"She's just a really good ball player": Emely Rodriguez has found her home at Iowa

Emely Rodriguez had never been to Iowa. Not even when her UCF team traveled to Ames in Big 12 play last season. She was sidelined with an injury. Although some of her family now resides in Florida; after transferring to Iowa, she’s now over 2,000 miles from her home in La Romana, Dominican Republic. The distance from her family can be a little daunting at times, but Jan Jensen sold Rodriguez on the program and now Iowa City is her new home.

“Sometimes you can (feel alone) because you don’t have your family around, but being around the girls, you don’t feel like that as much,” Rodriguez told reporters on Tuesday. “It’s been great being around them, not just on the court, but off the court…Everybody’s been great. The hospitality here is great and everybody’s trying to help me.”

As a true freshman at UCF last season, Rodriguez was an All-Big 12 Freshman Team selection, averaging 11.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Upon entering the transfer portal, Emely drew interest from a number of high-level programs along with Iowa, including Texas, NC State, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Indiana and Arizona. Jan Jensen’s vision for the program and her plan for Emely is what sealed the deal over those other schools.

“Coach Jensen, she called, we talked about everything that I was looking for, and she told me what she was trying to build here after the Caitlin Clark era and all that. I was really excited to be a part of this program, and that’s why I committed here.”

“It was the style of play that she is trying to play, it’s the style of play that I like,” said Rodriguez. “I didn’t play it as much at UCF, so it was great to see that she had that plan, not just for me, but for the team. That was one of the big things.”

The coaching staff was sold on what she could bring to the program from the moment they watched her tape as a prospect in the transfer portal, but now that she is on campus, her potential impact is being realized even more. There’s a growing feeling amongst the coaching staff and the media that Emely Rodriguez could end up being one of the more underrated transfer additions in the Big Ten.

“The connection we made, just showing her what her path would be, she’s a versatile player, so you can play her from the two to the four,” said assistant coach LaSondra Barrett. “She’s a big guard, so she can post up smaller guards, she can take bigger defenders off the dribble and that’s just an aspect that we didn’t have. As we sat and watched more film on her, we jumped on it. We got on the people that we needed to talk to and got her here on campus and she’s been tremendous.”

“She’s just a really good ball player. We’re going to have to let her go a little bit to start with, she’s not going to have to do everything perfect within our system,” said assistant coach Abby Stamp. “She’s going to have to go out and play basketball and I think you’ll see that with some of what she can do on the floor…she’s one of those types of players that, shot clocks winding down, ball is in her hands, she’ll make a play and that’s the type of thing that I’ve seen out of her so far this summer.”

Outside of being a versatile scorer and rebounder, Emely is someone that could possibly step into the role as a go to player late in the shot clock or late in games. In recent years, the Hawkeyes had Caitlin Clark and then Lucy Olsen to take those critical shots. With Clark and Olsen now playing in the WNBA, and a roster with nine underclassmen, it’s time for someone new to step into that playmaking role. Coach Abby Stamp says that Emely has a knack for making plays and isn’t afraid to be the one to take the shot when things break down.

“It’s a really big thing. We certainly had that for four years with Caitlin and Lucy absolutely had it…she’s the type of player that will say give me the ball, I’ll take the shot,” said Stamp. “I think you’ll see her do that quite a bit throughout her career.”

The reason why this could be a perfect match for the Hawkeyes is Emely’s buy in to the system the Jan Jensen has in place. She says she is working on trying to refine every part of her game and is willing to take on whatever role the coaching staff sees her in.

“Just working on everything (this summer),” said Rodriguez. “One of my favorite shots is the midrange, but I’m still working on my threes, getting better at them. Finishing through contact, so just everything honestly.”

“I’m a natural three, but I can play various positions, it’s not just three, so whatever the coaches need me to play, I’ll be ready to play…I’m a versatile player and I can do a lot on the court. Anything the coaches need me to do, I’ll do it.”