By ANTHONY STEVENS
anthony@virginiamediainc.com
CASTLEWOOD, Va. – It’s been a while. Barry Ruff graduated from Castlewood in 1994. He held a variety of coaching roles with the Blue Devils from 2000 to 2015, including assistant boys basketball coach, head girls basketball coach, and head softball coach. He was recently named head boys basketball coach and athletic director by the Russell County School Board.
“It’s big. Coming home is a surreal feeling,” Ruff said. “I’ve always been a Blue Devil. I graduated from here. I taught and coached here for 15 years in three sports, boys and girls. To come back here, be home, and coach at my alma mater, to take over as athletic director and be involved in all sports, is a good feeling. Hopefully, I can retire here at home.”
Ruff left Castlewood to take the head girls’ basketball coaching position at rival Eastside for several years. He spent the last two seasons coaching boys’ basketball at Sullivan East Middle School in Northeast Tennessee. He’s not the same person who left Castlewood.
“I’ve evolved. I say the best coaches are the best thieves; they steal and take from everywhere they go,” noted Ruff. “Going to Eastside, coaching a different group of kids and being successful there, and watching the team eventually win a state championship after I left, shows we did things the right way. Going to the Tennessee side is like going to a different world. I had 70-some kids come out for a middle school team, and we barely have 70 kids in a class here at Castlewood. I’m an older man, hopefully wiser. I’ve tried to be a sponge everywhere I’ve been.”
Ruff maintained close ties with the Blue Devils. His son, Tru, played for Castlewood.
“I’ve been in the stands as a parent for the past few years,” Ruff stated. “I’ve taken in how things are done and will try to build on that.”
Ruff takes over for Patrick Wade, who recently resigned after five years as head coach of the Blue Devil basketball program. Ruff is the sixth head boys basketball coach at Castlewood since the 2013-14 season, and the program has seen little success.
“I’m not here to be a stopgap,” declared Ruff. “I’d like to be here until I retire. I want to get a good run going. My goal in the first couple of years is to qualify for the Region 1D tournament. Get back to the time when you thought about Castlewood, you thought about Castlewood basketball.”
“As I think back, I believe I’m the only one from Castlewood since Randy (Poole) among all those coaches. Some have been successful, but they weren’t homegrown, from here. I played the first game in this gym in my senior year in 1994. We got beat by Lebanon, but I started that game.”
You have to go back to the 2015-16 season, more than 10 years ago, when the Blue Devils posted a 15-9 record under Casey Johnson. It was the last winning season for Castlewood.
Under coach Doug Campbell, the Blue Devils secured the 2013 Region D, Division 1 title, but haven’t returned to the regional tournament since.
“We have to start with the youth, implement practices for our teams together, and build a hard-nosed defense and rebounding. I think that’s the cornerstone of all my teams,” remarked Ruff. “My teams have always pressed and run the floor well.” “Also, surround yourself with the right staff. Chris Smith, coming home with head-coaching experience, will be my assistant. That will be big. Chris is family; he’s my second cousin. Have the right people in the program who care. You may not see a change in the first year; you’ll see flashes of it, but they have to buy in. We will be fair, but we will push them. Most kids want to be coached.”
There won’t be many varsity veterans on the hardwood. Tru Ruff is the only one returning, and Gabe Cooper is expected to return after leaving the team last season.
“Gabe has come to a couple of open gyms. I think he will be back out, so it will be Tru and him,” Ruff said. “That’s the varsity roster from last season.
“It won’t be a ‘daddy ball’ situation. I’m not here just to coach my son. If I’m here just to coach Tru for his senior season, I’m taking the job for the wrong reason. I want to see Castlewood succeed. I built that in the girls’ program here. We started at the bottom and built it up, until we were good each year.”
Ruff last had a losing season as a head coach in 2006. He compiled a 316-177 coaching record in girls basketball at Castlewood and Eastside, securing nine Cumberland District titles and leading both teams to the state semifinals. Notably, during the 2012-13 season, he led Castlewood to the VHSL Group A, Division 1 state semifinals, finishing with a 21-7 record.
“I’ve been above .500 for many years, and that will be a major challenge this year,” commented Ruff. “But that’s okay. It’s not about the record; it’s about building a foundation. I’m building a system with new kids who didn’t play varsity last year. They’re eager.”
It won’t be long until Ruff’s troops are on the hardwood at Buddy Poole Court.
“Don’t get me wrong, we will struggle, but there are some building blocks,” he said. “The Cumberland is tough in boys’ basketball, and that’s okay. I only know one way to do this. I will try to win games. I probably have the biggest coaching job ahead of me that I’ve ever had. That’s what I’ve told the boys. You’re on the bottom. The only way you can go is up.”
