Liberty’s Roderick comes back strong from injury
Just as he was getting noticed by college recruiters last season, Olentangy Liberty’s Ben Roderick suffered a torn ligament in his left knee. The senior says he’s better than ever now, thanks to his rehab in the offseason.
POWELL — When Ben Roderick dropped 30 points in a 62-54 win over Dublin Coffman in the Jared Sullinger Play-ByPlay Hoops Classic at Ohio Dominican on Jan. 27 last season, a flock of college coaches and recruiters were abuzz about the 6-foot-5 Olentangy Liberty wing/ forward.
Four days later in a game against Olentangy, Roderick suffered a torn ACL in his left knee, ending his junior season and stalling some of his recruiting hype.
“I have a little chip on my shoulder … and something to prove to people,” said Roderick, who insisted that he is now 100 percent after surgery and offseason rehabilitation. He ran effortlessly and without a brace during preseason practices.
Roderick, who was averaging 24.3 points and 6.0 rebounds at the time of the injury, said he has scholarship offers from Ohio, Akron, Toledo, TennesseeMartin and Stony Brook. But higher-profile programs, such as Ohio State, Xavier and Wisconsin, are waiting to see him play, “and that’s completely understandable,” Roderick said.
“If anything, I’m stronger
“The whole experience has made me more mature and more appreciative of the love I have for basketball. Missing AAU ball was very hard.”
Ben Roderick
now than I was before the injury,” he said. “I had never done much lifting. My legs are stronger after working with all the personal trainers. The people at Ortho One told me there was no reason I couldn’t come back stronger than ever. There are pictures all over the walls with people who have. There are even support groups for people with ACLs.
“The whole experience has made me more mature and more appreciative of the love I have for basketball. Missing AAU ball was very hard.”
At the suggestion of recruiters, Roderick opted not to play football this fall, although he still dressed for the Patriots throughout their run to the state semifinals. He was a standout receiver as a sophomore and junior.
Liberty basketball coach Greg Nossaman said Roderick, who bulked up from 185 to 200 pounds, returned to form slightly ahead of schedule.
“I’ve known plenty of other players who took off a whole calendar year following an ACL, and they wore a brace when they came back,” he said. “(Roderick is) jumping well, shooting well, running the floor well. You wouldn’t even know which knee was injured by watching him.”
Nossaman first took notice of the smooth left-hander as a middle school player.
“You could tell he was going to be good when he matured, and the thing is he’s only 17 and probably will grow a couple more inches,” he said.
“He brings a lot to the table for us. We’ll probably post him up a little more. He’s very ambidextrous and is especially good going left and right. With his ability to shoot the three, Ben causes a lot of matchup problems for people and opens up lanes for his teammates. It’s no secret that a lot of what we do goes through him.”
Roderick hopes to help Liberty (11-13) return to prominence. The Patriots lost six of their final seven games after he was injured.
“Six of us seniors have played together since fourth grade and we’d like to go out with a big run, maybe a league or district championship,” Roderick said.