Former Iowa women’s basketball guard Emely Rodriguez is transferring to Syracuse.
The news was posted by Syracuse’s social-media accounts on May 13.
Rodriguez entered the transfer portal on the first day it opened on April 6 after one season with the Hawkeyes. Her Iowa career concluded after playing just 85 minutes and scoring 43 points over six games.
Concerns regarding Rodriguez’s long-term status date back to Iowa’s late-November appearance at the WBCA Showcase in Orlando. Rodriguez’s last official action came there as she played four minutes in the Hawkeyes’ win over Miami on Nov. 22.
Shortly after came the first mention of Rodriguez’s back injury, which forced her to watch home wins over Western Illinois (Nov. 26) and Fairfield (Nov. 30) from the bench. Rodriguez missed the Dec. 6 game at Rutgers but still made the trip. Three days later, Iowa coach Jan Jensen said the back tweak came either in Iowa’s final practice in Florida or its first one back in Iowa City.
“She was a little behind, and then the injury happened, and she just never really got cleared to be a part of things,” Jensen told the Register. “I’m very proud we continued to hopefully train her and treat her back and get her strengthened through whatever decision she was going to make. At the end of the day, it was best that she chose to go find another stop. Hopefully, she’ll find the right match this time that can really help her.”
Rodriguez didn’t make December trips to Ames or Brooklyn for the Women’s Champions Classic, but she was back on the bench when the Hawkeyes returned to action Dec. 28 against Penn State. From there, Rodriguez was present at every one of Iowa’s final 21 games but never suited up again. She remained “out” on the availability report each time.
After transferring to Iowa from UCF last offseason, Rodriguez will hope her third school in three years delivers a better opportunity. She will have either two or three years of eligibility remaining, depending on whether she can get a medical-hardship waiver approved by the NCAA for her time at Iowa.
All five Iowa transfer-portal entries have now found new homes: Rodriguez to Syracuse; Addie Deal and Teegan Mallegni to Wisconsin; Callie Levin to Northern Iowa; and Kennise Johnson to Delaware.
The Register’s Chad Leistikow contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Former Iowa women’s basketball guard Emely Rodriguez transfers to Syracuse
Reporting by Dargan Southard, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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