MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Two days a week.
That was the deal desperately proposed by Lee High School coach Tyrone Rogers in his attempt to sway Henry Ruggs from his first love of basketball during the summer leading up to his junior year.
“I said, ‘You go ahead and play AAU basketball, that’s fine. Just give me two days a week, just two out of the seven just to kind of come out here and learn what we’re trying to do,”' Rogers said. “That particular year I made sure that we enrolled ourselves in some more seven-on-seven camps intentionally to he could go out there and compete.”
It seems preposterous to think Ruggs, now a former four-star recruit and one of Alabama’s most anticipated signees set to arrive at the end of the month almost never saw the football field. The 6-foot, 176-pound track star seems born for the football field, boasting a state-record time of 10.58 seconds in the 100-meter dash and a 4.35 time in the 40-yard dash. However, there was a time not too long ago when Ruggs considered himself solely a basketball player.
To be fair, the athletic point guard has some hops and can throw it down with the best of them. That only made Rogers’ pitch that much more difficult.
Undeterred, the head coach turned to facts. Sure, Ruggs could ball, but 6-foot point guards seldom make it out of Montgomery, and that’s what Ruggs was trying to do.
“He kind of brought up the statistics,” Ruggs explained. “The average point guard or shooting guard is at least 6-3, 6-4. I really wasn’t a jump-shooter, so he was just showing me things that and telling me I had all the tools to be a football player.”
Rogers’ persistence eventually paid off as he was finally able to convince Ruggs to give football a try. The fit was as natural as the head coach had expected.
Ruggs showed promise right away during his first varsity game, demonstrating his patented explosiveness in a blowout of crosstown rival Lanier High School. As the game got out of hand, Rogers took it upon himself to prove a point.
Dialing up a fade route to Ruggs, the head coach wanted to give his young receiver a chance to taste the end zone. Using the same leaping ability that made him a star on the court, Ruggs easily out-jumped a defender to come down with the ball for the score.
“His ability to get up and high-point the ball, it was like he was putting on a human highlight reel with that catch,” Rogers said. “I knew at that particular time, he’s exactly who I thought he was.”
Ruggs has been hooked ever since.
“He really just wanted me to get into the end zone and get that feeling,” Ruggs said. “Once he gave me that and I caught it, it was like, ‘This was the start of something good.’”
Really good, in fact.
Ruggs went on to catch 44 passes for 1,010 yards while adding another 237 yards during his junior season. He continued that production as a senior, tallying 38 receptions for 639 yards and nine touchdowns through the air with another 352 yards and a score coming off kick returns.
Those numbers quickly turned to college offers. Ruggs was courted by programs across the country, from nearby Auburn to California, LSU and Georgia. However, the decision ending up centering around two schools — Alabama and Florida State.
Ruggs committed and signed with Alabama on National Signing Day, using a video dedicated to his late friend Roderic Scott to reveal his decision. The roughly two-minute video shows Ruggs at Scott’s gravesite before switching to highlights of Ruggs working out where he credits his best friend for motivation. The prized receiver said he settled upon Alabama at 2 a.m. on the morning of National Signing Day after countless hours of reflection.
“Just watching the video and knowing who I did the video for,” Ruggs explained. “Just sitting at the grave site thinking about it. He always told me I’d be at Alabama, so I know I made the right choice.”
Ruggs is set to arrive in Tuscaloosa at the end of the month along with the rest of Alabama signees. He will do so as perhaps the Tide’s most anticipated addition this summer.
Fellow 2017 class receiver Jerry Jeudy turned heads earlier this spring, winning the MVP award during the A-Day scrimmage after tallying five catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Ruggs was on hand for the performance and said watching Jeudy excel proves that he can make a similar early impact upon joining the Tide.
“The message is really to come in and work hard,” Ruggs said. “If you want to make an impact you have to make yourself make an impact. It’s really to come in and work hard, and the best player plays.”
Despite stepping into a loaded receiving corps, many feel Ruggs can push for immediate playing time at Alabama next season. If nothing else, he figures to be a dangerous threat in the Tide’s return game.
“He has some of those intangibles that you just can’t teach,” Rogers said. “He has that God-given ability with his explosiveness. He just loves to go out there and have fun... They’re going to put him exactly where they need to put him at. But I know this, he’s going to go up there and he’s going to work hard, that’s embedded in him.”
While track season has helped Ruggs stay in shape this spring, Alabama also provided him with a book of workouts in order to get him ready for the college level. He said the drills have generally called for fewer reps and heavier weights as he hopes to add 15-20 pounds by the start of the season.
“Every day when I’m working out, I feel like, ‘Wow I got better,”’ Ruggs said. “When people tell me things, whether it’s coaching or different techniques, it just feels like I’m developing as a player.”
FIVE QUESTIONS WITH HENRY RUGGS
What's it like to be known as the fastest high school player in Alabama?
"I mean it's a good thing to have, just knowing that the first thing people think about when they hear my name is speed. I just got to work on it and keep trying to get faster."
What is your impression of Alabama's offense under Brian Daboll and what is your relationship like with him?
"He's a lot more pro-oriented, but he's big in the passing game just from where he's from and the quarterback he had. We talk on a day-to-day basis because I'm not there and the guys there have an easier way to get to him. But we talk every now and then."
Was it tough losing former receivers coach Billy Napier and how do you relate to the new receivers coach Mike Locksley?
"It was. That was big in my decision, but at the end of the day talking to the coaches, you never know when a coach has a better opportunity, so you got to do what you got to do for your life... (Locksley) is someone who I've built a great relationship with. I can call him anytime. We can talk around, we can joke. We just have that kind of relationship. Just the fact that he can relate to real-life situations, he tries to incorporate real-life situations into football."
How hard are you trying to get your brother Kevonte to commit to Alabama?
"The first couple days I was like, 'You might as well follow me.' But now that I look into it, I told him, 'You got to make the best choice for yourself. Whether it's Alabama, whether it's Florida State, whether it's Auburn, you got to do what's best for you. Don't follow my tracks, be your own person.'"
As a basketball player, any chance of you maybe trying to play two sports at Alabama?
"I'm mainly focusing on football right now, I really won't go into any more sports. I'll definitely catch them probably at the rec center. You know, we go into Coleman Coliseum every now and then just to run a couple games, so I'll end up catching them one day."
