Rusty was born on December 10, 1973 at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, NC to Bob and Linda LaRue. The second of three children, he has been a life long resident of the Triad area. He grew up in Kernersville, NC with his older brother, Chan and younger sister, Katie. Rusty began playing organized basketball and baseball at age six and started playing football at eight years old. From that time forward he was a three sport athlete. In high school Rusty met his future wife, Tammy Watson. They were married his sophomore year of college and currently have three boys, Riley, Cooper and Maverick and one girl, Clara. They are active members of Oak Ridge United Methodist Church and currently reside in Lewisville, NC.
Rusty attended Wake Forest University on a football scholarship but played four years of basketball and one year of baseball as well. He graduated with a 3.5 GPA while majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Mathematics. He made Dean's List all but 2 semesters while at Wake. In addition, Rusty spent his summers at Wake working with Professor Robert Plemmons on National Science Foundation research projects. After college Rusty chose to pursue his childhood dream of being a professional basketball player.
During his professional basketball career the past eight years, Rusty has been running summer basketball camps throughout the Triad for youth of all ages. As an outgrowth of the summer programs, Rusty helped to found the Triad Titans, a non-profit basketball organization providing competitive playing opportunities for local youth. In addition, the Rusty LaRue Basketball Academy has grown to become a place for players of all ages and skill levels to get quality basketball instruction year round. Based out of Forsyth Country Day School where Rusty is the Head Basketball Coach, the RLBA will be continually expanding to provide all types of basketball training.
Rusty also started the Rusty LaRue Charity Golf Classic which benefits The Children's Center of Winston-Salem. Over the past eight years, the golf event has raised over $100,000 for the physically disabled kids who attend school there. It is a wonderful event and has become one of the most popular tournaments in the Triad.