Rucki makes 'tough decision,' steps down

Jim Rucki has compiled pages and pages of Findlay High basketball history. On Friday, Rucki announced he was turning one final page of his own. "It's time, I guess," Rucki said Friday when it was announced he was stepping down as FHS head coach. "I may find out I love having time to do other things, go and just watch a game. Or in a few months I may find out, you know, that I'm going to go crazy if I don't get into coaching. "We'll have to wait and see how things go." With a 385-178 record in 25 seasons at Findlay High, Rucki is the winningest coach in FHS boys basketball history, surpassing Carl Bahman (332-101) in that category. Rucki also had a 10-year stint at Rocky River (160-71) and is 36th on the list of Ohio's all-time winningest prep coaches with a 545-249 overall record. "Coach Rucki is a tremendous coach who has dedicated himself to the philosophy of education-based athletics where he pursued excellence in every aspect," FHS Athletic Director Nate Weihrauch said in a prepared statement. "Coach devoted his life to teaching and guiding our youth and has spent countless hours preparing his team for success on and off the court. Still, the most impressive feat has been the inspiration, character, integrity, values, and life lessons he taught our young people that will impact them for a lifetime." Picked to finish third in the Northern Lakes League's Buckeye Division this past season, Findlay instead went 7-1 and won an outright league championship, finished 21-3 overall and was ranked No. 5 in the Division I state poll. Rucki was named NLL Buckeye Division Coach of the Year, Northwest District Division I Coach of the Year by the Ohio Pep Sportswriters Association, and Division I state coach of the year by the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association. "When you retire, it's easy to remember your last team, your last game, especially with the great group we had this season," Rucki said. "But today I was sitting there thinking about my first team at Rocky River. They'd had nine losing seasons in a row when I took over. They were 13-50 the previous three years. "We won 13 games that year. It was a tremendous group of kids. Not great athletes, but a bunch of 4.0 students. We worked on defense all the time and those kids worked their tails off and had a winning record. "I can remember telling them that some day this gym is going to be packed and we're going to be playing for championships because of what they started. "Those guys are in their 50s now. I promised them that I would never forget them and I've kept that promise, because without them maybe none of this ever happens. Maybe we don't have that success at Rocky River and I don't come to Findlay. "I was young, I was inexperienced. That thing could have gone south in a hurry but it didn't. That was just a tremendous bunch of kids." Rucki left Rocky River for Findlay – encouraged by then-Rocky River and former Findlay High football coach Bill Jones – riding a string of four consecutive winning seasons. His first FHS team went 16-5 in 1999-2000 and 24 years later he's not had a single losing record with the Trojans. According to Rucki, who has done exhaustive research compiling Findlay High's basketball records, only two of the 157 schools in the Northwest District – Findlay and Toledo St. John's – can claim streaks of .500 or better records for that long. "We've had great kids, tough kids that bought into what we wanted to do," said Rucki, who rarely had the most talent on the floor but employed a scrappy defensive style that held 15 of the last seasons 18 opponents to their lowest offensive game of the season. "I'm unbelievably appreciative to have been able to coach at Findlay for 25 years, and for everybody that has helped along the way, from the players who have played for us to assistants like Ray Elbin, who's been with me for 25 years, who have done a tremendous job setting a good example as adult men, fathers and husbands, to our school support system. "Sports is an extension of the classroom. We're trying to teach the kids to do the right thing, be good people and learn things from our program that will benefit them later in life. "We've tried do things in a first-class way, have integrity, be honest and do things by the rule. Hopefully that's the example we've set for our players." Rucki acknowledges a transition in the game over the years, from a more physical style of play to an emphasis on long-term or year-round focus on the sport. And despite the big number on the left side of the ledger, it's the number on the right side that keeps popping up. "Sadly, you remember the losses more than the wins, sometimes," he said. "Maybe when it's over you can go back and think of that stuff (wins), but when you're going through it the losses just eat you alive. That's one thing that makes it (coaching) really tough. You get to a point where you almost don't enjoy winning. It's more of a relief than enjoyment. You're relieved that you won, because losing is just agonizing." Rucki said he hasn't gone unscathed throughout his career. "I've tried to do the best job I could. Sometimes that might not be good enough for everybody," he said. "Every coach has that. It goes with the territory." It's not what he takes away from his experience at Findlay High, though. "Mostly I'll remember the players," he said. "This was a tough decision for me. I have a lot of great experiences, great memories of the players and I hope they look back and appreciate the time they spent in our program."