Mountaineer Nation, are you ready for Markquan Rucker?
If your first response is who, you aren’t alone? But you will soon find out.
In fairness to Rucker, his lack of household name status around the Mountain State and beyond has nothing to do with his on-field exploits.
Those are numerous, and impressive.
It’s more to do with where Rucker played and in what classification.
Rucker (6-0, 200) is a three-time first team all-W.Va. offensive juggernaut at Class A’s Tyler Consolidated.
You’d be safe in saying he’s the most dominant running back in Tyler County since a young man named Swisher was winning championships and a Kennedy Award in the mid-1980s.
He finished as the Silver Knights’ career leader in rushing, including 1,841 yards as a senior. He averaged nearly nine yards per carry.
A capable receiver, Rucker added nearly 400 yards in the air and totaled 33 touchdowns and 234 points. He owns the single game, season, and career scoring marks.
The only other graduating Class A player to earn first-team All-W.Va. three straight seasons is Adam Murray. Murray is the state’s only three-time Huff Award winner.
But Rucker was never mentioned as a serious contender for the Kennedy Award. The difference? Murray played at Wheeling Central. Rucker at Tyler.
Make no mistake, Murray earned all three of those awards. But as a Maroon Knight, you heard of his accomplishment’s week in and out. Central has a habit of making—and winning—the Super Six.
Tyler? Not so much.
The Silver Knights reached the postseason Rucker’s freshman and junior seasons, losing both games as the No. 16 seed.
Since the consolidation, Tyler has won just five postseason games and never reached the semifinals.
What’s a Guy Have to Do?
Rucker admits he was confused early in his career about the lack of attention.
“Players in Class A are undervalued and not looked at enough compared to AA or AAA players,” he said. “And at Tyler, sometimes it’s even more so.
“You don’t see us in the preseason predictions or hear about us.”
Rucker admitted it didn’t matter how many touchdowns he scored or yards he accumulated. At the end of the day, he played for Tyler and he played Class A football.
His accomplishments likely being dismissed because of a lack of competition, stat padding against inferior teams or late carries in a blowout loss.
So, he set out to change that.
As loyal as he is hard working, Rucker didn’t consider switching to a different school with potentially more exposure.
Tyler Consolidated is his home. The Silver Knights his family.
Rucker focused on what he could control—himself. He got introspective and came to the realization that more work was required.
“When I was younger, I wondered what was going on,” Rucker said. “There were multiple obstacles in trying to get noticed, but I had to ask myself if I was controlling everything that I could control.
“I had to admit to myself I wasn’t going hard enough.
“I quit worry about comparing myself to other players getting offers and focused on being the best me possible.”
Putting in the Work
The late Kobe Bryant was a fierce competitor on the basketball court and in the gym. No one was going to outwork him.
“I have nothing in common with lazy people who blame others for their lack of success. Great things come from hard work and perseverance,” Bryant was quoted as saying.
It’s fitting that Bryant is one of Rucker’s heroes. They share the same ethos and approach when it comes to preparation.
Rucker loves football. But it’s not just a game to him. It’s his job. The only way to get better is to work at it and that’s just what he does, every day.
Whether on the field, in the gym, or pouring through the WVU playbook, Rucker has only one setting and the dial is snapped off at “max effort.”
“I treat this like a job, and do nothing but train in the summer,” Rucker said. “I wake up and I go get it.
“That’s where my confidence comes from. Some don’t have that ethic. They haven’t been in that tough situation where they need to tap into that mindset and push themselves to go harder.”
Need examples?
Rucker improved his 40-yard-dash time to a 4.5 flat. His one-rep max on the bench press is 310 pounds. His squat max is 500.
But more impressive is the muscle endurance. He cranked out 17 reps of 225 pounds, the same weight used at the NFL combine.
Those 17 reps equal or bettered the marks of eight backs at the combine.
That’s why in the fourth quarter, Rucker isn’t slowing down. He’s getting stronger.
Worth the Look
Getting back to an earlier statement, are Rucker’s exploits and talents a product of competition?
Check out Rucker’s senior highlight film. Would you want him in your backfield?
Old Dominion certainly did. The Conference USA school based in Norfolk made him an offer. Many other Division II schools did the same.
But Rucker’s sites were set on a bigger prize: Big time Division I football at a power conference school. And what better place than in the Big 12 and a short jaunt down the road in Morgantown?
“Playing in-state was a big deal (to me) and, not to knock other conferences, but I wanted the opportunity to show off my talents in the Big 12,” Rucker said.
“If I can prove myself there, the goals I have for after college, it will really help.”
All he is asking for is a choice.
WVU provided that chance when it offered him preferred walk-on status.
Co-Offensive Coordinator and running backs coach Chad Scott saw something in Rucker he believes is worth further investigation.
He’s offered an opportunity; nothing less, nothing more. That’s all Rucker wanted, and he appreciates the honesty from him soon-to-be coach.
“He’s a real person and gave me a realistic mentality that I should approach this with,” Rucker said. “Don’t take shortcuts, put in the work and an opportunity will present itself.
“But you can’t rush it. Stay hungry until your time comes. Then go out and show what you’re worth.”
Rucker knows nothing will be given to him. He has to earn every snap, every carry. So, when that first chance comes, it may be his only.
“You have to treat your first play like your last and show what you are worth,” Rucker said.
Carrying the Banner
Channeling his inner Mamba, Rucker is all business. He’s also carrying a Tom Brady-sized chip on his shoulder.
He knew he could play Division I football. That was always the plan.
Now he’s ready to prove it’s not just a dream, but an eventuality.
Watch the film. He has quickness off the snap and a second gear to explode through holes. He’s shifty in the open field when needed and soft hands for catching passes borne from an early-career stint at receiver.
Rucker is a dangerous returner and a capable defensive back should need dictate his talents be used elsewhere.
He’s always known it. Now Mountaineer Nation will too.
He’s got community support, and the support of fellow small school athletes around the state.
In a way, Rucker is representative of a lot of small school football players, not only in West Virginia, but across the country.
It’s a fact not lost on him.
“A lot of class A guys have reached out to me, gave me props and said that I was one of the best players they played against,” Rucker said. “But they can be there too. Don’t think cause you’re in Class A that you can’t go big.
“It takes hard work.
You can have all the talent in the world, but people who work hard win in the end,” Rucker said. “Hard work is never going to lose.”
And neither will Rucker. Not in football. Not in life.
