Kansas State transfer Angel Rodriguez has evolved at Miami (+video)

It didn’t register with Angel Rodriguez at the time, but now that he’s reminded about it, the acrobatic, off-balance shot he made to beat Wichita State last weekend was eerily similar to the final shot he missed at Kansas State three years ago.

He drove to his right on both. He tossed up a high-arcing prayer on both. And his team’s NCAA Tournament fate hung in the balance on both.

At K-State, a young Rodriguez drove too close to the baseline and attempted an off-balance shot that had little chance. The play was going so badly that coach Bruce Weber tried to call time-out midway through. Rodriguez missed, time expired and the Wildcats lost to La Salle in the opening round.

At Miami, an experienced Rodriguez attacked the rim, going right at Wichita State defender Ron Baker, and banked in a shot that gave the Hurricanes a 57-53 lead with two minutes remaining. Then he drained a step-back three to clinch victory. Now he’s preparing to play in the Sweet 16.

“It is a much better feeling to make the shot,” Rodriguez said Wednesday, “than to miss the shot like I did at Kansas State.”

Those NCAA Tournament heroics signify how far Rodriguez has come since his early college years. He has evolved as a person and as a player. He graduated from Miami in December, married his longtime girlfriend in January, and improves as a basketball player with each passing day.

He is averaging 26 points and five assists as a senior in the NCAA Tournament, and he thinks the Hurricanes have what it takes to reach the Final Four.

His former coach isn’t betting against him.

“Every time Miami plays in a big game, you look up and Angel is on national television playing really well,” Weber said. “I have nothing but good memories about Angel. He was a winner, he was tough and he always wanted to make the big shot, especially against big-name teams. If you look at his stats, he plays his best in big games.”

They only get bigger from here.

That wouldn’t be the case if not for a life-changing decision Rodriguez made shortly after his sophomore season. The decision, as K-State fans know too well, was to transfer after two successful seasons in Manhattan, where he helped the Wildcats twice reach the NCAA Tournament and win a share of a Big 12 championship.

K-State has struggled without him, failing to recruit a promising point guard in back-to-back recruiting cycles before Kamau Stokes took control this season. But Stokes missed the second half of the year with a knee injury, derailing hopes for a postseason push.

Rodriguez knows the details. He keeps in contact with Weber and former teammates. He hopes they are back in the NCAA Tournament next season. Initially, there were hurt feelings about his departure, but they have subsided over time.

“Obviously, it was disappointing to lose him, but at the same time I understood,” Weber said. “I really enjoyed coaching him and being around him. I try to text him when I can, just to let him know I am happy for him and his success.”

Added Rodriguez: “It is really a great feeling to know, even though I left that place, I still have great relationships with the people there.”

Rodriguez goes out of his way to say how much he enjoyed K-State. He liked playing for Frank Martin as a freshman, and his assists (5.2) to turnovers (2.3) ratio has never been better than it was playing for Weber as a sophomore. He was on track to become one of the best point guards in the Big 12, if not the nation.

But he was also homesick.

Rodriguez was born in Puerto Rico and attended high school in Miami before signing with K-State. His mother occasionally flew to Manhattan and he saw his then girlfriend in Miami. It simply wasn’t enough. His father died when Rodriguez was young and he felt like he needed to be there for his brothers.

“I was just trying to get close to my family,” Rodriguez said. “Nothing else.”

His transfer blindsided Weber and teammates, but Martin, the coach that recruited him, wasn’t surprised.

“If Miami would have recruited him out of high school, he wouldn’t have ever come to K-State,” said Martin, now at South Carolina. “When they chose not to move on him early it gave us the window that we needed, but I always knew he missed home. He missed his mother, missed his girlfriend.

“Keeping him engaged and excited in practice was a real challenge his first semester. Family is that important to him.”

With that in mind, Rodriguez had just one transfer destination.

“I didn’t have to sell him on anything,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. “Angel reached out to us and I asked him how many visits he planned to take. He said, ‘Just one. I want to go to Miami.’ ”

Three years later, he is making shots and winning games in ways he never could at K-State. His playing style – high risk, high reward – and his size – 5-foot-11 – have impressed college basketball fans. He compares playing at Miami to playing on a street corner, fun and pressure-free. All eyes will be on him against Villanova on Thursday.

“It has definitely been much better than I expected,” Rodriguez said. “Everything I want, I got it here.”

This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Kansas State transfer Angel Rodriguez has evolved at Miami (+video)."