Prospect Profile: Rodney Wiley (2019)
Rodney Wiley- 5’9, PG
Colerain High School- Class of 2019
AAU Team- Cincy Rise
Floor: D-III/Ceiling: D-II/NAIA/JUCO
2016-17 Stats: 9.4ppg, 2.3apg
When you think of Colerain High School and athletic the first thing that comes to mind is championships. Unfortunately, this only holds true for the football team as it has been somewhat of a struggle for the Cardinals basketball program. So much so that they finished the 2016-17 season with just three victories. But junior point guard Rodney Wiley thinks that a lot of positives can be taken from last season. “We were a very young team last season,” Wiley stated. “Last year was a year to gel. But we have everyone back on varsity but one player, so our expectations are really high for this season.” And with the tools that Rodney brings to the table, it is easy to see why fortunes may be beginning to change in Cardinal Country.
In watching Rodney the first thing that you notice is his cat-like quickness. He has no problem beating defenders off the dribble and getting in the lane. But where he has gotten better at is shooting and raising his IQ, something he worked on a lot over the summer. “I worked this summer with Coach Keith (former Cincinnati CAPE standout Keith Braswell) on getting to my spots on the floor,” says Wiley. “I also worked a lot on my mid-range and pull-up jumper.” That improved jump shot was in display during the Friars Club Showcase League. He looked confident shooting from the outside, in particular off the dribble, in the two performances that I saw last weekend.
As for next areas that I see Rodney needing to improve on is playing with pace and cutting down on turnovers. A lot of times quick point guards tend to play at two paces, fast and faster. Learning to sometime play in 2nd and 3rd gear will help Rodney in his junior season. Also, he averaged over 4 turnovers a game. Now a lot of that can be contributed to playing with a young team, but cutting that number down while getting his assist per game number up (2apg last season) will be key for the Cardinals.
Wiley comes into his junior season with a GPA in the 2.6-2.7 range and just recently took the ACT for the first time. “I scored a 17 on ACT on my first attempt,” he stated. “But I am re-taking the test again in a couple of weeks,” Rodney stated. As for contact with any program he stated that he has not had any yet, but Wiley has the talent and work ethic to make that change after this season.