Lifelong Underdog Luke Rusterucci, VMI a Perfect Match

Luke Rusterucci’s college debut remains unforgettable in its own way.

“I would consider it one of the worst games I’ve ever played,” the VMI senior attackman recalled of the Keydets’ 2022 opener against Lafayette. “I remember the defender that was guarding me told me that maybe I wasn’t built for this. I took that to heart a little bit because I was questioning, ‘Am I? Am I built for this? I’m not sure.’”

The doubts did not linger long. VMI coach James Purpura, at the time at the start of his second season with the program, did not have any. And at this point, few others should, either.

Rusterucci is averaging seven points a game, second in Division I behind only Cornell’s CJ Kirst. He has 23 goals and 12 assists entering Tuesday’s home game against Queens. He’s helped the Keydets begin a season 4-1 for the first time since 2000.

And he’s scattered his name throughout VMI’s record book. He broke the school record for career assists in a Feb. 22 defeat of Iona and has 89 over the last four seasons. He ranks fourth in Keydets history in goals (106) and second in points (195).

He’s likely to become the first 100-100 player in school history.

“He’s got a really cool story,” Purpura said. “I think that’s something that has really resonated with me. I’m a big Buffalo Bills fan, and I look at Josh Allen, the NFL MVP; he did not have a lot of scholarship offers coming, he e-mailed a bunch of coaches, and I’m not saying that’s what Luke did, but Luke started on the B team for the Thunder Lacrosse [club outside of Atlanta]. He wasn’t even on the A team.”

The Keydets owe some indirect thanks to another southern Division I program for making it possible. Rusterucci spent his early childhood in Macon, Ga., and in the early 2010s was at the age when he was willing to try out a bunch of sports.

One day, his father told him Mercer — a Macon school that debuted its Division I men’s lacrosse program in 2011 — was having a camp.

“I remember it was so simple, but we were doing a ground ball drill, and I was like ‘This is fun,’ and we didn’t even shoot yet,” Rusterucci said. “Nothing that was super-exciting, more the nitty-gritty details of the game, and I was enjoying it. I loved it ever since. I’m grateful they added that because I wouldn’t be here today playing the game that I love.”

His family moved to the southern Atlanta suburbs when he began high school, and he helped Starr’s Mill reach the state quarterfinals three times in four years. The exception was the pandemic season of 2020, but that nonetheless provided a pivotal development.

Rusterucci’s father was a federal agent who knew people from work who attended VMI, so Rusterucci had some knowledge of the program and the school. The Keydets showed interest and brought him to campus for a visit about two months before the COVID-19 pandemic shut things down.

“It was always in the back of my mind,” Rusterucci said. “As soon as I got that offer and that interest in that spring, I didn’t take too long to make that decision. That was just the school that spoke to me, the idea of being able to help build a program, and I think that’s what we’ve done a tremendous job of doing the past couple of years.”

Then came one potential hiccup: VMI made a coaching change. Rusterucci said he never had much doubt about sticking with the Keydets when the school hired Purpura in July 2020. At the time, VMI had only four players committed to sign that fall, so one of Purpura’s first tasks was to get to know each of them.

A few Zoom calls were all he needed to realize Rusterucci would be an excellent fit so long as VMI could keep him.

“Since he was a junior at that point, I had a whole other year to recruit him,” Purpura said. “That’s something a lot of people take for granted, especially now in an era where there’s so much poaching. You have to continue to recruit your committed players, so that allowed us to get a relationship going. We had a year-plus before he even enrolled at VMI to really get to hear his story and learn more about him.”

Purpura quickly identified Rusterucci as one of the Keydets’ best players even as a freshman, and the 6-foot, 195-pounder has started all 50 games since he arrived at VMI. Despite his sobering debut (when he was held without a shot), Rusterucci went on to earn an all-freshman team nod from the Southern Conference.

The athletic attackman led the Keydets with 54 points as a sophomore. The superb dodger and playmaker jumped to 68 points in 2024 when he had 38 goals and 30 assists, joining Rob Worrell (1995 and 1996) as the only members of VMI’s 30-30 club.

“I think each year you play, you’re able to take more and more wisdom out of things that have worked and you’re going to get bigger, faster, stronger every year,” Purpura said. “Luke’s done a great job of working hard to elevate his craft. He has big ambitions for his lacrosse career, post-VMI and for this season, and making sure he puts the team in the best position possible.”

Rusterucci was a first team all-Metro Atlantic pick last year, and with VMI’s move to the Northeast Conference this year, it’s possible he earns some sort of all-conference honor in three different leagues in his career.

That’s hardly the driving force. VMI has increased its victory total in each of Purpura’s first four seasons. He took over a team coming off a winless-if-abbreviated season and led the Keydets to one win in 2021, then four, six and seven.

The next step could be the program’s first winning season in a quarter-century and maybe even its first NCAA tournament berth. Rusterucci, a self-proclaimed lifelong underdog, has no doubt he and his teammates are made for making those the next achievements for the Keydets.

“It’s extremely awesome,” Rusterucci said. “It’s something that puts a smile on my face knowing not a lot of people believe in us. This might sound a little weird, but I almost don’t want people to believe in us because it makes it that much better when we do succeed.”