Ruben Rodriguez invited to play in Americas Championship

Ruben Rodriguez will be playing basketball on the international stage next month.

The Reading High star has been invited to play for Puerto Rico in the FIBA U18 Americas Championship in Tijuana, Mexico, June 6-12.

Rodriguez, a two-time All-State pick, traveled to San Juan last month for a tryout; he was notified this weekend that he made the 12-player squad, according to his father, Ruben Rodriguez Sr.

Puerto Rico will compete against Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, the United State and Mexico. The top four teams will qualify for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2023.

Group play begins June 6; the championship game is June 12. The official draw will take place Monday, May 16.

Rodriguez, the Berks Player of the Year, was initially told he would be invited back to San Juan this month for another look but apparently the coaches were impressed enough by his showing the first time.

“I had to bring my ‘A’ game, obviously,” he said after returning home earlier this month. “I feel I did really well separating myself, bringing a different type of intensity.”

Rodriguez is eligible to play for Puerto Rico because of his family background. His father, Ruben Sr., a coach for the Red Knights, was born in the U.S. territory.

Rodriguez, who grew up in Reading’s KTB feeder system, has played up and down the East Coast but the only place he’s been outside the continental United States is Puerto Rico.

A trip to Mexico will be a new experience for him; so will competing on the international level.

“It would definitely be a crazy blessing to be able to play in that big of a stage and represent Puerto Rico,” he said earlier this month. “It would be crazy to be able to play and represent my culture.”

Rodriguez’s open-floor game is well known throughout Berks and across the state. He gets up and down the floor effortlessly and uses his quickness and defensive prowess to create turnovers.

A good portion of the program-record 50 points he scored against Daniel Boone this season came off his steals and aggressive play.

He said the style of play he witnessed in Puerto Rico was much more deliberate, and half-court oriented.

There were about 20 players at the tryout; Rodriguez was one of just a few from the United States.

Rodriguez was a first-team All-State pick as sophomore after leading Reading High to PIAA Class 6A title. He took his game up a notch this season, on both the offensive and defensive ends. He scored a Berks-high 19.8 points per game, shot 74.3 percent from the foul line and made 35 3-pointers. He topped 1,000 points at midseason, finished with 1,291 and could end up in the 1,800-point range with another productive season.

He led the Red Knights to the District 3 championship, his third district title in three seasons; as a freshman he was the starting point guard on Muhlenberg’s Class 5A championship team.