Homewood-Flossmoor’s Danny Ruffin has waited a long time for this opportunity.
The junior guard certainly isn’t alone as a guy who sat behind some great players on star-studded teams for the Vikings the past two seasons.
But Ruffin’s story goes deeper than that. He’s been working to get a chance since before high school.
“It’s been a minute since I got to play like this,” Ruffin said. “I really didn’t play much in eighth grade even. To go from sitting on the bench in eighth grade to starting on varsity, it just shows how much work I’ve put in and it just means a lot to me to get this opportunity.”
Ruffin took advantage of that chance Friday. He scored 14 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead H-F to a 60-43 win over host Bloom in the Chicago Heights Classic championship game.
Darrius Hawkins Jr. scored 13 points, while John Brown IV finished with eight points for the Vikings (3-0), who won the tournament for a third straight year. Ethan Jackson chipped in with seven points and Marvin Douglas contributed eight rebounds.
Freshman guard Keiwon Gulley led Bloom (2-2) with 16 points. Xavier Martin finished with 10 points and six rebounds, with Javion Hatten grabbing nine rebounds.
Ruffin, meanwhile, became accustomed to watching from the sidelines. But he always wanted more.
“In eighth grade, we had a really good team and the coach played everybody who had a name back then, which wasn’t me,” Ruffin said. “He thought he knew everything that I’d be, but he was wrong.
“Now, I’m proving who I am.”
Brandin Brown, who is in his first year as H-F’s coach, has been impressed by Ruffin from an on-court standpoint and beyond.
“We can talk about Danny the basketball player, but there’s more to it than that,” Brown said. “Him being a captain this year, having been around the team and the school, he’s truly a testament to who we are as a program.
“He didn’t get a chance to play a ton in middle school and he’s had to work really hard to get where he is now. To see the hard work start to pay off, I’m extremely happy for him.”
Ruffin was a consistent force Friday for the Vikings, scoring eight points in the first half and six in the second half. H-F outscored the Blazing Trojans 19-5 in the second quarter to take command, going up 36-18 at halftime.
Hawkins also appreciates everything Ruffin does beyond scoring.
“He’s a dog,” Hawkins said of Ruffin. “It’s great sharing the backcourt with him. He’s going to do all the little things, playing defense and crashing the boards, and he’ll still get his buckets.
“I love playing with him. He’s a great energy guy.”
Ruffin split time last season between the junior varsity and varsity teams, playing only sparingly at the higher level. He learned a lot, both from working with last year’s team and from watching the 2023-24 Class 4A state champion Vikings as a freshman.
“Jayden Tyler, Ethan Howard, Arden Eaves, those guys were like my big brothers last year,” Ruffin said. “They really took me under their wing. They taught me certain stuff about how to play the game, how to be coachable, things like that.
“Two years ago, I watched that state championship game with some of my current teammates and I was like, ‘I want to be here one day.’ That’s my motivation.”
Through all the setbacks, Ruffin never lost belief in himself or thought about giving up on basketball.
“I knew I had it all the way through,” Ruffin said. “My parents and friends and the people around me, the people who are on this team with me now, they all had my back through that whole time.”
