Virginia Commonwealth University

TIDBITS ON JOEY:

· Heart and soul of the Rams, coming off a career-year at thepoint guard spot
· Has shown the ability toplay both the shooting guard and point guard positions in his threeyears with the Black & Gold
· Earned Second-TeamAll-CAA honors in 2009-10

RODRIGUEZ’s TIME ATVCU:

· Has not missed a game over his three seasons (102 gamesplayed) despite having a countless number of nagging injuries
· Coming off a junior yearwhere he led the CAA in assists per game (5.8) and steals per game(1.9). His assists per game average ranked 15th in the country.
· Became only the secondRam and sixth CAA player to eclipse 200 assists last year when hedished out 208. He also only turned the ball over 98 times for a2.12 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 · Along with dishing out assists,Rodriguez possesses the ability to knock down long-range jumpers,posting 142 three-pointers in his first three seasons, ranking inthe top-10 in school history.
· His quickness on thedefensive end has led to 176 career steals, including two games inwhich he tied a school record with seven steals (2/9/08 at Delawareand 2/2/08vs. Towson). In his 102 career games, he has registered asteal in 93 of those contests.
· Durability is not in question asRodriguez has averaged over 31 minutes per game over the past twoseasons for the Black & Gold
 ·Aggressiveness on the offensive end resulted in 118 free-throwattempts, more than his first two years combined. His trips to thecharity stripe were nearly always a success as Rodriguez is a 79.5%free-throw shooter
· Rodriguez has been ableto torch opponents on the offensive end, tallying nine 20-pointplus performances over the past two seasons, seven of which havecome against CAA opponents

PRIOR TO VCU:

· Accolades and recognitionwere something that Rodriguez got used to during his four years atLake Howell, where he earned First-Team All-State honors his senioryear and three straight appearances on the First-Team All-Countysquad.
· Rodriguez finished asLake Howell’s all-time leader in assists and also helped theSilverhawks to a 31-3 mark during his senior year, the best mark inschool history.
· Unfortunately forteammate Ed Nixon, Rodriguez will always have bragging rights,after his Lake Howell squad defeated Nixon’s Lakewood team towin the Florida 5-A State Championship in 2007.
· Rodriguez played with theFlorida Rams AAU program.

GETTING TO KNOW JOEY:

· Son of Joe and AnnetteRodriguez
· Majoring in CriminalJustice
· Born on June 20, 1988
· Often referred to as“Boo Boo”, but also goes by the less popular“J-Rod.”
· Also played many years ofbaseball in the Sunshine State and listed that as the sport hewould be playing if not for basketball.
· One of his favoriteactivities off the court is going to the movies.