In practice, surrounded by teammates, dripping with sweat after giving full effort to a midweek practice in early February, senior point guard Dani Rodriguez is in her element.
The season has been marked by ups and downs with early success followed by a dry spell in conference play, then a two-game sweep of Colorado last week. But above the small details of daily practices, film preparations and gameplay adjustments, Rodriguez has been honored for something bigger than basketball.
Rodriguez was selected to the Allstate WBCA Good Works Team, an honor that recognizes and commends student athletes for their work off the court. The award is an honor for women’s basketball players who embody the spirit of teamwork and camaraderie, not just on the hardwood, but in their communities. Rodriguez is one of five Division I athletes to receive the award. Those selected to the Good Works team will be recognized at this year’s Final Four in Indianapolis.
“It’s a big honor,” Rodriguez said. “I already get so much out of what I do without being recognized for it. But the experience in itself, being able to go to the Final Four and be recognized there and do a service project, it’s going to be a great experience.”
Since the award’s inception in 2012-2013, Rodriguez has been nominated twice. This year, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, which hosts the award, received the most nominations in its four years of existence with 257. The WBCA selects the winners of the award based on their academic standing, their outstanding character and their commitment to charitable organizations or service groups in their communities.
Rodriguez has spent countless hours dedicated to the Salt Lake community, such as assisting senior citizens, reading to children at Lincoln Elementary, speaking to underprivileged youth on the importance of education and spending time with veterans at the local Veterans Hospital. She feels like she has a responsibility to give back after the somewhat privileged life she had growing up.
“I had parents that pushed me, I had a great support system that pushed me to do good in school, do good in basketball,” Rodriguez said. “That’s why I’m here, why I get to play basketball, get my school paid for. A lot of people aren’t blessed with that kind of life.”
Rodriguez’s work off the court assisting her community is reflective of her play on the court. While Rodriguez doesn’t classify herself as a typical pass-first guard, she currently ranks fifth all-time in assists at Utah.
As the senior point guard for this team, Utah head coach Lynne Roberts has relied on Rodriguez to lead the team. A soft-spoken southern California native, Rodriguez isn’t one to be the boisterous voice of the locker room. Rather, she leads with her actions.
“She’s not the demonstrative call-people-out type of leader,” Roberts said. “She leads by example. I don’t think she’s ever taken a play off in her life, or a rep in the weight room, or a sprint, or a drill. She goes 100 percent every time, and that’s leadership.”
As Rodriguez carries her team through the final stretch of the season, she isn’t worried about the team moving forward. Freshman guard Erika Bean has watched and waited in the wing, and Rodriguez trusts that her teammates will be able to fill her shoes when the time comes.
“They shouldn’t be worried about a point guard leaving,” Rodriguez said. “They should be happy that they have another point guard coming in who can do great things.”
Bean admires Rodriguez for everything she has done for the Utah program and considers Rodriguez a role model.
“We go at each other every day in practice and it’s not an opportunity that most freshmen get to have [to play under] a great point guard,” Bean said. “Watching her when it’s time for games, she does great leading the team. It’s something for me to be able to carry on in later years.”
Rodriguez will look to ride the high of this honor against Oregon on Friday night.
@WestinJay