Recruiting Report: Alex Rode (2018)
In order to achieve worthwhile goals, one must be willing to do things that others aren’t. For athletes, that means sacrificing and taking calculated risks. Example: Alex Rode, a 6’5” center in the class of 2018, is playing on the…
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Continue ReadingIn order to achieve worthwhile goals, one must be willing to do things that others aren’t. For athletes, that means sacrificing and taking calculated risks.
Example: Alex Rode, a 6’5” center in the class of 2018, is playing on the Delphos Jefferson football team this coming fall. He has never played organized football in his life.
Why start now?
“I want to get stronger and stay in shape all year round,” Rode said. “I want to work hard and try to get a college scholarship. That’s one of my main goals in life.”
“I haven’t really talked to any colleges, but I would like to go to a local college in Ohio. I haven’t really looked into any colleges … Something like Toledo or Bowling Green, something along those lines … D-I or D-II,” Rode said.
Rode prefers to operate around the basket, saying that he can score anywhere inside the arch.
“I like to play in the mid-post … I’m good with driving and shooting the ball.”
He plays with the Ohio Reign grassroots program, who will pick back up in July.
Rode’s coach, Ohio Reign Basketball Director Cornelius Hester, is a believer in his game.
“Uncanny ability to block shots, haven’t seen that in a long time on any level. His timing is second to none getting the ball in the air,” Hester continued, “He finishes around the rim pretty strong.”
When Prep Hoops talked to both Rode and Coach Hester, on-ball defense was mentioned as an area for improvement.
“This day and age, your bigs have to guard in space,” Hester said.
“Sometimes the baseline drive, that’s my biggest issue right now,” Rode added.
“My jumping, my vertical, has been one of my targets [for improvement]. And also my speed, that’s another one of my targets.”
When a player places a premium on defense, the rest seems to take care of itself. With that being said, if Rode and coaches continue to build on the defensive instincts he already possesses, opposing guards will continue to think twice about attacking the rim.
Rode is a young prospect, but the basketball instincts, work-ethic, and defensive willingness, have already arrived. All qualities that supposedly can’t be taught.
Prep Hoops would be shocked if those attributes didn’t draw the interest of a Division II or III program over the next few years — enough interest to gain a scholarship at “a local college in Ohio,” which is exactly what Rode told us he is searching for.