PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Jim Rullo has been the head men's basketball coach at Division III Neumann University in Aston since 2013. He's led the Knights to 20 or more wins four times and twice taken them to the NCAA Tournament. The native of Grays Ferry talked about his life in basketball.
Rullo played college basketball at Drexel, starting as a walk-on and eventually earning a scholarship. He and the Dragons enjoyed a lot of success during his time on campus. His final game was a first-round NCAA Tournament loss against Temple back in 1994.
"I can remember coming off the court, there was about a minute left in the game," he recalled.
"The way it was, across from our bench was our Drexel contingent where they gave the complimentary seats for family. I can just remember looking at my dad and looking at my mom and although we’re down 15 and the game's over, I had a huge smile on my face because I knew this was the culmination of all that hard work. To look over at them and for them to give me a thumbs up on the way back, I knew the ride was worth it."
Rullo cherishes his family being a part of the Philadelphia basketball family. He told a story of taking his daughters with him to a high school game at Cardinal O’Hara High School.
"My youngest daughter Megan is a little bit more outgoing than my oldest. During the first timeout, my daughter taps me on the leg and is like, 'Yo dad, Coach Fran is here.' I’m like, 'Yo, Meg, go over and say hello.' She’s gotten to know (former Temple and Penn head coach and current interim Temple athletic director) Coach Dunphy very well," he said.
"So during the timeout she runs along the sideline, down the baseline at O’Hara and Coach Dunph is sitting way up top. She goes up to him and says, 'Coach Dunphy, do you remember me?' He says, 'Yes I do, you’re Megan Rullo.' She’s like, 'My dad wants to know if you would like a Coke and a pretzel because we’re going to the concession stand before the rush at halftime.' Meg goes and gets him his Diet Coke and his pretzel and Coach Dunph tries to give her money and she goes, 'Your money’s no good here, Coach Dunphy, we're all in this together.'"
You can listen to the entire interview with Jim Rullo by checking out the latest episode of the KYW Newsradio original podcast, "1-on-1 with Matt Leon." Subscribe on the RADIO.COM app or wherever you get your podcasts.