Education
Riverside Polytechnic High School.
Riverside Polytechnic High School.
A second round pick in the 1967 National Basketball Association Draft, Rule quickly became one of the stars of Seattle"s expansion franchise. Named to the 1967-1968 National Basketball Association All-Rookie Team, Rule"s 18.1 points per game average stood as the SuperSonics rookie record for forty seasons, until broken by Kevin Durant. His rebounding average of 9.5 is the second best ever by a SuperSonics rookie, behind only Pete Cross"s 12.0 in the 1970-1971 season.
Also during his rookie season, Rule scored 47 points in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers — still a SuperSonics rookie record.
Rule"s game grew stronger during the next two seasons. In the 1968-1969 season, he averaged 24.0 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game.
In the 1969-1970 season, he averaged 24.6 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game, set a then-Supersonics record of 49 points in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers, and played in the 1970 National Basketball Association All-Star Game. In the 1970-1971 season, Rule began the season averaging 29.8 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game in his first four games before going down with a season-ending torn achilles tendon.
He never regained his All-Star form after his scoring fell to 15.1 Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company the following season and saw limited playing time thereafter.
By 1974 his career was over.
Earlier in his college career, Rule played under the legendary Jerry Tarkanian, then head coach at Riverside Community College, as a member of two state championship teams.