MONTGOMERY – Robert E. Lee High star Henry Ruggs said he had no idea where he was playing his college football when he went to bed on Tuesday night.
Well, OK, he sort of knew. But there was no one to reassure him of his choice.
“It’s a sigh of relief just to get the recruiting process over because these last couple of days have been overwhelming,” Ruggs said Wednesday after signing with the University of Alabama. “It’s a life decision, so you want to make the right decision.”
Ruggs made his choice in the school auditorium with the help of a video, depicting his visits to the gravesite of his former basketball teammate Rod Scott, who was killed in an automobile accident on the way to the state tournament in Birmingham last March.
“This is my choice,” Ruggs said. “Thinking it over, talking it over, praying about it. But in the back of my head, I always had it that one of the first things Rod told me was, ‘You’re going to be at Alabama.’ That was always in the back of my head. Talking to my parents, talking it out with everybody, it just seems like the best choice for me.”
The video ended with the image of an Alabama baseball cap by Scott’s grave. And with that, Ruggs donned an Alabama hat to the cheers of his family, friends and teammates, choosing the Crimson Tide over Florida State.
Calling Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher and notifying him of his decision, Ruggs said, “was very tough. We built a great relationship, so it was kind of heartbreaking to let him know that.”
Even with Scott’s prediction, Ruggs admits he “didn’t have that 100 percent kind of feeling” until 8 a.m., just two hours before he let the video announce his decision. Producers had filmed two separate endings, an indication of the internal struggle the Generals’ football and basketball standout was facing.
“We talked briefly this morning and it was a tough decision,” Lee coach Tyrone Rogers said. “He made the decision based on what’s best for him and his family and I think he’s going to do a great job. He has the opportunity to go up to Alabama and take part in some national championships. Coach (Nick) Saban does a great job and they did a great job recruiting this young man.”
In Ruggs, the Crimson Tide will get a player who has only played the sport sparingly, but was explosive every time he touched the ball. Between the age of 9 and 12, Ruggs played youth football as a running back but always considered the sport a way to pass the time until basketball season started. He played receiver and defensive back on McKee Middle School’s team in 2012 but was never thrown the ball.
He was talked into playing football in 2015, but still considered basketball – where he’s one of the top players for the top-ranked Class 7A team in the state – his primary sport. He blossomed in 2016, but was forced to play multiple roles late in the season because of injuries. In the regular-season finale at Enterprise, injuries to both of the Generals’ quarterbacks forced Ruggs into the position, where he completed 10 of 21 passes for 140 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The 6-foot, 173-pound senior finished the year with 422 yards and six touchdowns on 35 carries, an average of 12.1 yards per rush; completed 11 of 22 passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns; caught 38 passes for 644 yards and 10 touchdowns, an average of 17 yards per catch; and returned 12 kickoffs for 338 yards, an average of 28.2 yards per return. There’s also a few punt returns on his resume, but opponents learned early to punt the ball out of bounds.
“You don’t see those young men often and you quickly identify great talent,” Rogers said. “His explosiveness, ability to change direction, great hands, hand-to-eye coordination, he’s one of the few. Before he even played football, I was telling scouts this is a top-five receiver in the state of Alabama and he hasn’t even touched the field yet.”
