Reading High’s Ruben Rodriguez: ‘There’s nothing more I can do’
After scoring the last of his 2,008 career points, after winning the last of his dozen championships, Ruben Rodriguez was emotionally drained and physically exhausted. He had nothing left to give.
“I’m done,” he said, relieved and overjoyed at the same time after Reading High’s thrilling overtime victory over Roman Catholic in the PIAA Class 6A championship late last month. “I feel like there’s nothing more I have to do. There’s nothing more I can do.”
Indeed, Rodriguez did it all. He compiled a resume that is unmatched in Berks basketball history.
He led his teams to two state titles, to an unprecedented four straight district titles, to a pair of Berks Conference championships, and to four straight division titles.
His teams won 107 games over four seasons, with a remarkable .891 winning percentage.
They were even better in the postseason, going 34-3 – that’s a .919 winning percentage, against the best of the best.
“Ruben’s magical,” said Reading coach Rick Perez. “He always finds a way to prevail. Ruben . . . he’s a winner, a born winner.”
Time to add yet another honor to his resume: MikeDragoSports.com Player of the Year, an award sponsored by Wyomissing Physical Therapy. Rodriguez won the inaugural award last year.
“Wyomissing Physical Therapy is excited to be the sponsor of the MikeDragoSports.com Player of The Year Award, and to congratulate Ruben Rodriguez,” said Joe Miller, owner of Wyomissing Physical Therapy.
“Ruben’s incredible individual statistics for the second year in a row again only briefly touch on the impact he made for his Reading High team and the Reading community,” said Miller. “As Mike Drago dubbed him the ‘Golden Boy’ of Berks County, no one has come close or may ever come close to the amount of gold hardware Ruben has led his teams to over his record-setting career.
“Wyomissing PT wishes Ruben all the best in his future at Rider University. We are confident he will continue to make our community proud! We are proud to sponsor this award given to Ruben Rodriguez, the epitome of a team player.”
Finalists for the award are Anthony Caccese, senior, Exeter; Myles Grey, senior, Reading High; and Jake Karnish, senior, Fleetwood. Each was named Player of the Week twice during the regular season. Rodriguez was named Player of the Week three times.
Rodriguez hasn’t simply been collecting awards and medals — he’s been earning them. He was the leading scorer on Reading’s PIAA championship team as a sophomore and led the league in scoring in both his junior and senior seasons. He’ll soon be named first-team All-State for the third time.
“He doesn’t care if he has the most points, the most rebounds, steals, assists,” said his father, Ruben Sr., an assistant coach at Reading. “Whatever he has to do to win the game he’s going to do. He’s not about the stats. Winning, that’s No. 1 for him.”
Rodriguez showed what great things were to come when, as a freshman point guard 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 straight Berks Player of the Year awards, committed to play at Rider University and played for Puerto Rico’s national team. As he said, he did it all.
He 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.
He finished with more 30-point games (11) than any player in program history; he had three in a row in January, against Daniel Boone, Conrad Weiser and Harrisburg.
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 Stu Jackson (22.6 as a junior, 22.2 as a senior). He is just the second Reading player to top 700 points in a season; Marshall was the first, with 794 in 1990-91.
Rodriguez, often double-teamed by Roman Catholic, was held to a season-low eight points in the state final but he didn’t seem to mind – he went out a winner.
“We put everything on the line today,” he said after the 63-58 victory. “We did whatever we had to take this dub. And I’m just happy it ended on this note.”
Player of the Week selections in 2022-23 season:
- Dec. 12: Jake Karnish, Fleetwood
- Dec. 19: Mark Rajnath, Schuylkill Valley
- Dec. 26: Ryan Koch, Berks Catholic
- Jan. 2: Myles Grey, Reading High
- Jan 9: Jake Karnish, Fleetwood
- Jan. 16: Yadiel Cruz, Reading High
- Jan. 23: Ruben Rodriguez, Reading High
- Jan. 30: Aiden Soumas, Fleetwood
- Feb. 6: Anthony Caccese, Exeter
- Feb. 13: Cooper Hohenadel, Schuylkill Valley
- Feb. 20: Ruben Rodriguez, Reading High
- Feb. 27: Ruben Rodriguez, Reading High
- March 6: Anthony Caccese, Exeter
- March 13: Myles Grey, Reading High
- March 20: Kevin Saenz, Exeter
- March 27: Nick Chapman, Reading High
