Her two young children tugging at her emotions, Natasha Ruckwardt made the decision she felt most comfortable with.
The Adelaide, Australia native is leaving the Oregon women’s basketball program to spend more time with her son Logan, 3, and daughter Adelaide, born last August. Ruckwardt, the Director of Basketball Operations, discussed it with her husband, Mark, last fall. She decided to leave in October and made it official after the season.
“My husband said to me one evening ‘Hey, you’re enjoying being at home and I was like ‘I love it,’” Ruckwardt said.
She is tentatively set to leave at the end of May, but will help run the basketball program’s summer camps. Ruckwardt, who’s been a part of the program for the better part of 10 years since she played for Oregon from 1997-99, says last season was a challenge with her young daughter.
“It’s hard traveling and she traveled with us the first half of the season,” Ruckwardt said. “It was hard for her being out of her routine … and it was hard for me taking care of a baby and to do my job. So it wasn’t ideal but really, it’s hard leaving my son because he’s three and he’s like ‘why are you leaving again,’ and the baby, she can’t talk and your little boy says, ‘Don’t go mommy,’ that kind of pulls at your heartstrings.”
Ruckwardt and her husband, Mark, who also works in the Oregon Athletic Department, are staying in Eugene. His parents live in Cottage Grove. Eugene, she says, is home and she still plans to go to Oregon’s home games when she can.
“The kids are only little for such a short time, and I don’t want to miss anything. I don’t want to have any regrets down the road that I should have done this,” Ruckwardt said. “It’s hard to step away, because … (coach) Bev (Smith’s) been great, she’s really been in terms of flexibility for me in my role here and being a parent, she’s been great.”
After Ruckwardt graduated in 2000, she went back to Australia and played for the Bulleen Boomers in the Australian National Basketball League. After she got engaged in 2000, she returned to Eugene in 2001. She went back to school to earn her master’s degree in education in 2001-02 and worked as a student math teacher at Cal Young Middle School.
Ruckwardt ran into then assistant Dan Muscatell and he told the ex-Oregon player the team needed a team manager.
She was team manager during Smith’s first season as head coach and then Smith created the Director of Basketball Operations position and suggested Ruckwardt apply.
“She’s just been fantastic in that area, just knowing her role and her strengths and doing what was asked of her behind the scenes and just loving it,” Smith said. “She’s incredibly organized. She’s got incredible vision. If I give her a project, I always know that it’s going to come back better than I could ever imagine it to become.”
“It was a lot more logistical things and administrative kind of things, which when I got into this, Bev made it clear that she wanted someone in that role and that suited me fine,” Ruckwardt said. “I didn’t necessarily want to get into coaching because I don’t think I was cut out to be a coach.”
Ruckwardt handled film and video exchange, team travel arrangements and monitored the team’s academic progress. She filled the role for five years, all the while working for a separate coach from her playing days under Jody Runge.
“People often ask me that, ‘What’s Bev like? You played for Jody.’ I said I’d give anything to have played for Bev,” Ruckwardt said. “She cares about her players and she’d do anything for them and really genuinely cares. I’m not saying Jody didn’t do that, but it was definitely a different environment.”
Ruckwardt became a consistent presence along the sideline as operations director. She sat near the coaches and stood near the team huddles during timeouts. At first it was a difficult challenge for the competitive Ruckwardt, who wished she could still play.
“You get older and more mature and you realize sometimes you’re going to have your ups and downs. Going to the NCAA (Tournament) was great,” said Ruckwardt, who went to the NCAA Tournament every year during her Oregon playing days. “I had a great time being involved in that. It’s hard losing, but you can see that the steps are being taken so things are going to improve, and I’m looking forward to Bev and the coaches having these new players come in and have a great couple of years down the road.”
And even now, years past her playing days, she feels the emotional connection to the game and looks back to this season’s Oregon State contest at McArthur Court when Oregon gave up a 20-point lead and lost in overtime.
“I felt physically sick,” Ruckwardt said. “I just couldn’t believe it. Even the next day, I was just like, ‘That is just the worst feeling.’ I felt terrible.”
Ruckwardt started for two years for Oregon and was a member of the Ducks first Pacific-10 Conference Champion in 1998-99. The sharpshooter from long distance averaged 9.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and shot 41 percent from three-point territory.
She is one of a long list of Australians to play for Oregon, including Eleanor Haring, Gabrielle Richards, Sally Crowe, Renae Fegent, and incoming recruit Ellie Manou.
“(Ruckwardt) has a great rapport with our players, both obviously the Australians, but all of our players. She’s kind of been there,” Smith said. “She doesn’t really say a lot, but I know that they respect what she was as a player and she’s just really a homey person to them. She makes them feel at home when they’re a million miles away from home.”
Smith says the job listing will be posted soon. She expects to have the position filled by the end of May or beginning of June.
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