Scott Rueck likes for people to feel uncomfortable.
“When people are uncomfortable they learn to grow and try new things,” said Rueck, Oregon State’s womens basketball coach. “It changes them positively.”
That’s what has been happening to Rueck since he took over the women’s basketball program in the summer of 2010.
Before Oregon State, Rueck was head coach at Division III George Fox University in Newberg, where he coached for 14 years and compiled a 288-88 overall record. His best season came in 2009, when George Fox won the D-III national championship with a perfect 32-0 season.
In June 2010, Oregon State fired then-coach LaVonda Wagner. The Beavers then hired Rueck, an OSU alum. Rueck said he felt it was “the right opportunity” to come back.
“It was an easy decision in my eyes, but also hard,” he said. “I was not sure what to expect coaching-wise.”
In just his second year, Rueck earned the Pacific-12 coach of the year award after OSU’s surprising 20-13 season.
“It’s a humbling experience,” Rueck said. “ It feels great to be honored, especially with all the great coaches in this conference. It truly shows the effort and desire this team showed this season.”
There was work to be done right away when Rueck got to Corvallis. First task: complete the roster, which only had two players left from the Wagner era.
“It felt like a clean slate but also we started from ground zero, which was difficult,” he said. “We basically had to start all over.”
One thing Oregon State lacked was a practice facility when Rueck arrived, which meant teams were constantly fighting for court space. That’s about to change.
With the help of donations, the Beavers broke ground on a facility June 21. Expected to be completed next spring, the facility will be shared by the mens and womens basketball teams. It will be on campus behind the Sports Performance Center, just steps from Gill Coliseum, where games are played.
“We are getting a new home,” Rueck said. “This will help a lot with recruiting and it gives us a ton of energy. We now have a place to play 24/7, and it’ll help our players reach full potential.”
According to OSU’s website, “the 34,500-square-foot, four-story, $15 million structure will feature two regulation basketball courts, locker rooms, training facilities and staff offices.”
The extra courts will allow for more basketball-related activities, including camps.
The last week of June, Oregon State is hosting high school team camp, and no practice facility means that teams are overflowing to the Dixon Recreation Center.
Despite a lack of space, players seem to be having fun.
“I expected lots of practices, tons of exercising,” said Cailey Beckett, a junior at Ballard High School in Seattle. “It was more than that. It definitely has helped our team grow effectively.”
Claudia Morrison, also a junior at Ballard, agrees.
“This camp has definitely helped our team bond more than we could ever imagine,” Morrison said. “It is inspirational. The energy level is high, it’s a great place to be.”
Rueck says he expects his team to advance in the postseason frequently and to continue to improve.
The practice facility should help.
“The first two years I felt like we were swimming upstream,” Rueck said. “Now I feel like we are catching up.”