Published: March 07, 2008 10:52 pm      

Higginbotham: Impressive talent

By Rocky Higginbotham

sports editor

It was back in the day so to speak — 1988, to be exact — and I was a sophomore at West Kemper High School.

Our girls' basketball team was playing in the Class 3A South State Tournament at Southeast Lauderdale. And after nearly 18 years in this profession, I've yet to see a collection of talent any more impressive.

Each of the four teams involved had gobs of big-name players, including our own Lisa Scott — who went on to star at Mississippi State.

Kosciusko had a 6-foot redhead named Shelley Sanders who went on to a solid career at Southern Miss. And Port Gibson carried the biggest banner of all — an All-American named Stacy Truitt who had signed with Kansas; a national ranking; a big chartered bus and back-to-back state titles to boot.

It'd be difficult to track now, but my safest estimates are that 13 or 14 of those girls went on to play college basketball of some sort. But the star of the tournament didn't come from West Kemper, Kosciusko or Port Gibson.

Gail Ruffin, Southeast's senior point guard, stole the show that February weekend in 1988 — helping the Lady Tigers to the South State title in stunning fashion over Port Gibson.

The Blue Wavettes returned the favor in the state championship game two weeks later by topping coach Donald Shirley, Ruffin and Southeast. But Shirley still has fond memories of that South State title game, when Ruffin scored 11 of her game-high 23 points in the first quarter.

"When Port Gibson came into that tournament, their bread and butter was their press," Shirley recalled. "But I really think that's the biggest reason we were able to beat them. Gail single-handedly beat their press up and down and got layups out of it."

Ruffin didn't get the recruiting attention some of the other big names from that memorable South State tourney received — and her playing career was effectively over.

"Gail signed a scholarship to Scooba; fell in love and came home and had Lucy," Shirley said.

The rest, one might say, is history.

Fast forward 20 years to Friday, when Lucy Ruffin won her second state championship in three years while playing for the same Southeast Lauderdale basketball team — with her mom Gail on the bench alongside head coach Joe Miller — and with some of the very same skills Shirley saw two decades ago.

"Gail and Lucy both had really, really quick hands and their first step was really quick," Shirley said in comparing the two. "Their ball-handling is similar ... I really think Gail could handle the ball a little better, and Lucy may be able to shoot it a little better. But there's no doubt their style of play is very similar."

The connections are seemingly endless.

When Lucy Ruffin won her first state title two years ago, she had a pair of senior teammates — Tiawanna Pringle and Marqueta Reed — whose mothers played at Southeast with Gail back in the late 1980s.

Gail is a bit taller — Lucy stands an even 5 feet — but both of them are small in stature and big on heart. And, unfortunately like her mother, Lucy Ruffin has been largely overlooked when it comes to getting recruiting attention — much to the dismay of Miller and most opposing coaches of Southeast.

"It's her height, I guess, but I don't see what size has to do with a point guard," Gail Ruffin said earlier this week — and Shirley fully agreed.

"In my opinion, she can play on just about any level," he said. "I think she could play for most anybody in the nation, and when she finishes, they'd be proud they recruited her.

"A lot of times, it's not the size of the dog or the cat ... it's the heart,' Shirley said. "And there's no doubt she's got that heart."

Ruffin also has the uncanny ability to stop-and-pop short jumpers on a dime and in traffic — a trait which Shirley says sets her apart.

"One of the hardest things for a girl to learn is to pull up and hit that in-between or intermediate jump shot," he said. "It's so difficult ... but she can pull up and hit that jump shot as well as most guys can.

"Of course, we know she can dribble and shoot layups and 3-pointers, but her ability to stop and hit that jumper, I think, is what makes her the all-around player she is."

Gail says Lucy — who has been placed on the protective recruiting list of East Mississippi Community College — has gotten the most attention from Shelton State in Alabama, with some attention from Delta State and Southern Miss.

Lucy has already made a qualifying score on the ACT and is an A student. Her mom says sports medicine or athletic training might be in her long-term future, but "there's no doubt she wants to play college basketball for someone."

And someone, according to Miller and Southeast softball coach Mack Fanning, would be very lucky to have her.

On two occasions during the basketball postseason, Fanning — a member of two coaching Halls of Fame who has the softball stadium at Newton County named in his honor — has told me unsolicited that Ruffin and running mate Martika Ivy might be the two most unselfish players he's EVER been associated with.

"Absolutely," Miller said in agreement.

"I was talking to a coaching friend of mine the other day and he said the thing that impressed him the most about this team was the unselfishness," Miller said. "We've got a lot of talent, but it's the unselfishness of our players that stands out, and it starts with Lucy and Tika."

Lucy, by the way, has responded to every word I've ever uttered to her with either a "Yes sir," a "No sir," or a smile. Of course, those are surprisingly-welcome responses coming from a teenager in this day and age, but they don't always make for the best newspaper stories — and her responses got a definite chuckle out of her head coach and mom.

"If Lucy ever had a weakness I know of, it'd be not talking enough," Miller said. "But she speaks through her playing and she communicates well on the floor and that's the way I like it.

"Her greatest asset is her attitude and that unselfishness ... sometimes, I have to fuss at her for making that extra pass instead of shooting it.'

"That was just her personality from the start," Gail said of Lucy, the oldest of two siblings and a stepbrother at home. "She's always been that way."

Gail Ruffin consistently shakes her head from side to side and wrinkles her nose when comparing her own skills to those of her daughter's, so it's not hard to imagine where Lucy gets the modesty ...

"She's better than I was," Gail said. "Dribbling, passing ... she definitely shoots the ball better than I did."

Shirley, who left Southeast in 1990 and had a big career at Meridian High before retiring, says he got to know Lucy better about the time she entered the starting lineup as a freshman.

"She always hits the open girl," Shirley said. "Some of the flashy guards get there and they wanna finish it themselves. But Lucy always seems to find the open girl and that's part of that unselfishness."

And Gail?

"We talk pretty often ... not on a daily basis, but we still talk. She's a great kid ... well, woman, but she was a great kid," Shirley said. "I've coached a lot of pretty good players, but I told somebody the other day the best guard I've ever coached was Gail Ruffin, and that's saying a mouthful."

Miller says he knew Gail and knew she had a daughter, but really noticed Lucy for the first time as a fifth-grader after he led the Lady Tigers to a state crown in 2001.

"I saw Lucy when she was little and she was in here in the gym shooting and knocking down 3-pointers," Miller said. "I knew right then she had a chance to be something special.

"And now, what she and these other seniors (Ivy and LeNell Mitchell) have been able to accomplish is just unbelievable. Two state championships, a runnerup and a final four ... it's going to be tough to say goodbye."

Gail Ruffin echoed those sentiments, saying Miller's group in the last 3-4 years will be a tough one to replace — like her own group from the mid-to-late 80s which also included Rancee Pringle, Daisy Cole, Rhonda Malone, Stephanie and Pam Reed.

"I knew (Lucy) was going to be good probably in the seventh grade," she said. "She took it seriously and she wasn't afraid to practice. They're all that way.

"It's going to be a while before another group comes through like this one," she said. "And they're serious. There's no makeup, no lip gloss or hot curlers. They're here to play basketball and that's all they're thinking about."

It's no wonder they're champions.