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A true Springstead leader emerges

This season AB Rodriguez became the go-to guy and floor director for the Eagles.

By VINCENT THOMAS
Published March 26, 2006

Have you ever met AB Rodriguez?

It's possible if your encounter did not take place on a basketball court, you might not remember him. Rodriguez is quiet, understated and unassuming - about as far as one can get from a rah-rah, round-up-the-troops kind of dude. Yet, somehow, as the Springstead basketball season wore on, Rodriguez gradually morphed in a pied piper.

"It's kind of funny, but Coach (Craig Swartout) and people kept telling me early in the season how the guys on the team looked up to me," said Rodriguez, still a little incredulous at how that came to be. "At first I didn't see it. But as the season went on, I could. I had to be a leader."

So Rodriguez put his teammates in a figurative gym bag, tossed them over his shoulder and carried the squad to the Class 4A region tournament. That's where the season ended with a 55-46 loss to Orlando Bishop Moore. Rodriguez played his most nondescript game of the season, struggling to 10 points.

That performance, however, didn't overshadow his standout season. His season averages: 23 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals. No player in Hernando or Citrus counties put up similar numbers. But what might have distinguished Rodriguez even more than his production was his value, his importance.

His teammates looked to him for almost everything. Tim Hennigan got to camp out on the baseline and shoot open 3s when two and three defenders converged on Rodriguez's frequent slashes to the basket. Point guard Derek Skinner had a backcourt running mate, someone to handle the ball when teams put on full-court pressure. When games got close or the walls started crumbling, the Eagles looked to Rodriguez.

Down by eight points with about five minutes left? It's okay, AB is here. Time for a big shot? Rodriguez was either taking it or creating one for a teammate. During the final minutes of the Eagles failed comeback against Bishop Moore, Swartout seemed like he didn't want anybody but Rodriguez touching the ball. "Go get the ball, AB." "Give the ball to AB." Those were the refrains.

"He was our first and second option," said Swartout, when recently contemplating how valuable Rodriguez was to the team.

Rodriguez, as it turns out, had a sneaking suspicion his role would change this season. He led the Eagles in scoring last season, too, dropping in about 14 points per game, but his was a secondary role when it came to leadership.

John Holtje was the vocal guy last year. But Holtje left Hernando for Nebraska last summer. Michael Lannon, the Eagles coach, skated off to Georgia. So Rodriguez and the rest of the Eagles entered the season with a leadership vacuum - a new coach and a new team hierarchy. Swartout could only do but so much from the bench. He relied on Rodriguez for the rest.

"I knew it was going to go down like that," Rodriguez recalled. "I knew I would have to step up."

Didn't bother him much.

"I love the game. So I love the pressure. Who wouldn't want that?"

What's next? That's still up in the air. Rodriguez wants to play college ball and he's in the process of drumming up some interest from various schools. He's confident it will happen. Until then, he can look back on this season and marvel. A metamorphosis took place. The kid who was accustomed to fading in the background took center stage.

--Vincent Thomas can be reached at vthomas@sptimes.com or 352 848-1430.

[Last modified March 26, 2006, 00:25:14]