Reading’s Ruben Rodriguez is Rider-bound
Ruben Rodriguez hasn’t left many boxes unchecked in what’s becoming an unparalleled
basketball career at Reading High.
He’s won a state title.
Three district titles.
Been named All-State twice.
Became the first player in program history to drop 50 points in a game.
Friday he checked another big milestone off the list, accepting a scholarship offer to play basketball at Rider University.
The rising senior selected the Broncos over offers from Saint Peter’s, Fairleigh Dickinson, Drexel and Jacksonville University, among others.
Rider is located in Lawrence Township, N.J., north of Trenton, and plays in the Division I Metro Atlantic Conference, along with Iona, Siena, Monmouth and Canisius.
Rider finshed 14-19 last season, going 8-12 in conference play. The season was highlighted by a 71-70 win over top-seeded Iona in a MAAC quarterfinal. The ninth-seeded Broncs saw their season end in the next round against Monmouth.
The Broncs opened their season with a 78-76 exhibition win over Kutztown University.
Rodriguez will play for Kevin Baggett, a two-time MAAC coach of the year who returns for his 11th season in 2022-23; he’s been on staff for 17 years. Baggett was named Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2018
Baggett has enjoyed a big recruiting week, getting commitments from 7-foot Amaan Sandhu and 6-10 Moustapha Sanoh, both rising seniors, along with Rodriguez. Sandhu plays at First Love Christian Academy in Washington, Pa.; Sanoh plays at Executive Education in Allentown.
Rodriguez was Berks Player of the Year as a junior after leading the Berks Conference in scoring at 19.8 points per game. He has scored 1,291 career points, including 1,003 with the Red Knights.
He scored a program-record 50 points vs. Daniel Boone last season. Only three other Reading High players have scored as many as 40 in a game. He is the only player in program history to score 35 points in a game three times in same season.
Rodriguez has played on three District 3 championship teams in three seasons; he was the starting point guard at Muhlenberg in 2019 before tranferring to Reading High for his sophomore season.
He was the leading scorer for Reading in 2020-21 when it beat Archbishop Wood for the PIAA Class 6A championship.
Earlier this year he was selected to play on Team Puerto Rico in the FIBA U18 Americas Championships and was one of the team’s top players. He averaged 9.3 points and was on the team in rebounds and assists.
Last week he was named MVP for the second straight year at the A-Town Throwdown at Cedar Beach after leading Reading over Malvern Prep in the championship game.
He announced his college decision Friday afternoon on Twitter.
