A simple Google search of freshman forward Willie Rodriguez will turn up his highlight reel, comparing him to Spurs guard Manu Ginóbili.
Scroll down, and you’ll see blog and message board comments from fans of programs like Rutgers and Georgetown lauding the 6-foot-6 recruit out of Florida. Comments such as “give Willie a Schollie [scholarship]” are a common refrain. But if you were to run into Rodriguez and ask him who he thinks he is on the court, his response might surprise you.
“I’m just a typical basketball player. I’d rather just have everyone come and find out.”
Humble, certainly. But typical — now that’s a bit beyond the arc. After posting 13 points in his exhibition debut against Mansfield on Nov. 1, the freshman came back as a starter in BU’s second exhibition against Oswego State last Friday. He led Binghamton in minutes and scoring in the 75-74 victory, establishing himself as the Bearcats’ preseason points leader.
Already accumulating 27 total points in green and white, the highly-anticipated freshman is more than living up to expectations, and his teammates notice the change.
“I think he’s been depicted as the all-rookie, I guess,” junior guard Jordan Reed said. “Me and him are going at it. Just having a bigger guy strong enough to bang with me in practice has personally been awesome. Opposed to a lot of the practices before where the other guys were strong enough but too slow, or vice versa.”
Known for his versatility, Rodriguez brings a bit of everything to Binghamton. During his time at East River High School just outside of Orlando, the standout ended his high school career with 2,018 points. That made him just the third player in Florida Metro Conference history to pass the 2,000-point mark in a career. He also left East River with 946 rebounds, averaging 9.5 per game before playing a post-graduate year at Cheshire Academy in Connecticut. As a Cat, Rodriguez earned First-Team All-League honors as well as MVP honors in the New England Prep School Athletic Conference Class B championship.
“It helped me out a lot,” Rodriguez said of his post-graduate year. “It was an extra year to work on my game and work on all of my weaknesses.”
It worked for his confidence, too. In his short time at Binghamton, Rodriguez has established himself on and off of the court. Despite a timid first half against Mansfield, Rodriguez made his physical presence known in his subsequent three halves. In the final minutes of Binghamton’s game against Oswego State, it was Rodriguez who would put up five points — highlighted by a strong layup in the paint with 14 seconds to go — to complement sophomore point guard Marlon Beck II’s game-clinching free throws.
“I’m fitting in overall on and off the court,” Rodriguez said. “I’m pretty good friends with Marlon and Yosef [Yacob] off the court, but on the court I’m fitting in well to go with the offense that Coach Dempsey runs.”
That was to be expected. But given his role as a leader of this 2014-15 team’s deep freshman class, Rodriguez plans to employ the same work ethic that got him to 2,018 points at East River and 27 so far in Binghamton — a work ethic that one might call atypical of the “typical basketball player.” One that he hopes will take his new school to new heights.
“I just want to bring home a conference championship,” Rodriguez said.