He attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn. LaRusso, whose mother was Jewish, won All-City honors.
He was taken by the Minneapolis Lakers (now the Los Angeles Lakers) in the 2nd round of the 1959 NBA Draft out of Dartmouth College, and played 10 years with them and the San Francisco Warriors.
In 1967-68 he was 7th in the league with a career-best average of 21.8 ppg.
He died of Parkinson's disease.