tenure, he averaged 17.3 points. However, the Mountaineers lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, 68–60, with Ruoff scoring 9 points with 5 rebounds - only playing 24 minutes before fouling out. Alex Ruoff ended his senior season with career-highs of 15.7 points per game, 3.4 assists per game, and 3.6 rebounds per game. Ruoff had season-highs of 38 points and 8 rebounds against Radford, and 9 assists against Georgetown. Ruoff was one of five players named to ESPN the Magazine's 2008-2009 Academic All-America First team along with being named the 2008-09

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

Scholar Athlete of the Year. Ruoff was also named as an honorable mention selection to the All-Big East team and was named the Big East's 2008-09 recipient of the Sportsmanship Award.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2009 NBA draft, he joined the Washington Wizards for the 2009 NBA Summer League. He later joined Belgacom Liege Basket of Belgium for the 2009–10 season. He joined the New Jersey Nets for the 2010 NBA Summer League. In September 2010, he signed with

Okapi Aalstar Okapi Aalst is a Belgian professional basketball club from Aalst, Belgium. The club competes in the top tier BNXT League and plays its home games in the Okapi Forum, which has a seating capacity of 2,800 people. Okapi is a long-time participant ...

of Belgium for the 2010–11 season. In 2011, he re-signed with Aalstar for the 2011–12 season. However, in November 2011, he sustained a season-ending injury. On November 2, 2012, Ruoff was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2012 NBA Development League Draft by the Erie BayHawks. On November 5, he was traded to the Reno Bighorns. On November 6, he was again traded to the Canton Charge. On February 6, 2013, he was waived by Charge. On March 1, 2013, he was acquired by the Iowa Energy. In April 2013, he re-joined Aalstar for the rest of the 2012–13 season. In the summer of 2013, he signed with

BG Göttingen Basketballgemeinschaft Göttingen () is a German basketball club based in Göttingen, Germany. In 2010, the club won the EuroChallenge against Krasnye Krylya Samara from Russia. The team plays in Germany's second division, the ProA. History Once ...

of Germany. On June 29, 2015, Ruoff signed with Spanish club

Bilbao Basket Club Basket Bilbao Berri Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., commonly known as Bilbao Basket (), also known as Surne Bilbao Basket for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Bilbao, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. T ...

for the 2015–16 season. The 2016–17 season Ruoff started with MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg but left the club on October 14, 2016, after appearing in five games. Six days later he returned to his former club Göttingen for the rest of the

2016–17 Basketball Bundesliga The 2016–17 Basketball Bundesliga was the 51st season of the Basketball Bundesliga, the top-tier level of professional club basketball in Germany. The season started on 23 September 2016 and ended on 11 June 2017. The name of the league was cha ...

season. On July 16, 2017, Ruoff signed with Spanish club

Joventut Badalona Club Joventut Badalona, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional basketball club based in Badalona, Catalonia, Spain, playing in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup. Known to their fans as ''La Penya'' (in English, ''The Club''), it is one of only two team ...

for the 2017–18 season. In July 2018 he signed with

Mitteldeutscher BC Mitteldeutscher Basketball Club (), for sponsorship reasons named SYNTAINICS MBC, and commonly known as simply MBC, is a professional basketball club based in Weißenfels, Germany. The club currently plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, the first ...

. On January 13, 2021, he has signed with

Brose Bamberg Bamberg Baskets is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia/North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup six times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketball ...

of the German

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

(BBL). Ruoff announced his retirement from professional basketball in late August 2022. He returned to West Virginia for the 2022–23 season, where he became a

Graduate Assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

, while pursuing a master's degree in

sport management Sport management is the field of business dealing with sports and recreation. Sports management involves any combination of skills that correspond with planning, organizing, directing, controlling, budgeting, leading, or evaluating of any organiz ...

References

External links

NBA D-League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruoff, Alex 1986 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in Finland American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players from Florida BG Göttingen players Bilbao Basket players Canton Charge players Helsinki Seagulls players Iowa Energy players Joventut Badalona players Liga ACB players Liège Basket players Riesen Ludwigsburg players Mitteldeutscher BC players Okapi Aalstar players People from Spring Hill, Florida Sportspeople from Hernando County, Florida Shooting guards Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ohio Basketball players from Butler County, Ohio West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball players West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball coaches