J. Craig Ruby, a former college basketball player and coach, had a successful career both on and off the court. Ruby, a two-time All-American

NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

The NCAA Men's Basketball All-American teams are honorary teams made up of those NCAA basketball players voted the best in the country by a variety of organizations.-History:...

 and All-Missouri Valley Conference

Missouri Valley Conference

The Missouri Valley Conference is a college athletic conference whose members are located in the midwestern United States...

 forward for the University of Missouri

University of Missouri

The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...

 Tigers, took over the head coaching position of his alma-mater in 1920. After two years of being at the reins of the program and compiling a record of 33 wins and only 2 losses, Ruby was recruited by University of Illinois athletic director George Huff

George Huff (coach)

-External links:...

 to take over the Fighting Illini’s men’s basketball coaching duties.

Beginning in 1922 and continuing on for the next 14 years, Ruby compiled a record of 148 wins and 95 losses. While playing in the Big Ten Conference

Big Ten Conference

The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

, Ruby’s teams recorded 94 wins and 74 losses and won the conference championship 2 times. Ruby left the program in 1936 with coaching duties given to Douglas R. Mills

Douglas R. Mills

Douglas R. Mills a native of Elgin, Illinois, was a high school and college basketball player and coach in the state of Illinois. During high school, Mills was the first player in the state to lead his team to back-to-back titles in 1924 and 1925. He totaled 32 points in four state tournament...

.

Ruby and legendary Kansas coach Phog Allen

Phog Allen

Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen was an American basketball and baseball player, coach of American football, basketball, and baseball, college athletics administrator, and osteopathic physician...

 actively campaigned together for higher baskets to offset the advantage of tall centers. He also advocated the elimination of the dribble to do away with stalling, and wanted the hoop enlarged to 20 inches in diameter rather than the standard 18. In 1930 Ruby served as the president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches

National Association of Basketball Coaches

The National Association of Basketball Coaches , headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of college men's basketball coaches...

 (NABC).

Ruby retired from coaching to pursue a career with the Kansas City based, Hallmark

Hallmark Cards

Hallmark Cards is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts....

 greeting card company at the age of 39, he died in 1980 at the age of 84.

Collegiate records

Season	Team	Season Record	Postseason
1920-21	Missouri Missouri Tigers men's basketball The Missouri Tigers men's basketball team represents the University of Missouri in the Big 12 Conference. The Tigers are located in Columbia, Missouri. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2011. The Missouri Tigers men's basketball team plays its home games at...	17-1	Conference Champions
1921-22	Missouri	16-1	Conference Champions
Total	Missouri	33-2	0.943

Season	Team	Season Record	Conf. Record	Postseason
1922-23	Illinois Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball The Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Big Ten Conference. Home games are played at Assembly Hall, located on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's campus in Champaign....	9-6	7-5	T-4th
1923-24	Illinois	11-6	8-4	T-1st
1924-25	Illinois	11-6	8-4	T-3rd
1925-26	Illinois	9-8	6-6	T-5th
1926-27	Illinois	10-7	7-5	T-4th
1927-28	Illinois	5-12	2-10	T-9th
1928-29	Illinois	10-7	6-6	T-5th
1929-30	Illinois	8-8	7-5	T-4th
1930-31	Illinois	12-5	7-5	5th
1931-32	Illinois	11-6	7-5	5th
1932-33	Illinois	11-7	6-6	T-5th
1933-34	Illinois	13-6	7-5	4th
1934-35	Illinois	15-5	9-3	T-1st
1935-36	Illinois	13-6	7-5	T-3rd
Total	Illinois	148-95	94-74	0.609