Through four regular-season games against Division I opponents, Willie Rodriguez has jumped from zero to hero.
In the Binghamton men’s basketball team’s season opener against Notre Dame and its following contest against Providence, the freshman forward averaged just three points per game. He combined for 1 of 9 shooting from the field through those matches. He committed seven turnovers and four personal fouls. On a team whose other rookies have given the Bearcats (1-4) consistent production, with freshmen forwards Justin McFadden and Dusan Perovic and freshman guard Romello Walker combining for 39 percent of the team’s total points through the Hall of Fame Tip-Off contests, Rodriguez was making typical rookie mistakes and paying for them.
But BU head coach Tommy Dempsey played Rodriguez through. Dempsey wanted the 6-foot-6 forward — who scored over 2,000 points en route to being named Florida Metro Conference Player of the Year twice in high school — to know Binghamton was committed to him.
So he threw Rodriguez into the starting lineup for the second time in 2014-15, now against Manhattan.
“I believed in him,” Dempsey said. “That’s why I put him in the starting lineup in the Manhattan game, even though he had struggled. I thought that he needed to know that we had his back and that we were committed to him. And he stepped up and he took the starting job and he ran with it and had a great weekend.”
Step up he did. Rodriguez poured in a career-high 23 points against the Jaspers (1-3) on Saturday evening. Though BU fell, 78-63, Rodriguez was sharp. He shot 9 of 14 from the field on a 64 percent clip. He also pulled down a team-high eight boards through 36 minutes.
The newfound efficacy wasn’t just shots falling in. Rodriguez saw the need for change, and he made it.
“I think he came out of those first few games disappointed in how he played, and he turned it up a notch this week in practice,” Dempsey said. “It wasn’t that he wasn’t working hard before that. But I think he realized even internally, ‘If I’m going to have success, I have to work even harder.’”
Rodriguez affirmed that idea.
“Going into Notre Dame and Providence, I struggled, which helped me out a lot,” Rodriguez said. “It made me realize that in order to be good in college, you’ve got to be prepared.”
In BU’s 70-68 loss to Navy on Sunday night, Rodriguez produced again. He flaunted his versatility in his ability to play comfortably on the perimeter and to drive the lane and post up. He headed the Bearcats in points (15), rebounds (7) and assists (5) and shot 50 percent from the field.
Such a large progression in such a short period of time isn’t too surprising, however. The caliber of Manhattan and Navy (1-4) is much closer to Binghamton’s than Notre Dame’s or Providence’s.
But with all the pressure on Rodriguez when he came in this season, touted as the most promising recruit for Binghamton, it did take him a while to shake off the nerves.
“I put a ton of pressure on myself to play well the first couple games,” Rodriguez explained. “So … I talked to coach Dempsey, [associate] coach [Ben] Luber, and they put that pressure off of me and I just felt like myself this past weekend.”
As far as the changes Rodriguez had to make, he said it was more giving 100 percent than anything else. Putting up extra shots, working on his free throws, putting in work on his own.
Given he stays the course, Rodriguez should continue to dominate the stat sheet for Binghamton. His next opportunity comes tonight, when BU is set to take on Army. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at Christl Arena in West Point, New York.