Anthony Ruta
Assistant Coach
5th Season at Arkansas (2nd as Assistant Coach) (Updated June 27, 2023)
Arizona State, 2014
After serving three years as the Razorback men’s basketball director of operations, Anthony Ruta is in his second year as an assistant coach with the Razorbacks.
Ruta has helped Arkansas reach three straight NCAA Sweet 16’s, including Elite 8 berths in 2021 and 2022, and post an SEC-best 95 wins over the past four seasons. Overall, in his eight years with Musselman at both Nevada and Arkansas, the programs have won at least 20 games all eight times while playing in each of the last seven postseasons contested over the span with four Sweet 16 appearances over the last five.
In addition to team success, Arkansas has produced the 2020 SEC Player of the Year in Mason Jones, 2020 NBA second-round draft pick Isaiah Joe, 2021 NBA lottery pick Moses Moody, 2022 All-American JD Notae and 2022 second-round draft pick Jaylin Williams. Then, the 2022-23 freshman class, ranked #2 nationally, featured three McDonald’s All-Americans in Anthony Black, Nick Smith Jr., and Jordan Walsh. All three were “one-and-dones” and all three were taken within the first 40 picks of the 2023 NBA Draft with Black going sixth, Smith going 27th and Walsh going 38th.
Ruta has also been in charge of putting together the Razorbacks’ schedule since his arrival. In year one at Arkansas, the Razorbacks’ strength of schedule ranked 25th by the NCAA Net, including a non-conference ranking of 12. The schedule featured three conference champions, seven 20-win teams and 12 of 13 opponents who had a winning record. In year two, Ruta successfully navigated the ever-changing landscape of college basketball as he once again put together an impressive non-conference schedule in 2020-21. Of Arkansas’ nine non-conference opponents, four made the NCAA field including North Texas, Oral Roberts, Abilene Christian and Oklahoma State and all four won in the NCAA first round. For 2022-23, Arkansas had the #2 Strength of Schedule in the nation, the #3 non-conference RPI and #4 non-conference Strength of Schedule.
At Nevada, Ruta was initially brought on to be the director of basketball operations before being elevated to assistant coach his last two seasons with the Wolf Pack (2016-17 and 2017-18). In his role as an assistant coach, his duties included scouting opponents, recruiting student-athletes and scheduling opponents.
In Ruta’s four years at Nevada, the Wolf Pack won at least 24 games all four years (24, 28, 29 and 29), won three Mountain West regular-season titles, won one conference tournament championship, made three NCAA Tournament appearances – including a Sweet 16 berth, and won the 2016 CBI championship. Also, Ruta helped develop current NBA players Caleb and Cody Martin.
During his time as an assistant coach at Nevada, the Wolf Pack won 29 games each season – tying a school record and marking the program’s best two-year run in school history. Nevada won the Mountain West championship twice and earned at-large berths to the NCAA Tournament each year. In his last season, Nevada was 29-5, was ranked among the nation’s top 25 all season and finished 20th in the final AP poll/23rd in the USA Today coaches poll. The previous year, Nevada reached the Sweet 16 for the second time in school history, was 29-8 and was ranked all but two weeks throughout the season before finishing 20th in the coaches final poll/24th by AP.
In his first two seasons at Nevada, the Wolf Pack went 28-7 in 2015-16, won Mountain West regular-season and tournament titles and earned the program’s first NCAA berth in 10 years. In his first year at Nevada, Ruta helped the Pack go from nine wins prior to his arrival to 24 in year one and Nevada won the CBI Championship, which was the first postseason championship by a Mountain West or Nevada team.
Prior to coming to Nevada, Ruta was an assistant coach with Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League. He assisted in all areas with Mad Ants which included in-game coaching and practice preparation. His primary responsibilities were defensive game planning. Working with the guards and wings he coached NBA veteran Dahntay Jones and D-League All-Star game MVP Andre Emmett.
Ruta began his coaching career at his alma mater, Arizona State, where he was a graduate assistant for two seasons. The Sun Devils advanced to the postseason both years playing in the NCAA and NIT Championships.
While at ASU he assisted in scouting and game preparation. Additional duties included assisting in scheduling, team workouts primarily with the guards, team travel and summer camps. He also oversaw the team managers, organized the recruiting database and served as the academics and facilities liaison.
As an undergraduate student at ASU, Ruta was the head student manager for two seasons. He assisted with the daily operations of the Sun Devils basketball program which included workouts. Additionally, he worked summer camps and organized the team managers.
Ruta received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from ASU in 2012 and a Master of Education degree in higher education in 2014.
THE RUTA FILE:
Hometown: Mansfield, Mass. (Mansfield HS)
Alma Mater: Arizona State, 2012 (Master’s: Arizona State, 2014)
COACHING EXPERIENCE:
2012-14: Arizona State (Graduate Assistant)
2014-15: Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Assistant Coach)
2015-17: Nevada (Director of Operations)
2017-19: Nevada (Assistant Coach)
2019-22: Arkansas (Director of Operations)
2022-pres.: Arkansas (Assistant Coach)
