St. Regis star John Pruitt signs with Rocky
St. Regis senior John Pruitt, seated at table, is surrounded by his Tigers' teammates during his scholarship signing ceremony with Rocky Mountain College last week in St. Regis. (Photo courtesy of the Pruitt family)
One of the greatest challenges facing small town athletes who aspire to move on and continue their sports careers in college is that the small number of students at many B and C schools do not typically produce college-level competitors.
Or so they think.
And St. Regis High could easily claim to be the leaders of the pack in producing quality where quantity is lacking.
The latest example is the signing this past week of St. Regis all-around athlete John Pruitt to a scholarship and a spot on their “developmental” team, aka JV.
Widely regarded as one of the best players in the area, Pruitt excelled in football and basketball and thanks to Rocky Mountain College’s ability to see athleticism in small schools, Pruitt will be donning the green and gold of the Bears this Fall as an incoming freshman basketball prospect.
“One of the biggest things I liked about Rocky is they have a developmental team,” he said. “I should be able to get to play the first year I’m there and get some playing time”.
Although he was also a standout football player on both sides of the ball the past three years for the St. Regis-Mullan, Idaho co-op team, Pruitt said he intends to focus on basketball at Rocky. Pruitt averaged more than 125 yards a game rushing this past season.
Pruitt was known throughout the area for his aggressive hustle and willingness to dive for loose balls on the court. At 6-0, he is also a leading rebounder on both ends of the court.
Pruitt routinely led the Tigers in scoring this past season as they won the District 14C title and took third in the divisional round.
“He is eager and excited for the opportunity,” St. Regis coach Jesse Allan said. “He will be able to get some good playing time”.
Pruitt said he plans to major in small business administration while at Rocky.
He is the latest in an ever-growing line of quality basketball players to come out of St. Regis in the past several years, including the Ball brothers, Adam and Caleb. Both were recruited by Frontier Conference schools, with Adam signing two years ago at Rocky and Caleb currently playing football at Western Montana in Dillon.
Pruitt, who is competing for the Tigers’ track team this Spring, said he will miss his days at St. Regis.
“The biggests thing I’ll miss about being a Tiger is how I’ve built a family here, my teammates, my coaches and all of the fans”, he said.