Oakwood’s Rubin ‘a once in a career type of player’
No doubt Darren Rubin will go down as one of the best basketball players in Oakwood High School history. No question he’ll be known as one of the most prolific shooters in Southwestern Buckeye League and Miami Valley history either.
Reaching double-figures for the 37th straight game Friday, Rubin, a 6-foot senior guard, led the host Lumberjacks to a 61-45 win over Eaton in an SWBL Southwestern Division game at the fabled Pit. Oakwood improves to 9-5 overall and 4-3 in the SWBL. Eaton drops to 5-10, 1-7.
Franklin (10-2, 6-2) leads the Southwestern Division, while Oakwood, Monroe (8-6, 5-3) and Bellbrook (6-6, 3-3) are one game back in the loss column.
Rubin’s 10-point performance added to his school-record 1,183-career points.
Scoring a 33 on his ACT, Rubin will play collegiately at Denison University.
“He’s a once in a career type of player,” Oakwood head coach Paul Stone said. “He has natural ability. Sometimes I just sit back and watch him go. He’s been phenomenal.”
On Jan. 4, Rubin scored 24 points in a win over Carlisle to become the program’s alltime leading scorer. The previous record (1,091 points) was set by Leo Flotron in 1979.
David Baller (988 points, 2001-04), Joe Lunne (927, 1989-1992) and Ken May (867, 1990-93) round out the Lumberjacks top five all-time scorers.
“I’ve always loved the art of basketball,” Rubin said. “Just being able to do whatever you can with the ball – shooting, dribbling and passing. I’ve also been blessed with great teammates along the way who have made it fun.”
Rubin is currently the
SWBL’s second leading scorer (21 points) behind Middletown Madison senior Grant Whisman (26.2). He led the league in scoring last year (22.2 points) en route to earning first team SWBL, second team Associated Press Division II All-Southwest District and Honorable Mention OPSWA All-Ohio honors. Rubin was also first team All-SWBL as a sophomore.
Three days after setting the Oakwood scoring record, Rubin dropped a career-high 38 points (30 in the first half ) and tied a career-high with seven 3-pointers in a win over Stivers. His previous high, 36 points (15-of-15 from the free throw line), came in an upset of eventual league champion Brookville last season.
Seventeen times Rubin has hit five 3s or more in a game and his 219 career 3s put him on pace to finish among the Top 20 in state history and second in SWBL history in that category. Current Detroit Pistons guard and Franklin
graduate Luke Kennard holds the league record and ranks eighth in Ohio history with 263 made 3s.
Rubin has hit 41% of his 3s the last three seasons.
Oakwood, led by Rubin, senior Daniel Hu (16 points against Eaton) and freshman Will Maxwell (14 points), is looking for its first league title since 2016 and second since 2007.
“I saw (Kennard) multiple times here in the pit when I was in the 5th and 6th grade,” Rubin said. “He’s obviously an incredible player. I’m not making the NBA, but it’s still pretty cool to be mentioned in the same sentence as an NBA player.”
“(Darren’s) a kid that your scouting report says ‘We can’t let make any 3s’ and he still finds a way to get it done,” Stone said. “He’s hit them under pressure and he shoots them deeper than I’ve ever seen before. He’s special.
“No doubt about it.”