Bailey Rucker never lacks enthusiasm even during pregame introductions. (Chris Zollner Photo)
Bailey Rucker played in the state semifinals when she was a sophomore at Boyd County High School and played on the varsity team for six years. At Centre College, she was a four-year starter and was the Southern Athletic Association Newcomer of the Year her first season with the Colonels.
However, the senior guard admits she never had more “fun” playing basketball than she did this season when the Colonels went 21-8 and reached the Division III NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.
“I always think I have more fun every year and it cannot get much better, but this year was definitely a standout,” said Rucker. “I think just being with the team … I love this team. We had so much fun together. I think that was our biggest motivator.
“We did not want to be done playing with each other. We just wanted to keep going and having as much time as we could together on and off the court. We just love each other. Our culture is one that I argue is probably the best around and we love each other so much.”
Rucker finished her career with 1,446 points — the fifth best mark in school history. She also had 458 rebounds, 213 assists, 109 3-pointers, 112 steals and 61 blocks in 107 career games. She averaged a career-high 16.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game her senior year along with 1.7 assists per game.
Rucker was extraordinary at the foul line and finished her career as an 81.5 percent career shooter by making 387 of 475 tries. She shot between 80.5 and 82.1 percent all four years at the foul line.
D3hoops.com named Bailey an All-Region 6 first team selection. Earlier she was named the Southern Athletic Association Athlete of the Year and then was named the SAA Tournament most valuable player. Her 29-point game was the most points scored by any conference player this season and in Centre’s first-round NCAA loss she had 16 points and eight rebounds.
“Obviously winning the conference tournament championship has always been my biggest goal so we could play in the NCAA Tournament,” Rucker said. “But I did have personal goals. I’ve kind of had my mind set on getting player of the year. I didn’t know when it would come but I knew I was going to do the work to be the best player I could be because I hate knowing other people are better than me.
“I’m always going to do everything in my power to make sure there isn’t somebody that’s better than me. So getting that honor was very rewarding to me.”
Rucker was the conference’s second leading scorer but her game was about stuffing the stat sheet and making hustle plays that are not reflected in the boxscore. She loved taking charges and diving on the floor for loose balls. She was also probably the team’s biggest cheerleader not only when she was on the bench but even when she was playing.
“I got my rebounds up this year. My assists were lower but I had to take on a bigger scoring role,” Rucker said. “When our point guard, Lilly Reid, was as good as our point guard it took the pressure off me to where I could just shoot.”
Centre needed Rucker’s support when it lost consecutive home conference games. Rucker refused to give up on her goal of winning the conference championship.
“I think Coach (Wendie Austin) would admit that she yells at me on purpose because she knows it makes me mad and makes me play better,” Rucker said. “That was the same case when we lost the first game. I think I was more motivated. But when we lost that second game I was more mad than I had probably been my whole career.
“I think I was in the gym every day. I saw multiple people in the gym every day. We pushed each other and got better. It was out of love. We didn’t take anything personal. We just got after it.”
That enabled Rucker to make her dream of playing in the NCAA Tournament come true. Centre lost 95-57 at No. 4 Illinois Wesleyan but playing in the tournament was something Rucker always wanted to go.
“I was just glad my dream came true my senior year along with all my other accomplishments,” Rucker said.
Rucker had such a successful high school basketball career that playing Division III basketball might not have seem like a logical choice for her. However, she knew basketball would not last forever and wanted to focus on academics and her future career.
“But I also knew that basketball was still a big part of my life,” Rucker said. “I wanted to do something with it. I think Division III gives so many people the opportunity to be successful off the court as well as on the court. Coming here has probably been my greatest blessing. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
“My experience here, academically and athletically, has been so good. People talk about the Centre Mafia and it’s real because there are Centre graduates everywhere who can help you. I love this place, and I’d recommend it to anybody.”
She believed that even her freshman year when the basketball team went 11-15, a huge shock to a player who seldom lost in her six-year prep career.
“I definitely wasn’t used to losing, but that helped me grow as a player. It helped me grow as a teammate, develop my leadership skills even more coming in as a freshman and having such a big role on the team,” Rucker said. “We had a losing record that year but the next three years we had 20-win seasons.
“Coach Austin and I developed a unique relationship. I could go to her with personal problems, athletic problems, academic problems. She knows everything that goes on in my life. She knew how to push me, and I knew how to push her. It’s not like a mother-daughter relationship but more like a friend. I consider her one of my best friends but I did rub it in a little bit when I passed her on the all-time scoring list.”
Rucker has no regrets about her four years because she tried to “make the best” out of every experience on and off the court. Her accomplishment likely will land her a spot in the Centre College Athletics Hall of Fame eventually.
“It will be very sentimental if that happens, especially because in my four years here, we’ve watched, I think, two or three people go into the Hall of Fame. And that’s something that coach Austin always takes us to the (induction) ceremony to listen to their speech,” Rucker said.
Former Centre basketball player Paige Baechle was among the inductees in the 2024 Hall of Fame class.
“I don’t think there was a dry eye from our team in the stands because her speech was so impactful for us and it reflected the relationships that we have with each other,” Rucker said. “Hearing that and knowing that I could come back and give that same speech and talk about my time here with some of my best friends would really mean a lot to me.”
Bailey Rucker
Photos by Chris Zollner
