On New Year’s Eve the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2024 including 2-time NCAA champ Dave Meyers, 1957 NCAA champ Lennie Rosenbluth, and 2-time All-American John Rudometkin. John graduated in 1962 as USC’s all-time leading scorer/rebounder, was drafted 11th overall that spring by the Knicks, and had his #44 jersey retired by the Trojans in 2010. John passed away in 2015 but HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with John’s son JD about his fantastic father.
Your father John was born/raised in Santa Maria, CA, and spent 1 year at Allen Hancock College before deciding to transfer: what made him choose USC? He had offers from various universities and colleges around the country but chose USC because he wanted to be closer to his family and the Russian community in which he was raised. Also, his mother made Coach Forrest Twogood promise her that my dad could only date Russian girls, which was an important aspect of their Russian subculture. Apparently Twogood made that promise and so off he went to USC.
He was nicknamed “The Reckless Russian” by broadcaster Chick Hearn: how did he like the nickname, and do you think it was accurate? His was a measured reckless abandon…tempered with an on-court grace. Perhaps he was reckless in the way he played, which fell outside the conventions of basketball in that era. After interviewing several of his teammates and those who saw him play he seems to have been ahead of his time. However, the moniker “Rudo the Reckless Russian” handed down by Hearn has a nice ring to it, and dad must have liked the name because it is also the title of a book about his life.
He graduated in 1962 as the school’s all-time leading scorer (1484 PTS)/rebounder (831 REB): did he realize at the time how prolific a player he was? He was an ambitious person when playing basketball. In an article in Sport magazine in the early-1960’s he stated that he wanted to be the best college player on the West Coast. So, he seems to have understood his potential and what he was capable of. It is also interesting to note that back in that era players were required to play one year of junior college before transferring, so dad’s scoring record (which stood for about 20 years) was set in just 3 years. In 1985 when Wayne Carlander broke his scoring record, USC invited our family down to watch the game. When the announcer called my dad down to the court to congratulate Wayne, the entire stadium was chanting, “Rudo, Rudo, Rudo!” For us, it was a poignant moment that offered us a riveting glimpse into that part of his life. He was also an aggressive rebounder and one of the few Pac-10 basketball players to lead the conference in scoring and rebounding two years in a row Rudo was close to 24 PPG/12 RPG during his junior and senior years.
He was also a 2-time All-American: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? He was proud of his efforts and achievements, but did not speak about his awards very often (if at all). In fact, when our house burned to the ground in 1971, he lost all of his large and significant trophies. USC and other institutions offered to replace the trophies, but he graciously declined. He was experiencing an interpersonal revolution at that time: what some might call a spiritual awakening. However, there were others who praised his talents, including Kentucky coaching legend Adolph Rupp. After 1 game in which USC beat Kentucky on its home floor (only 1 of 14 times that Rupp lost on his home floor in 17 seasons!) Rupp commented that he could tell dad was an All-American while watching him during warmups.
In the spring of 1962 he was drafted 11th overall by the Knicks (3 spots ahead of Hall of Famer Chet Walker): did he see that as a validation of his college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? Back in those days there was no major hoopla around the draft. Apparently, our dad heard about being drafted by the Knicks through a friend, who heard the news on the radio. Our father seemed to take life as it came: if doors opened up then he would walk through them. We found it interesting that one of his favorite movies was “Forrest Gump”. It seems that dad had an affinity for that character: perhaps he could relate to how Forrest approached life.
After 3 years in the NBA he was forced to retire due to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but was able to survive the tumor around his lungs/heart: how did he feel about having to give up the sport at such a young age? It must have really been a major blow to his goals and expectations, but he did not frame that time of his life as a disappointment. His focus seemed to center around the astonishing recovery he experienced. He had a massive tumor that wrapped around his lungs and heart, and at one point he was given only 3 days to live, but he kept telling our mom that he could not wait until he would be out of the hospital so that he, mom, and his first-born son Ronnie could walk on Pismo Beach together. It never occurred to him that he would die.
He later wrote a book about his experiences, traveled the country as a motivational speaker, and spent time as a real estate investor/minister: how much did he enjoy his post-basketball life? One time he told us that the phase of his life in which he experienced the most peace and contentment was in the 1970’s, not too long after me and my brother Nathan were born. He said it was a time where all the things he valued seemed to shift and he experienced a deep abiding joy. However, in addition to that phase, he experienced many other moments that were fulfilling to him. He loved living in the country and also enjoyed being a leader in his spiritual community. To this day, people will still approach us and let us know that “Rudo” was an inspiration for them to keep moving forward, even if the way was challenging.
He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001, and his #44 jersey was retired in 2010: where did those rank among the highlights of his career? Our family recently attended the memorial for dad’s college teammate Chris Appel. Chris was an amazing man in many ways, and it is because of him that #44 is in the rafters at the Galen Center: Chris pushed to make that happen. As the years went by and these awards began to be bestowed upon our dad, he seemed to cherish the experiences: they were always really beautiful moments for our family to be together and honor his legacy. The jersey retirement was especially exciting to both him and the entire family. At that ceremony every one of the players from the 1962 team showed up to celebrate the achievement, and the late/great Paul Westphal (another USC legend) was there to hand our dad a plaque commemorating the moment.
Last month he was elected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame: what was your reaction when you heard the good news? We are very excited and honored that the College Basketball Hall of Fame will be inducting dad because he was an exceptional talent. He spent many years of his life developing this natural talent and we know that he would be pleased to receive this honor.
He passed away in 2015: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? Innovation. He was one of the players of that era that was ahead of the curve: creating offensive moves that were dazzling and making choices that stunned both opponents and the crowd. He gave sportswriters a lot of content! Some of those articles from the late-50’s and 60’s are still entertaining to read, but what is most amazing is his life as a whole. He worked hard to create a career in basketball and then his life took an unexpected turn. Though it may have been tempting to succumb to that dreadful moment, he chose to live beyond the game and beyond the loss by building a new life and inspiring others. He spent over 10 years traveling around the country telling his story of hope and what he felt was a miracle of healing that he experienced. My brother Nathan and I have conducted interviews with family/friends/relatives and intend to complete a documentary film about his life in the future.
