Joey Rodriguez was enjoying a leisurely dinner last March at Froggers Bar and Grill, a sports bar in his native Oviedo, Fla., when a buzzing cell phone interrupted the meal.
Rodriguez dropped his fork and picked up the phone, immediately recognizing the number in his Caller ID as belonging to Anthony Grant, his basketball coach at VCU for the last two seasons.
Their conversation, true to Grant’s no-nonsense nature, was quick and direct. By the end, Rodriguez was no longer interested in food.
Grant, the man Rodriguez had known since the fifth grade, the charismatic coach who landed the diminutive point guard and four other Sunshine State products as part of his first recruiting class at VCU, informed Rodriguez that he had accepted a megabucks offer to leave his Rams behind and take over the men’s basketball program at Alabama.
As Rodriguez sat there in the booth, silently fuming, he quickly concluded that life in Richmond would never be the same. 
“It hurt because I came all the way to Virginia to play for him,” said Rodriguez, a two-year starter who averaged 9.4 points per game and led the CAA in 3-point accuracy as a sophomore. “Once I found out he was leaving, I was down for a while.”
It didn’t help matters when VCU passed over assistant coach Tony Pujol — another Florida transplant who had become something of a father figure to Rodriguez – and hired Florida assistant Shaka Smart as Grant’s replacement.
Grant had talked Rodriguez out of leaving VCU once before, when the teenager was struck with a severe case of homesickness during the summer before his freshman year. Now it was Smart’s turn.
Facing uncharted waters as a first-time head coach, Smart met with Rodriguez and made it clear that VCU’s new coaching staff wanted him to remain a Ram, but only if he was able to satisfy one specific condition.
“He had to be completely dedicated to our program,” Smart said.
Alabama introduced Grant as its new coach on March 27. By mid-April, Rodriguez informed Smart that he intended to transfer at the end of the spring semester to Rollins University, a Division II school less than 30 minutes from his family’s home.
“I was sold on leaving no matter who [VCU’s administration] brought in because I was so frustrated,” Rodriguez said. “I was going straight off emotion; I wasn’t thinking right.”
Upon learning that his son intended to give up a Division I basketball scholarship, Joe Rodriguez wanted to know if he was thinking at all. Both he and wife Annette tried to convince Joey to stay and complete his degree at VCU.
Rodriguez also either talked or exchanged texts frequently with teammate Brandon Rozzell after he returned to Florida, but nearly seven weeks passed before Rodriguez finally realized he had left his heart in Richmond.
Hanging out in the backyard one evening with his father and brother, Rodriguez announced that he wanted to return to VCU.
“Thank God!” Joe Rodriguez said.
It wasn’t that simple. The younger Rodriguez already had contacted the Rollins coaching staff and informed them he planned to play for the Tars during the 2009-10 season, so he had to call coach Tom Klusman again and break the news.
“That was the hardest part, telling them I was changing my mind,” Rodriguez said.
Fortunately for Rodriguez, he never enrolled for classes at Rollins and VCU had yet to fulfill its allotment of 13 scholarships for the 09-10 campaign. After “taking the pulse” of several players, all of whom wanted Rodriguez back, Smart decided to welcome the prodigal son with open arms.
“I felt like it was the right thing to do for our team,” Smart said. “You’re talking about a close group of guys who have bonded together. They know Joey can provide a lot of valuable things for our team.”
At this point, Rodriguez’s most vital asset is experience. He’s the only point guard on the VCU roster who has played in a college game, and his 49 career starts should help the Rams more smoothly adjust to life without superstar Eric Maynor as they pursue a fourth consecutive Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title.
Asked if he expected to be able to replace Maynor, the Rams’ all-time leading scorer and a first-round draft pick by the Utah Jazz, Rodriguez couldn’t help but laugh.
“No, I’m not going to jump into those big shoes,” he added. “Eric was Eric, he broke all those records, but I’m a different kind of player. I bring different intangibles to the court.”
Such as? Well, there’s his hustle, work ethic and defensive intensity, to name just a few. Despite the recent indecision about his future, he’s also a natural leader who inspires confidence in his teammates.
“I know people are going to question me leaving and whether I’m here for good, but I don’t think about that,” Rodriguez said. “Everybody on the team knows I’m 100 percent on board. The guys trust me and that’s all I care about.”
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Just good to have him back!
Is it time to start playing yet?
I can’t imagine how difficult it is on young men put into that situation. Takes some time to get past it but it appears VCU is ready to move forward.
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