News

Rodriguez Back, Ndongo Out

Matt Morton
Posted onMay 28, 2009 at 4:45 PM
Updated onUpdated on Sep 29, 2009 at 1:09 PM

joeyRICHMOND, Va. – As the weather heats up around the country, so does the off-season for the Virginia Commonwealth University men’s basketball team.

Head Coach Shaka Smart announced two changes that will affect the Black & Gold’s roster for the upcoming 2009-2010 season with the return of junior guard Joey Rodriguez (Oviedo, Fla.) and the departure of redshirt junior Franck Ndongo (Yaounde, Cameroon).

Rodriguez, who had announced plans of transferring to Rollins College in Florida, will return to give the Rams valuable depth at the point guard position for next year.

The quick and tenacious defender has seen action in all of VCU’s 66 games over the past two seasons, getting the starting nod in 49 of those contests.

Last year, he led the Colonial Athletic Association with a 41.6% shooting percentage from beyond the arc and finished the year averaging 9.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game for the Black & Gold.

Ndongo sat out the 2008-2009 campaign due to a torn ACL. The 6-7 forward played two seasons with the Rams, averaging 1.3 points and 1.4 rebounds per outing.

Matt Morton
Matt has been reporting on VCU sports for Ram Nation since 2007 with a focus on news, photos, and feature stories.
  • RaDigga
  • May 29, 2009
Dont know how i feel about lil Jrod coming back.....
  • Shackle
  • May 29, 2009
He should have stayed gone. Cost us more games than he helped us in, including the tourney loss to UCLA.
  • VCUhoops#1
  • May 29, 2009
yeah i wasn't too concerned at all about Joey's leaving a few months ago. I wrote a comment that we'd be better off without him.

But let's be serious, now that Eblen has followed Grant to Alabama... J-Rod's two years of starting experience and the continuity he will provide in a time that our program is seeing great turnover with Grant & Maynor leaving... I for one welcome him back.

He can knock down shots, and he truly is scrappy in every sense of the word on D. He's not the best ball handler in the world, but how many players in a lifetime is VCU going to find to run the point who will get drafted in the top 15 in the NBA? J-Rod's return is a blessing at this point.
  • Lefty
  • May 29, 2009
What are the chances Eblen stays committed if Joey hadn't jumped ship? I think Joey is a selfish young man but since he's back let's hope he shows his greatness.
  • ODU-VCU
  • June 10, 2009
"...Led the CAA in 3 point shooting"...wake up people, we KEEP our solid PG/WG. Go Joey!
  • VCU 2012
  • June 18, 2009
Chill out cus yall wouldn't b sayin this 2 him and yall were prolly the same ppl cheerin when he made those shots so hop off. Welcome back Joey I'm VERY happy u're back, that was just 2 many low blows if u had stayed away !
  • VCU 2012
  • June 18, 2009
hold on...selfish? hes selfish 4 wanting 2 b near his family etc, how about YOU go play a sport (oh my b u have no athletic talents, @least not good enough 4 the college level) more then 10hrs away 4rm home and have ur career all messed up with the absence of the only coach u've known ans loss of a gr8 player...chill out smh @ the foolishness
  • Ram09
  • June 22, 2009
Joey never wanted to be with his family. If he was "homesick" he would of left after his Freshman year. He only left because new recruits were coming in and he was not going to see the starting lineup. Joey's FG % was only good against small teams. Look at the stats and you will see that his points came when the game was not intense. Joey can't perform under pressure. Don't you remember the CAA tourney and the game in Philly? I do, because I was there listening to Villanova fans laugh and boo him off the court.

We need him for a pt guard now that everyone left. Welcome back?
  • Thom
  • July 1, 2009
I for one welcome back Joey. While people seemed to think he was 'inconsistent' I feel like he played hard every game, even when his shots weren't falling, he turned that energy into defensive pressure. It's not just about stats people, he runs around like a tazmanian devil and creates good defensive plays in transition, as well as during the defensive sets. It will be good to have him as a combo guard in the upcoming season because the bigs are comfortable with him already.