2026 SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll
2026 Season
• Played in 39 games (18 starts at second base), batting .232 (16-for-69) with five doubles, nine RBI and 14 runs scored
• Batted .353 (6-for-17) in a five-game stretch from April 28-May 5 with three doubles, four RBI and four runs
• 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBI and three runs vs. Southeastern Louisiana
• 2-for-3 with two RBI in win over New Orleans (April 21) in his third career collegiate start
• Entered the season rated No. 14 among 2026 Perfect Game Top 100 College Freshmen, No. 1 among 2026 Perfect Game Best High School Players in Louisiana, and No. 32 among 2026 Perfect Game Best High School Shortstops in the Nation
High School
• Rated the 2025 No. 1 overall high school player in the state of Louisiana by Perfect Game … rated the nation’s No. 32 shortstop and the No. 83 overall player by Perfect Game
• A Max Preps All-American and two-time All-State selection … earned a baseball letter as an eighth-grader at Catholic HS, becoming the school’s first eighth-grade letterman in its major sports of football, basketball and baseball
• Led Catholic High of Baton Rouge to the 2025 state title — the third state championship of his high school career — hitting .372 with a .503 on-base percentage, seven home runs, six doubles, 35 RBI and 50 runs scored
• Established the Catholic HS single-season hits record with 52 on the year, surpassing the mark of 49 hits by Jordan Romero, a catcher at LSU in 2016 and 2017 … Ruckert tied the Catholic HS single-season stolen bases record with 26 steals, tying Josh Smith, who played SS/3B at LSU from 2017-19 and now plays in MLB with the Texas Rangers
• Also played football (safety) in his freshman and sophomore seasons at Catholic HS
Personal
Full name is John Quin Ruckert … born January 17, 2007, in Washington, D.C. … parents are Kyle and Lynnel Ruckert … Dad works in government, Mom runs a small business … has a younger sister, Mary … grandfather, John Ruckert, was a wrestler at LSU … aunt, Lindsay Ruckert, was a volleyball player at Washington and Lee University … aunt, Ashley Ruckert, played volleyball at Elon University … on attending LSU: “It’s been a dream of mine to play for the team I grew up idolizing. I’ve been a fan my whole life, and once I got to know the coaches, it was a no-brainer.”
Ruckert’s LSU Career Highs
Hits: 2 four times; most recently vs. Tulane (5/5/26)
Runs Scored: 3 vs. Southeastern Louisiana (4/28/26)
Doubles: 2 vs. Southeastern Louisiana (4/28/26)
Triples: none
Home Runs: none
RBI: 2 vs. Southeastern Louisiana (4/28/26); vs. New Orleans (4/21/26)