“His name should live on,” this Power Five big man is adding his grandfather's name to keep his memory alive

The text seemed unassuming at first, just an introduction to Bryce Dortch’s Notre Dame career. But Shauna Ruglass opened it and was emotional almost immediately. Eventually, she was bawling. She knew she had “done good” raising him.

Shauna opened a picture of her son’s jersey, showing he no longer referred to himself as just Bryce Dortch. He had seven extra letters stitched into the back of the jersey he was about to wear in Notre Dame’s exhibition against Dayton. A new piece of his public-facing identity had just emerged.

Her son was officially Bryce Ruglass Dortch and was declaring that to the world.

His last name had technically always been Ruglass Dortch—Ruglass for his mom and Dortch for his dad—but he worried others would mispronounce Ruglass as Rug-less. He wanted to be known by a shorter name in the basketball world. It was always Bryce Dortch or BD, but what about BRD? His mom would joke. Now, Ruglass Dortch takes pride in both of his names.

The Ruglass side of Ruglass Dortch’s family had been asking whether he ever planned to go by his full last name, but they assumed he'd keep dropping Ruglass publicly. Ruglass Dortch was quietly getting closer to embracing his full last name, but he hit a breaking point that made him realize he was going to make the change.

Ruglass Dortch remembers Ferdinand Ruglass as one of his biggest fans and as someone as impactful in his life as nearly anyone outside Shauna. When Ferdinand passed on May 1, 2026, Ruglass Dortch knew he wanted to honor his legacy. As a result, he took on his name. He also got a tattoo on his wrist with Ferdinand’s birthday and the day he died engraved on it.