- May 5, 2024
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Pull quote: “I don’t try to prove to him anything. It’s all about my mom. I’m just trying to make her proud, go to school and get an education.”
R.J. Rhoden
Although his dad didn’t think it wise to stay around, some of his words still linger with Rodney Rhoden. “You won’t go nowhere in basketball without me in your life,” Rhoden’s dad once said. That was before Rhoden’s eight-inch growth spurt, his ability to ignore that absent father and his unrivaled dedication to the game.
Growing up his dad was there one minute, gone the next. Not able to trust that he would ever remain, Rhoden left him in his past, and he began to form an even closer bond with his mom, Nichole Rhoden, his best friend.
“When I was younger, it really affected me, but this year it hasn’t at all,” he said. “I grew out of it and accepted the fact that it’s not always the way you want it to be.”
Not only did he grow out of that, but he also grew out of his wardrobe. According to his mother, they were both 5 feet 6 inches tall, when Rhoden began seventh grade. Just two years later, he overlooks her and nearly everyone he faces on the court at 6 feet 3 inches.
But, even at his shorter stature, Nichole Rhoden saw something special about her son on the court.
“He just kept progressing, and it got to the point where he began to be hard on himself,” she said. “I thought he was really good, and it was like overnight.” It was around this time when the seventh grade Ormond Beach Police Athletic League Travel Basketball team won the 2014 USSSA National Championship, due to Rhoden’s game-winning buzzer-beater shot in 2014.
Fast forward to this season, Rhoden has become nearly unstoppable. He’s currently averaging over 17 points and nearly 10 rebounds, starting on varsity in the ninth grade, under coach Ray Gaines, whom he says wasn’t the same player.
“When I first met him he was extremely quiet and wasn’t real trusting,” said Ray Gaines, his coach. “After the start of the school year, he realized that I didn't really care about his basketball ability, but I was more concerned about him as a person, and we got closer because he knew I cared; he began to trust in me.” Gaines believer his similar upbringing has led to their closeness.
About his dad, Rhoden says that he doesn’t try to prove anything to him anymore. “It’s all about my mom,” he says. “I’m just trying to make her proud, go to school and get an education.” His mom said the NBA would be a great bonus to add to her expectations for him.
After a game-winning national championship shot, an eight-inch growth spurt, scoring more than 17 points per game on varsity, and motivated by his mother’s friendship, Rhoden’s words to his father’s words are “it’s a big difference.”
