Craig Ruby (2006) - Hall of Fame - University of Missouri Athletics

Craig Ruby

Induction:
2006
Class:
1920

Ruby was one of the early legends in Mizzou basketball history. He was a key part of four conference championships in his five-year association with the program as a player and coach. In those five years as a player (1917-18 through 1919-20) and coach (1920-21 through 1921-22), his combined record at MU was a stellar 81-7 (92.1%). He lettered three years for the Tigers (1918-20) and became Mizzou’s first two-time all-American, being named to the prestigious teams in both 1918 and 1919. He played on the 1917-18 MU squad that went 17-1 and won the school’s first basketball conference championship. He took over as head coach for the 1920-21 season, becoming the first former Tiger player to serve as coach, and in his two seasons at the helm, led MU to records of 17-1 (1920-21) and 16-1 (1921-22) and consecutive Missouri Valley Conference titles. His coaching winning percentage of 94.3% is second-best in school history, trailing only national hall of fame coach Walter Meanwell (94.4%). Ruby later coached for 14 years at the University of Illinois, where he won two Big Ten Conference titles and was never below .500 in a season. He retired from coaching in 1936 and was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1975.