Reading’s Ruben Rodriguez a repeat pick as Berks Player of the Year

The biggest games of his senior season still lie ahead but already Ruben Rodriguez has placed his name among the all-time greats in Berks basketball.

Friday, in leading Reading High to a second straight Berks Conference championship game, he scored 24 points and moved into the Berks all-time Top 10 scoring list.

	Players of the Year
2022-23	Ruben Rodriguez	Reading High
2021-22	Ruben Rodriguez	Reading High
2020-21	Stevie Mitchell	Wilson
2019-20	Stevie Mitchell	Wilson
2018-19	Wesley Butler	Reading High
2017-18	Wesley Butler	Reading High
2016-17	Lonnie Walker IV	Reading High
2015-16	Lonnie Walker IV	Reading High
2014-15	Lonnie Walker IV	Reading High
2013-14	Nana Foulland	Berks Catholic
2012-13	Nana Foulland	Berks Catholic
2011-12	Donovon Jack	Berks Catholic
2010-11	Donovon Jack	Central Catholic
2009-10	Trenity Burdine	Reading High
2008-09	Jeremy Beckett	Holy Name
2007-08	Jermaine Jackson	Reading High
2006-07	Ryan Ebner	Wilson
2005-06	Alex Franklin	Central Catholic
2004-05	Alex Franklin	Central Catholic
2003-04	Taylor Steltz	Conrad Weiser
2002-01	Greg Brizek	Conrad Weiser
2001-02	Dorian Sims	Central Catholic
2000-01	Dorian Sims	Central Catholic
1999-00	Charlie Copp	Tulpehocken

Sunday, when he was named Berks Player of the Year for the second straight season, he joined a prestigious list of multiple-time winners such as Donyell Marshall, Charlie Copp, Stevie Mitchell and Lonnie Walker IV.

“Ruben is a shining star,” said Reading coach Rick Perez after seeing Rodriguez push his career scoring total to, bumping Walker out of the No. 10 spot on the Berks all-time list.

“I used to look at the banners (at Reading High) and think you’ve got to wait 25 years for another special player to come along,” he said, alluding to Walker IV, a 2017 Reading graduate.

“We didn’t have to wait that long. Coaches wait decades to get players like that. We’ve been blessed to have two (in a short time span).”

Rodriguez is joined on the All-Berks team by repeat pick Jake Karnish of Fleetwood, Anthony Caccese and Zyion Paschall of Exeter, Ryan Koch of Berks Catholic and his Reading High teammates Myles Grey of and Aris Rodriguez. All seven players are seniors.

Matt Ashcroft, who took Exeter to the Berks title game, is Coach of the Year for the first time.

In his fourth season with the Eagles, he has them on the brink of their first 20-win season since 1984 and saw them reach the Berks Conference championship game for the first time since 1974.

The Eagles won their first division title since 1984 and reached the Berks title game for the first time since 1974.

Exeter finished 13-15 last season but reached the PIAA Tournament for the first time since 1999. A win Monday in their District 3 Class 5A opener will give them back-to-back state tournament appearances for the first time since 1983 and 1984.

The All-Berks team, Player of the Year and Coach of the Year were selected in a vote of Berks boys basketball coaches.

Rodriguez has 1,838 career points, 10 more than Walker, and with the possibility of playing as many as eight more games – if Reading reaches the PIAA championship game – he could pass 1,900 and make a run at 2,000.

Rodriguez, a Rider recruit, is bidding for a second straight Berks scoring title. He’s averaging 21.9 points, just behind Karnish, who leads the league at 22.1. Rodriguez has 40 3-pointers, is shooting nearly 68 percent from the foul line and leads the team in assists-to-turnover ratio and 3-point shooting percentage. He’s second on the team in rebounds and assists.

Karnish, a 6-2 forward, leads the league in scoring at 22.1, up nearly five points from last season.

He’s one of the league’s best free throw shooters, at nearly 82 percent, and has 25 3’s. He leads the team in rebounds, assists and steals. He’s committed to play at King’s College.

The 6-6 Caccese has emerged as a towering force down the stretch. He had a pair of 27-point games against Berks Catholic, one to move the Eagles into first place in Berks II, the other in a Berks semifinal that knocked the Saints out.

He had another big effort in the championship game, with 17 points and 16 rebounds. He leads the team in rebounds at 11.6 per game and is scoring a team-high 12.8 points. He’ll play football at the University of Delaware next season.

Paschall, a strong defender as a junior, emerged as a scoring threat this season and has had an outstanding playoff run, leading the Eagles to their first Berks Conference championship game in almost 50 years.

He scored 43 points over three league playoff games, including a career-high 20 in the title game. He’s fourth on the team in scoring, at 9.8 points, shoots 72 percent from the foul line and 39 percent on 3’s. He averages 4.4 rebounds and a team-best 6.8 assists.

Koch is averaging 13.6 points per game and is fifth in the league with 50 3-pointers. He is the Saints’ all-time leader in 3’s, with 156.

Grey, a three-year starter, averages 13.5 points and leads the team in assists (5.1 per game) and defensive deflections (2.5). He’s also a lockdown defender, and generally is assigned to the opposition’s top-scoring guard.

Aris Rodriguez, a senior and first-year starter, has emerged as one of Berks’ top outside threats and adds length to a small Reading lineup. He’s second on the team in scoring at 14.2 per game, leads the team with 41 3’s and shoot 70.5 percent from the foul line.

He knocked down the biggest shot in Reading’s 70-63 win over Exeter in the Berks Conference championship game, a 3-pointer with two minutes left that gave the Red Knights their first lead.

Player of the Year
Ruben Rodriguez	Reading High

Coach of the Year
Matt Ashcroft	Exeter

All-Berks
Anthony Caccese	Exeter	6-6	Sr.
Jake Karnish	Fleetwood	6-3	Sr.
Ryan Koch	Berks Catholic	6-3	Sr.
Myles Grey	Reading High	5-10	Sr.
Zyion Paschall	Exeter	5-10	Sr.
Aris Rodriguez	Reading High	6-5	Sr.
Ruben Rodriguez	Reading High	6-2	Sr

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