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Being the head coach of a high school basketball team isn’t exactly what Saskatoon’s Josh Rutten thought he’d be doing after he graduated.
The former Holy Cross student and basketball player was just living his life when he got a call from his former coach asking if he’d be interested in helping him run the school’s basketball team.
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“A couple years after I graduated, the coach that I played for asked me to come back as an assistant,” Rutten said. “I always loved the game of basketball and was excited for that opportunity. I loved playing for him.”
That coach who called him was Brett Hardy, a long-time basketball coach and teacher at Holy Cross.
Not long after taking the reins as an assistant coach, Hardy decided to step down from the position during the COVID-19 pandemic after more than 20 years on the sidelines.
This meant for the first time in two decades, the school needed to find a new basketball coach.
While Rutten was helping coach the Crusaders, he was also pursuing a teaching degree at University of Saskatchewan.
Although he was busy enough with school, Rutten decided he wanted to try and fill the vacant head coach role.
“I put my name forward as the person to take over and lead this program. Initially, and I think rightfully so, the school was a bit unsure,” Rutten said.
“Just as a young guy, kind of unproven, not a teacher in the school. But it kind of ran to the point where it didn’t seem like there were many other options.”
Rutten was officially named the head coach of the Crusaders at the age of 22 in the 2022-23 season. He also brought along his friend Ben Carlson — who is the same age as Rutten — to be his assistant coach.
“They took a chance on us and gave us the opportunity.”
Rutten admits it was a learning experience coaching a bunch of kids who aren’t far off his own age.
“Just finding our stride was a little weird,” Rutten said. “We’re both shy guys, and then leading a program and trying to figure out how to best run a team and all the dynamics of that was definitely a learning curve.”
Rutten credits his senior players for helping him navigate the new coaching waters.
“Luckily, we had 11 returning players that year, so guys we knew when we were assistant coaches we could lean on to help us out. We ended up finding lots of success that year,” he said.
In his first season coaching, Rutten led his team to a city and provincial championship.
Those winning ways have continued. In 2024, he led the Crusaders to the finals of the Bedford Road Invitational Tournament (BRIT), only to come up short against arch rivals Walter Murray Collegiate.
Holy Cross and Walter Murray met again the city finals that same season and the Crusaders also fell up short in that.
In 2025, Rutten’s team was able to make it back to its second straight BRIT final, but lost to St. Francis Xavier out of Edmonton.
Rutten is hopeful the tough losses will be able to help his team win a city and provincial championship this season.
“We’ve had very talented players. It seems to kind of be part of the history of Holy Cross,” Rutten said.
“As a coach my first few years, the talent has been pretty close to an all-time high. We’ve had lots of very talented players, which obviously helps you as a coach with strategy and getting opportunities to win and play in big tournaments.”
Rutten is continuing to grow his coaching resume outside of the high school scene.
On top of coaching the high school kids this year, Rutten was named as an assistant coach with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s basketball team.
He was able to land that job after developing a relationship with Huskies head coach Jamie Campbell.
“He got to know me a bit through coming to our games for recruiting purposes. Eventually, we got talking and it was an opportunity that was too good to pass up. I’ve loved it so far,” Rutten said.
“It’s been fantastic continuing to learn the game at a higher level and seeing how that level operates and some differences I can take away and also bring back to Holy Cross.”
Rutten doesn’t know where his coaching career will lead him, but he’s content with what he’s doing.
“Right now, I’m really happy. I love the balance of my life. I get to be a teacher and work with kids all day, which is my main passion, but also get to coach a sport that I love on the side,” he said.
“You never know what the future entails for you and I’m just happy when opportunities come around.”
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