Reading High’s Ruben Rodriguez makes Rider commitment official

By Mike Drago Last updated Nov 17, 2022

Less than a month before the start of his final high school season Ruben Rodriguez made the next step in his basketball journey Wednesday, signing an NCAA letter of intent to play at Rider University.

Rodriguez announced his decision in August.

With teammates, coaches, friends and family gathered around him on his home court at the Geigle the two-time All-State guard made things official.

Rodriguez 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.

Ruben Rodriguez celebrates after scoring his 1,000th point last season. (Susan L. Angstadt photo)

Next up, Rodriguez will go about completing what could be one of the greatest basketball careers in Berks history. He’ll seek his fourth district championship and will try to lead the Red Knights to their second PIAA title in three years.

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.