Basketball team recruiting tall player in their 80s for senior squad in Montgomery County
A Montgomery County basketball team is looking to recruit some new players and there are two requirements: you must be tall, and you have to be at least 80 years old to suit up!
"I enjoy the game, it’s good exercise, and it gets me out of the house," said Bruce Rubin, 80, of Lansdale.
Rubin is on a recruiting mission. The shooting guard grandfather runs the BUX MONT Warriors Senior 3-on-3 basketball team.
His team has been representing Pennsylvania at the National Senior Games since 2009, traveling to New Mexico, Minnesota, Florida and Alabama.
However, next year, his team will compete in the older 80 to 85-year-old age group when they travel to Iowa for the 2025 Senior Games.
His team actually had to kick off a 79-year-old player because he was too young.
So the Warriors are now looking for their next "Grandpa Embiid"
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"The perfect player would be 6’5, 6'6 who can travel, plays all the time. And has to be 80 years old" said Rubin.
Rubin invited FOX 29 to a Wednesday night pick-up game at Pennbrook Middle School where he runs games with players his grandson's age. He’s been playing hoops in this North Wales neighborhood since 1977, when he moved here from New York.
"Honestly I was like impressed, I can barely run out there. So seeing him run up and down the court is seriously impressive," said Ryan Jones, who plays weekly with Rubin.
"I’ve been doing this 8 years, and he’s been out here the whole time and is amazing each and every time I don’t know how he finds the energy" added Adam Douglas of Lansdale.
Rubin says if it wasn’t for basketball and his other love of running, he definitely would not even be here.
When his wife, Gail, died in 2017, Rubin kept playing hoops and running. He's even appeared in the senior category in several Penn Relays.
Last July, after injuring himself playing basketball, he went to the doctors to find a much more serious diagnosis. He had Stage 3 breast cancer and immediately started treatment.
Rubin completed his radiation treatments last month and still hasn’t slowed down.
"I went to Penn Medicine and did 20 radiation treatments, taking one medication, and the first night I came back. That was a Tuesday I was finished. I came here and played on Wednesday" he said.
Rubin is hoping to fill out his 2025 Senior Games roster before state qualifying games later this spring.
In the meantime, this octogenarian keeps inspiring hoop dreams of all ages.
Rubin said, "You don’t have to play basketball or run for a track club in the Penn Relays, but you have to be active and do something."