By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

We all have self-doubt. You don’t deny it, but you also don’t capitulate to it. You embrace it. 

                                          –  Kobe Bryant

Over the course of his freshman year at Kennett High School, James Ruffin was a shooting guard and small forward on the team’s junior varsity basketball team. He played cornerback, defensive back and wide receiver on the junior varsity football team and also ran for the school’s track team as a distance runner. He is an honors student carrying a 3.8 grade point average and was elected as the president of his freshman class.

Yet the truest story of James Ruffin, at least the one that is unfolding on the athletic playing fields and in the classrooms at Kennett High School, is one that at first glance has to do with the gifts he is giving to himself and the life lessons he is giving those around him: to acknowledge that the power of perseverance is omnipotent; that the challenges we face are the hurdles we leap over towards our ascension; and that none of it – none our life’s aspirations - is achievable without the hours we invest in them.

It is not his albatross nor is it his excuse, but rather, it has become the touchstone of his strength.

James Ruffin was born 15 years ago to Chanel and Elliott Ruffin, and blessed with only one arm and hand, his left. 

“From the first time I first picked up a basketball and a football, I have had that drive in me to succeed,” he said recently. “Every time someone doubts me or my abilities, that inner drive becomes more amplified. When I hit a roadblock, I get stronger.

“Sometimes, I have lows, and I fall into the pit of it and ask myself, ‘Why did this have to happen to me?’ Yet, I always come back to feeling that it’s just who I am, and I just have to get through it. I have what I have and there is nothing that I can change about that.” 

“James was raised in an environment that told him, ‘You are your only obstacle,’” said his mother, Chanel, who is the assistant principal of Kennett High School. “We always use the phrase, ‘Make yourself proud.’ James’ intrinsic desire to be successful comes from a family who tells him that there is nothing that he can’t do. As much as we would want something for him, he wants it more.”

“Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses.”

Kobe Bryant

Should one aspire to understand the physical manifestation of “human grit,” they may be well served to see the videos of Michael Jordan driving the lane, tongue flapping and soaring toward the basket. One could also call up the highlight reels of Kobe Bryant – quoted frequently in this article as a reference point for this profile’s subject – scowling at his opponents with eyes so intense they could slice through diamonds. For every successful person, there is a crystallizing moment of clairvoyance when inspiration meets the rolled-up fist of determination, and for most, it first kicks in when they are children. From the start of his athletic journey, James – who began playing football with the Kennett Titans and basketball in local youth leagues – was his own servant, much to the surprise and pride of his parents, Chanel and Elliott.

“When he was in middle school, we got James a video game, and after we opened it, I hit the pause button because I thought it would be frustrating for him to figure out the game with all of its manual cues that came with it,” said Chanel. “He sat down and figured it out without anybody showing him anything. There were many times when I felt the need to jump in and make accommodations for him, but he just figured it out for himself, and I began to learn how to sit back and watch him glow. 

“When he wants to figure something out, he does so on his own. James is my reminder that anything is possible. He is walking evidence that proves that if you put your mind to something, you can achieve it.”

As James puts it, his parents are the respective CEOs for two of his primary endeavors: academics and athletics.

“They both help me in different ways,” he said. “My mom helps me succeed in the classroom. On a social level, she never lets me feel out of place and always makes me feel like I belong and tells me to just be myself and not let anyone judge me because of what I look like. My dad encourages me athletically, and whenever I come home from a game and I am down on myself, he’s always there to check on me.” 

The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.                                                                                                              Kobe Bryant

There is a large mural at the far end of the Kennett High School gymnasium on which every member of the school’s 1,000 career point record in the school’s basketball history is listed. James wants his name to be on that board someday, but the reality is that he will only be entering his sophomore year this fall, and there will be three full seasons before he will be able to even take a whiff of that goal. His preparation for the next three seasons, however – in basketball, football and track – is currently underway. James’ summer of 2025 will be a non-stop carousel that will consist of two-a-day practices for football – he aspires to make the varsity squad as a sophomore – as well as summer league basketball leagues and running on the Kennett Stadium track. To help get a better edge on his opponents, he will be working with an athletic trainer in Bala Cynwyd. 

“James will ask me to drive him to practice or to the basketball courts so that he can practice his shooting,” Chanel said. “As long as he is locked in, and I will be there to cheer him on and push through, and I’ll make whatever sacrifices I need to make.

“This is his dream and his plan, and I am here to make sure that I pave the way.”

Whether it is seen in a performance on the playing field or in the lonely confines of a workout, James has already built up an admiring list of supporters. 

“What James has accomplished on the court is nothing short of remarkable,” said Kennett High School Athletic Director Sean Harvey, whose son plays basketball with James. “Playing basketball at this level is already demanding, but being able to balance playing three sports here at Kennett High School takes skill, determination and heart. James doesn’t just participate. He competes and inspires everyone around him. It’s a powerful reminder that limitations don’t define us - attitude and effort do.”

“Knowing James for so many years now has been an honor for me,” said Kennett High School Principal Lorenzo DeAngelis. “Because James is friends with my children, he is considered a part of our family, and what my children do not realize is that they learn from James.  I learn from James.  

“James’s journey as an athlete is a powerful testament to perseverance and unshakable will. He has never let his challenges define or limit him. Instead, he approaches every challenge with relentless determination, showing up to train harder, compete stronger, and push further than many thought possible. He doesn’t ask for pity or shortcuts—he earns his place through grit and heart, proving that true strength lies not just in physical ability but in the refusal to give up.”

James’ breadth of inspiring others has even touched Chanel. 

“I was a business teacher at the Kennett Middle School and began to take classes in order to strengthen my classroom experience,” she said. “At the conclusion of the program, the position of assistant principal at Kennett High School became available. James told me, ‘Give it a shot, Mom. Just try. At least you will have the experience of interviewing.’ If it wasn’t for James, I would not have submitted my application and I would not be in this position now.

“I have had so many teachers come up to me and they tell me that James is a presence – a personality that they enjoy,” Chanel said. “All we have ever asked of James is that he tries his best and make an effort to leave who he is behind in every assignment and with every person he knows.” 

The expectations I placed on myself were higher than what anyone expected from me. 

                                                                                                                                 Kobe Bryant

For every able-bodied individual reading this profile, it is a fallacy for them to fully comprehend the world that James Ruffin inhabits – the daily task of looking at one’s image in a mirror and seeing the incompleteness of it glaring back like an erasure mark made to a human body - a piece of the glorious machine unceremoniously taken away.

Yet, given the choice between drowning in loss or in the acceptance of loss, James has already drawn out the contours of his life’s journey, and there appear to be, at least in this stage of his life, no boundaries placed on his landscape.

“On and off the field, court and track, James leads by example, turning setbacks into motivation and victories into fuel for greater goals,” DeAngelis said. “He doesn’t compete despite his challenges — he competes with them, breaking barriers and showing the world that limits only exist when we choose to accept them. 

“I am so proud to have James represent Kennett High School. He is truly a role model for all.”

“I definitely know that are things that I still struggle to do and sometimes I think to myself, ‘What if I hit a cap and don’t improve and don’t get any better and don’t make the team?’” James said. “It’s something I fear, but I just keep training, because I haven’t given myself any other options.”

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].