Wake Forest Athletics
Tony Rutland Relishes Chance to Celebrate with Teammates
3/16/2020 9:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Les Johns
For some Wake Forest fans, this question might be much like "Which child do you love the most?"
Which Demon Deacon Basketball ACC Championship team was better — the 1995 title team with Randolph Childress running point guard or the 1996 squad with Tony Rutland running the show?
Though that's an argument the two guards share with each other, Rutland was thrilled to be back in Winston-Salem in mid-February to celebrate the reunion of the 1995 ACC Championship team.
"The last couple days have been great spending time with my brothers, there have been a lot of memories spinning," Rutland said.
Before the Deacs squared off against Georgia Tech, coach Dave Odom had his banner raised into the rafters of LJVM Coliseum.
"Long overdue," Rutland said. "It's well deserved. Coach Odom was a great mentor to all of us. He was the one who instilled basketball knowledge to us. He showed us the way to look at playing the game of basketball.
"I use that for my kids now. Jerry (Braswell) is training and I'm training now, and coaching. I'm pretty sure the way we were taught by coach Odom is what we try to instill now."
After Childress poured in the final of his 107 points in the ACC Tournament and the Deacs got one final stop to secure the title, he collapsed on the floor as the team celebrated.
"It was just a sense of burden lifted off from him," Rutland said. "He had come in and done what he set out to do, and that was to put Wake Forest on the map. I don't think he could have done it by himself, but we couldn't have done it without him as well.
"As great teammates, we were able to get him the ball when he was hot."
Rutland said that when they arrived in Winston-Salem, they had a collective goal to show that they belonged toward the top of the conference.
"We had something to prove," he said. "It wasn't about being a five-star guy and going to Duke or Kansas. It was about proving to yourself and to the world that you could play with those guys. We came into Wake Forest, and that was one of the goals we had as a freshman class. We wanted to beat the Dukes and North Carolinas."
And with the run that Childress orchestrated, that goal had been checked off.
"The weight is off my shoulders," Rutland said of Childress. "We won the ACC Championship, which is the goal of any great team. Nobody can ever take that away from him."
That group of trailblazers feels a connection to Wake Forest University and to the basketball program that keeps them coming back to stay connected.
"With us being one of the smallest schools in the country, to see guys who have played in the NBA come back and talk to the current players — guys like Muggsy Bogues and Rodney Rogers came to work out with us and told us what to expect at the next level," Rutland said. "We're a close, tight-knit family. Nothing has changed. Whatever we can pass on to our current players to get over the hump and start history, we're up to doing."
The commitment to facilities, as evidenced with the new Shah Basketball Complex, shows that the school is committed to winning at the highest level, Rutland said.
"If we had the facilities that they have now when I was playing, I probably never would have got hurt," he said. "It's crazy, but I look at the facilities now and I want to go train right now. I didn't feel that way. The technology and instruments they use are just amazing. You see those things, and kids will want to come to Wake Forest."
Rutland coaches at Stewarts Creek High School in Smyrna, Tennessee, which is a little south of Nashville.
"I enjoy giving the kids the knowledge I received in college and high school," he said. "Kids have to realize it's more than just athletics, it's about knowing the game. I try to keep it simple and give them what coach Odom gave to me."
Which Demon Deacon Basketball ACC Championship team was better — the 1995 title team with Randolph Childress running point guard or the 1996 squad with Tony Rutland running the show?
Though that's an argument the two guards share with each other, Rutland was thrilled to be back in Winston-Salem in mid-February to celebrate the reunion of the 1995 ACC Championship team.
"The last couple days have been great spending time with my brothers, there have been a lot of memories spinning," Rutland said.
Before the Deacs squared off against Georgia Tech, coach Dave Odom had his banner raised into the rafters of LJVM Coliseum.
"Long overdue," Rutland said. "It's well deserved. Coach Odom was a great mentor to all of us. He was the one who instilled basketball knowledge to us. He showed us the way to look at playing the game of basketball.
"I use that for my kids now. Jerry (Braswell) is training and I'm training now, and coaching. I'm pretty sure the way we were taught by coach Odom is what we try to instill now."
After Childress poured in the final of his 107 points in the ACC Tournament and the Deacs got one final stop to secure the title, he collapsed on the floor as the team celebrated.
"It was just a sense of burden lifted off from him," Rutland said. "He had come in and done what he set out to do, and that was to put Wake Forest on the map. I don't think he could have done it by himself, but we couldn't have done it without him as well.
"As great teammates, we were able to get him the ball when he was hot."
Rutland said that when they arrived in Winston-Salem, they had a collective goal to show that they belonged toward the top of the conference.
"We had something to prove," he said. "It wasn't about being a five-star guy and going to Duke or Kansas. It was about proving to yourself and to the world that you could play with those guys. We came into Wake Forest, and that was one of the goals we had as a freshman class. We wanted to beat the Dukes and North Carolinas."
And with the run that Childress orchestrated, that goal had been checked off.
"The weight is off my shoulders," Rutland said of Childress. "We won the ACC Championship, which is the goal of any great team. Nobody can ever take that away from him."
That group of trailblazers feels a connection to Wake Forest University and to the basketball program that keeps them coming back to stay connected.
"With us being one of the smallest schools in the country, to see guys who have played in the NBA come back and talk to the current players — guys like Muggsy Bogues and Rodney Rogers came to work out with us and told us what to expect at the next level," Rutland said. "We're a close, tight-knit family. Nothing has changed. Whatever we can pass on to our current players to get over the hump and start history, we're up to doing."
The commitment to facilities, as evidenced with the new Shah Basketball Complex, shows that the school is committed to winning at the highest level, Rutland said.
"If we had the facilities that they have now when I was playing, I probably never would have got hurt," he said. "It's crazy, but I look at the facilities now and I want to go train right now. I didn't feel that way. The technology and instruments they use are just amazing. You see those things, and kids will want to come to Wake Forest."
Rutland coaches at Stewarts Creek High School in Smyrna, Tennessee, which is a little south of Nashville.
"I enjoy giving the kids the knowledge I received in college and high school," he said. "Kids have to realize it's more than just athletics, it's about knowing the game. I try to keep it simple and give them what coach Odom gave to me."
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