MINNEAPOLIS — Athletics played a key role in Malik Rucker’s early life.
The north Minneapolis native starred on the football field for Robbinsdale Cooper and, following his high school graduation in 2013, played defensive back at Iowa and Western Michigan.
But his path to a Division I scholarship didn’t come without challenges.
“As a former athlete, I grew up on the North Side of Minneapolis and had to drive to Maple Grove, Eden Prairie, Hopkins, to learn how to be an elite athlete,” Rucker said. “I had to go out there to get the best facilities.”
That’s why he’s so passionate about his work at the north Minneapolis non-profit, V3 Sports, which is building an aquatics and wellness center at the corner of Plymouth and Lyndale in the Near North neighborhood.