Basketball, Lacrosse
Favorite athlete: Steph Curry
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Being on the court when Bernie Parent hit a game winner against Pennsbury and celebrating in the locker room after.
Funniest memory competing in sports: Joking around with my friends during lacrosse practices.
Music on my playlist: Country, rap, and folk rock.
Future plans: Go to college at a big university.
Words to live by: “A goal is just a dream until you write it down.”
One goal before turning 30: Be a home owner.
One thing people don’t know about me: I collect old United States coins.
By Mary Jane Souder
Tyler Rodowicz could be called a blue-collar athlete.
But that’s an oversimplification.
Yes, the Council Rock North senior is dependable, hardworking and does all those good things that every team needs but won’t put him in the spotlight. And granted, he doesn’t typically score a whole lot of points, but the truth of the matter is – scoring is just about the only category that Rodowicz does not find himself at the top of the stat sheet.
“He leads us in rebounding, he leads us in assists, he leads us in steals and deflections,” Rock North coach Derek Wright said. “He’s one of our leaders in screen assists where he sets screens to get guys open.
“He gives great effort every day whether it be practice, game or whatever.”
Throw in the fact that he is the undisputed team leader, and there’s no denying his immense value.
“He’s our kind of player,” Wright said. “He does all the things that are not necessarily recognized by others, but in our program, they’re the things that we really value.
“For a new coach with a new team, it’s really beneficial to have someone like him that can lead by example.”
Rodowicz, it turns out, understands one very basic fact.
“I’ve always done what I know that I’m good at even if that’s not scoring,” he said. “I just want to do what I can do to help our team win.
“That’s the reason I’ve played on varsity the past four years – I do what I know I can do good. I don’t do what I’m not as good at. I know coaches appreciate when kids do what they expect of them. I just try to do that every day.”
Rodowicz is not a captain, but the title is the only thing that’s missing.
“He’s the guy that gets our practice started every day with stretching, he’s the guy out with the referees before the game, he’s the guy I speak to and go to just to get a gauge and a pulse of the team,” Wright said. “So, he is a captain. I’m not big on labels, but he absolutely acts like one.”
Back to the beginning
Rodowicz began playing organized basketball when he was in second grade, beginning with the Rebels Basketball academy and staying with that organization until eighth grade. He stopped playing AAU to focus on high school basketball after his freshman year.
He also played soccer up until eighth grade and baseball until freshman year. He even played three years of football. After opting to not play baseball, he went out for lacrosse and has played every spring since then, but basketball is at the top of his list.
“My dad didn’t play basketball past middle school, so it’s not a family thing, but it’s just something I always found enjoyment in it,” Rodowicz said. “All my good friends used to play and that made it fun for me. I just have more fun constantly playing the sport compared to other sports.”
Rodowicz’s journey through high school has not exactly been smooth sailing, and he is one of only two seniors on the team this winter.
His freshman year was the COVID-shortened season with the option to attend school or continue with virtual. He chose to attend school.
“I had COVID the summer before freshman year, and I somehow contracted some COVID-induced asthma, so playing with a mask was a little rough,” he said. “I was going into a brand new school - you don’t know what to expect. I’d obviously known coach (Jesse) Krasna, who was the coach before I came in, but I didn’t know what to expect from high school basketball.
“Freshman year we didn’t have a freshman team – that might have been the reason a lot of kids in my grade stopped playing. Me and a couple other kids in my grade made jayvee. The first part of the year I was on jayvee, and after a couple of games, I was brought up to varsity.
“I think the asthma came into play – the running for jayvee versus varsity is a lot different during practices and games. It’s just really a different pace, and that really didn’t help. It was a little more difficult than I was expecting.”
The asthma has gotten better over time, and Rodowicz no longer uses an inhaler.
The Rock North senior was and has been comfortable in his role on the team, but as a senior, Rodowicz found himself playing for a new coach when Derek Wright took over the helm after Krasna accepted the girls’ basketball job at Council Rock South.
Coming as no surprise, Rodowicz has embraced the change.
“Each and every day in practice, it’s something new that we’re learning and stuff that I’ve not been used to before,” he said. “It’s definitely changes for me and everyone else on the team that we’re making every day.
“I only have one year to adjust to the changes, but I’m just doing the best I can to help the other guys adjust to the changes so that they can be better the next year and the year after that.”
Anyone who knows Rodowicz is not the least bit surprised by that sentiment.
“I think it’s just his makeup,” Wright said. “It is very hard for any young athlete to be exposed to a new coaching staff after they’ve built relationships with other coaches, especially for seniors because they may not see the vision that we have come to fruition while they’re here.
“I’ve known the family for a while, and Ty is the kind of kid – he’s going to do what he’s asked to do to the best of his ability. He’s been that way from the start.”
Looking ahead
Come this spring, Rodowicz will be playing lacrosse for his third season.
“My neighbor who has been my best friend for years – he had played lacrosse all of his life, and ever since second grade when I was playing baseball, he was playing lacrosse.
“He was always, ‘You should play lacrosse, you should play lacrosse.’ I fell out of love with baseball and stopped taking it as serious. He and my other good friend played lacrosse and they kind of convinced me and a couple of my other friends to try it out. Sophomore year we tried it out, had fun and kept doing it for the last two years.
“It’s more laidback than basketball or football, and we just have fun with my good friends. “
Rock North lacrosse coach John Fitzpatrick is happy to have Rodowicz on board.
“Tyler is a unique dual-sport athlete in basketball and lacrosse,” the Indians’ coach said. “He just started playing lacrosse in high school. He quickly rose to the varsity level.
“He made a huge difference for us as long stick middle in the playoffs, always matching up against the other team’s best midfielder. We are excited to have him back this year as a senior. He’s a real difference maker.”
Outside of sports, Rodowicz is a straight A student with a course load of honors and AP classes. He was a member of the school’s Veterans Service Club, a volunteer organization to help veterans in the area. He has also been involved with Athletes Helping Athletes.
“I also do a lot of work for a charity called A Love for Life,” Rodowicz said. “It’s a charity run by one of my mom’s good friends, raising money for pancreatic cancer research.”
As for his college choice, that’s still up in the air. Penn State, Tennessee and South Carolina are at the top of the list but he is waiting to hear back from several more schools.
“Obviously, going to a good college was something I wanted to do for a long time, grades were a kind of pride thing for me,” said Rodowicz, who plans to major in business. “The reason I have a good amount of southern schools on my list – if you look outside right now, it’s not very nice. I like the warm weather. Summer is my favorite season, so if I could have that all year, that would be great.
“Also, even though I only played football for three years, I still love watching the game, so going to a school that has a big football team and a lot of school spirit was important to me.”
As for his involvement in sports, Rodowicz has not ruled out competing in intramurals or club.
“I feel a lot better and more in shape when I play sports,” Rodowicz said. “It’s probably not good for me thinking about this now when I’m 18, but it’s a good way to get cardio in without having to hop on a treadmill for 30 minutes. I think it will be a good way to keep myself healthy after I stop playing.”
For now, Rodowicz is focused on his final high school basketball season.
“I was elected captain by our team last year,” he said. “With the coaching change, we didn’t do a vote this year, but being one of the only seniors and having captain experience, I just took the role of being our team’s leader.
“I usually try to lead just showing I’m going to give effort. No matter if I do something wrong or right, I’m going to do it at 100 percent and show my teammates that I’m willing to risk my body or anything to help us in any way I can.”
Listening to Wright tell it, Rodowicz is the consummate student-athlete.
“He’s a great student, a high achiever,” the Indians’ coach said. “He’s a model student-athlete for our school. He’s the kind of student athlete we would like our younger kids in the community to recognize and see that somebody can be both a good athlete, a competitor, be really tough on the court, but at the same time be a great listener in school and be a high achiever in school. He’s that nice complement – he can be a killer on the court, which we love, and off the court, he can really be a model citizen.”
