It’s a golden finish for Red Knights
What Ruben Rodriguez, Rick Perez and the Reading High basketball program have done over the last three seasons is astounding:
- Two PIAA championships
- Three District 3 titles
- A program-best 32-1 season
- A three-year record of 84-7
- 26-2 in postseason play
- Unbeaten this season vs. Pennsylvania competition
- Averaged winning PIAA games this season by 22.0 points
- Ended season on a 23-game winning streak
And now this: Both Player of the Year and Coach of the Year on the Pennsylvania Sportswriters Class 6A All-State team, along with third-team selections for both Myles Grey and Aris Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, a player with an unmatched resume in Berks basketball history, is first-team All-State for the third consecutive year. He joins West Reading’s legendary Ron Krick as Berks’ only three-time first-team pick.
Perez’s selection is his third in seven years, following the Red Knights’ third state championship since 2017. He joined Kutztown’s legendary John Silan as the only Berks basketball coach to win three state championships.
Ruben Rodriguez’s list of accolades is nearly endless. He:
- won 107 games, with a .891 winning percentage
- led his teams to a 34-3 record (.919) in the postseason
- won four district championships
- won a pair of Berks Conference championships
- was a two-time Berks Player of the Year
- scored 2,008 points, seventh-most in Berks history
- was a two-time Berks scoring champ
- averaged 21.7 as a senior
- had more 30-point games (11) than any player in Reading High history
- scored 717 points as a senior, second-most in program history
Rodriguez is one of just four three-time All-State picks from Berks, joining Krick, Donovon Jack of Central Catholic/Berks Catholic and Lonnie Walker IV or Reading. Jack and Walker IV were second- or third-team picks as sophomores.
He is one of just six Berks players who have been two-time first-team picks, along with Wilson’s Stevie Mitchell, Reading’s Stu Jackson, Krick, Jack and Walker IV.
Three games into the season Perez became the winningest coach in program history as the Red Knights dug out of an early 19-point hole to beat Cardinal O’Hara 68-65 at the Geigle.
It was his 252nd win, topping the record set by Jim Gano. He went on to record the best season in program history and the Red Knights’ third state championship in the last six tournaments. (The 2020 tournament was suspended due to COVID-19 and did not resume.)
Perez ended the season with a 281-74 record and .791 winning percentage over 12 seasons. During his tenure the Red Knights have won 10 division titles, six league titles and five district titles.
“He’ll go down as one of the best coaches, if not the best coach, in Reading High history,” Grey said. “All respect to Pete Carril and everybody else, his name’s going to be remembered for a very long time.”
Perez has transformed the program, taking it to a level never seen before. He’s accomplished it with year-round work, his players competing in spring, summer and fall leagues and tournaments, and with a rigid year-round conditioning program.
He combines the physical aspects with a true family atmosphere, talks openly about love and caring, and his players buy in. It’s become known across the state that no team out-works or plays harder than the Red Knights.
“I don’t think you can ignore what Rick Perez has done, in terms of giving young players something to aspire to and building a culture that produces winning all the time, and championships,” said former Red Knights great Stu Jackson.
“I don’t think there’s a team that plays harder than they do, which really shows how much those players believe in themselves and believe in him,” Jackson said. “The attitude of just not giving up, and you’re never out of games, just shows through.
“When you talk about culture, that summation of parts at Reading High school is really their secret sauce. It’s happened year after year. It’s on full display when you watch them play. It’s something Coach Perez values, and it’s paying dividends for them.”
Grey, a three-year starter, was the Red Knights’ point guard and a true leader; Perez often referred to him as “The General.” He earned his way into starting lineup as a sophomore with his defense and ended up as a shooter and all-around player. He hit 45 3-pointers as a senior and set a program record as a junior with 10 3’s in a game.
He averaged 13.4 points as a senior along with 4.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 3 steals, and 3.0 deflections; he shot 74 percent from the foul line.
The 6-5 Aris Rodriguez moved into the starting lineup as a senior and scored a career-high 30 points in the season-opener. He continued to be a match-up problem because of his length and range, and hit 52 3-pointers.
Aris Rodriguez averaged 13.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 deflections, 2.0 steals and 2.0 assists. He scored a team-high 16 points in state championship game vs. Roman Catholic and had a team-high 18 in District 3 championship game against Cumberland Valley.
Ruben Rodriguez showed what great things were to come when, as a freshman at Muhlenberg, he averaged 10.3 points per game, second on the team. He was the youngest player on the court but led the Muhls to their first district championship, hitting several game-winners during the postseason.
He returned to Reading, where he grew up playing with Grey, Amier Burdine and Aris Rodriguez, for his sophomore season and lifted the Red Knights to the PIAA Class 6A championship. He averaged 14.6 points per game.
He took his game to a new level as a junior, led the league in scoring at 19.8 points per game, earned the first of two Berks Player of the Year awards, committed to play at Rider University and played for Puerto Rico’s national youth team.
Rodriguez scored his 1,000th point at Santander Arena in January, 2022, in a win over Vertical Academy. The second thousand came in roughly 14 months – 50 of them in a game against Daniel Boone to set a program single-game record.
In 33 games as a senior he scored 20 or more points 18 times, 30 or more seven times and a season-high 42 in a district playoff opener against Chambersburg.
His 21.7 scoring average as a senior ranks fifth-highest in program history, trailing only Donyell Marshall (24.8), Bill Jankans (23.7) and Jackson (22.6 as a junior, 22.2 as a senior).
Rodriguez is just the second Reading player to top 700 points in a season; Marshall was the first, with 794 in 1990-91.
“I feel like there’s nothing more I have to do,” he said following the 63-56 overtime win over Roman Catholic in the PIAA title game. There’s nothing more I can do.”
Class 6A All-State
1st Team
Ruben Rodriguez, 6’ 2” senior Reading High
Xzayvier Brown 6’ 1” senior Roman Catholic
Jalil Bethea 6’ 4” junior Archbishop Wood
Nick Coval 6’ 2” junior Parkland
Braeden Shrewsberry 6’ 3” senior State College
Dylan Blair 5’ 11” senior Downingtown West
2nd Team
Jacob Nguyen 6’ 4” sophomore Spring-Ford
Sam Brown 6’ 2” senior Lower Merion
Quidire Bennett 6’ 3” senior Plymouth-Whitemarsh
Greg Guidinger 6’ 7” junior Central York
Jaron McKie 6’ 2” sophomore St. Joseph’s Prep
Nadir Myers 6’ 2” senior Upper Darby
3rd Team
Aris Rodriguez 6’ 5” senior Reading High
Nasir Washington 6’ 3” senior Penn Wood
Myles Grey 5’ 10” senior Reading
Jonathan Anderson 5’ 9” senior New Castle
Donovan Fromhartz 6’ 4” sophomore Downingtown West
Miguel Pena 6’ 3” senior Hempfield
Jermal Stewart-Herring 6’ 3” senior Roman Catholic
